GH II: X-Plorer StarPower/Killswitch Button Mod - Pics

[Beacon]

Tired of wrecking your multiplier trying to get that tilt sensor to go off? Wishing you could err... "button out" like Buckethead when you're stumbling your way through Jordan? Maybe you've just got repressed animosity for the designers that put all of the buttons so high up on the X-Plorer you'd need to have a finger growing from your armpit to use them? Fear not, by following some simple steps you can add a killswitch and starpower button to your X-Plorer in no time at all. XD

On a serious note: Please read all the way through before you decide to make the jump to do this to your X-Plorer. Check the back of your X-Plorer to find which model you have. It was much more hassle-free doing this on the older model (95055) that came with my game than it was for the newer model (95065) that was in the controller-only box. Not bad enough to make me not want to do it on the new model but it does require a few more steps than the older one. Just an FYI.

Wait what are we doing again? - All we're doing is duplicating the "Down" branch on the D-Pad (killswitch) and the "Back" button (StarPower) and putting them somewhere you can actually make use of them. Will this make you a better player? Umm, not likely. Will this add a bit of fun to playing in general? I think so. Aside from the obvious Buckethead connection, the killswitch can be used for busting out solos, or at least give you an opportunity to ham it up a bit more!

Tools/Parts Required:

Essentials:

Small Phillips Screwdriver
Drill
Drill Bits*
Wire Cutters
Button(s)**
24/26 Gauge Solid Wire***
Electrical Tape

Semi-Optional:

Soldering Iron****
Solder****

* You can use standard, spade or step drill bits for this project. We're only going through a couple pieces of plastic so you don't want to be really aggressive with it.

Standard bits can be a little rough on the plastic and if you're going too fast it will melt through rather than drill through. They're fine for making a pilot hole but I wouldn't use one to make the larger hole for mounting my switches if I could help it.

Spade bits leave a nice clean edge on the face but are super-aggressive. If you get one of these going too fast and it bites hard it could very well crack the plastic. It also may be hard to find one small enough for your needs depending on the switch you chose.

Step bits are my personal favorite, but may not be in everyone's toolbox. They're generally used in working with sheet and thin metal, you can find them at any of the large home stores. They work really well with the plastic, leaving a nice clean hole but you still have to watch you're speed or they'll go through it like butter.

** Specifically you need a switch that is: SPST - Momentary - Normally Open. Sounds daunting and technical but they are just identifiers.

SPST means: Single Pole, Single Throw
Momentary refers to the switch being the type that closes the circuit only while the button is pushed down. (Exactly the same way the Start, Back, and D-Pad buttons work.)
Normally Open means exactly that the switch in place doesn't do anything until you push the button down. (Again, exactly the same way the Start, Back, and D-Pad buttons work.)

*** I said 24 gauge because it's the smallest insulated wire I could find. If you're doing this to a model 95055, you're golden. The pinholes in it's circuit board will accept and hold snug a 24 gauge wire. If you're doing this on a model 95065 you're probably going to have to pick up some 26 gauge magnet wire (that's just enamel coated bare wire) and solder on some small pieces of it to the 24 gauge wire as the pinholes in the newer one wouldn't take a 24 gauge wire. I'd certainly say try to use the 24 first JIC I ended up with a weird board. There were some pinholes on the newer board that would take the wire but I just couldn't get it through at the locations I needed to, so I had to solder on the 26 gauge tips.

**** It is completely possible to do these mods without having to use a soldering iron. An alternative exists on the market called "Silver Conductive Epoxy" Essentially a glue that acts like a solder joint (electrically conductive). You can find this, and similar products, at your local electronics repair or musical instrument shop - and of course on-line. I didn't have any on hand for this how-to but I have used it in the past to repair solder points in electric guitars and it worked perfectly.

If you decide to use solder you can use plain old standard, rosin core, 60/40.

Mounting the Buttons

Hold your guitar in your lap or put the strap on or do whatever you normally do when you play the game. Take a look at where you have your hands and think about placement for the button(s). You want them close enough you can reach them from the regular strum bar without interfering with the tremolo. Best place for me was to put them both on the trim piece just under the strum bar. Though I did briefly consider putting the starpower button up on the neck.

You don't have to do it but I made a little template with circles the same size as the buttons to help me check placement and to help center them when I get ready to drill the mounting holes.

Step 1

Let's get to the gettin'.

You don't have to completely remove the screws to separate the halves of the guitars' body, just loosen them until they are no longer engaged in the other half and turn freely in their recesses. Loosen the 11 screws on the back of the main body (you don't need to bother with the ones in the neck). Once they're all loose lift the back of the main body straight up and off (may take a little wiggling if they went a little crazy with the glue gun on yours) and set it aside. Don't freak if the wiring looks different in yours. The pictures you see were taken while modding both a model 95055 and 95065. Any differences between the two will be pointed out as we go along.

Tip: Before you do anything else take a piece of electrical tape and put it over the whammy bar assembly so that it can't slide up in it's mounting grooves. Trust me, you'll be turning the guitar over a few times and the last thing you want to screw with is trying to figure out how that assembly goes back together. With the back of the guitar off the only thing holding the assembly together are those rails that it sits in.

Step 2



Use your template or eyeball it and make a small mark inside where you want to mount your switch(es).
Using a small standard drill bit (1/8" is good) make the pilot holes.
Remove the six screws that hold the trim piece to the main body and separate the two.
Drill the hole(s) in the trim piece to allow the shaft of the switch to fit through. Remember keep it as snug as you can so the switch doesn't move around and the base has something to rest against.
Drill the hole(s) in the main body large enough that the base of the switch can pass through to cinch down on the trim piece. Most of the switches I looked at weren't long enough to have just been mounted through both pieces. If you're putting yours somewhere other than through the trim piece you don't have to worry about it. Just drill your hole(s) to allow the shaft to go through and you're good to go.

Step 3

Prep your switch(es). Snip off about 14" of wire and strip one end. Wrap the wire through the hole and around the posts on the bottom of the switch. If you like you can add some solder to lock them in place but you'd probably be okay without it as long as you wrapped them well.

Mount your switch(es) to the trim piece.

Feed to wire back through the holes you made in the main body. Re-seat the trim piece on the main body being careful you don't crush the posts on the switch(es) when you put them through the larger hole(s).

Put the 6 screws back in and you're halfway there!



Wiring

Decision time. You can make the connections for the killswitch either on the strum circuit board or on the main circuit board. I'd suggest just doing them all on the main board so you don't have to break out the soldering iron again.

If you do decide to use the strum board go to Step 4. If you're going to make all the connections on the main board skip to Step 5.

Step 4

Take the two wires from your killswitch button and feed them through the little hold-down bracket you see the other wires running under. Give them a little bit of slack, clip them off to length and strip the ends. Now just solder them in place in the locations you see on the pic below (doesn't matter which wire goes to which point). They're the same in both models.

[Beacon]

Step 5

Take the wires from your switch(es) and feed them through the little hold-down bracket you see the other wires running under. Because the pinholes are in slightly different locations depending on the model, I've split this section into two parts. Use which ever one matches your model number.

95055

Take a good long look at the images below.


Large View

Large View

The pinholes aren't hard to find from the underside because you can just follow the trace on the board to the proper spot. Problem is the trace isn't on the side where you'll be putting your wires through. Check the pics to get a general idea of how long the wires need to be. The locations for the killswitch wires are fairly close together but the starpower wires are spread out a bit more. I trimmed my SP wires to fit a little better but there's no harm in leaving them the same length you'll just have to coil one side to keep things tidy.

After you clip the wires to length strip about 1/4" of insulation from the end.

Remove the 4 screws holding the main board in place.

Push the bare ends through the proper pinholes and once they're through just bend them over to help them stay in place.

There are a ton of those wee little holes in the circuit board so triple check to be sure you've got your wires in the proper locations. Check the pictures and follow the trace (little lines running around on the board). Remember the "killswitch" wires should connect to the down button trace and the "starpower" wires, the Back button trace. Nothing is going to suck as much as doing all this, buttoning it back up and starting up GH only to find the buttons aren't working because you used the wrong pinholes.

Once you've got all the wires where they're supposed to be, use a few piece of electrical tape over the wires on the top side to help hold them in place. As you do this be sure you haven't accidentally pulled them out by checking the opposite side where you bent the wire that's sticking through. Also be sure the little wires aren't touching any other solder points or metal on the other side.

Put the board back on the mounting posts and replace the 4 screws.

Go to Step 6.

95065

Take a good long look at the images below.


Large View

Large View

They aren't hard to find from the underside because you can just follow the trace on the board to the proper spot. Problem is the trace isn't on the side where you'll be putting your wires through. Check the pics to get a general idea of how long the wires need to be. The locations for the killswitch wires are fairly close together but the starpower wires are spread out a bit more. I trimmed my SP wires to fit a little better but there's no harm in leaving them the same length you'll just have to coil one side to keep things tidy. Of special note is that on the circuit board for this model the pinhole is only visible from the underside of the board. The smaller chip on the right covers the pinhole where you would normally be able to push the wire through.

After you clip the wires to length strip about 1/4" of insulation from the end.

Remove the 4 screws holding the main board in place.

As I mentioned earlier, I couldn't get the 24 gauge wire to feed through the pinholes. So I took some 26 gauge enamel coated bare wire, scraped off the enamel and soldered on small pieces of it to the 24 gauge. It's worth a shot to try though. If you can't get them to fit through the only alternative is to either hunt down some insulated 26 gauge wire or solder on points like I did.

Push the bare ends of both wires for the killswitch and the short wire for the starpower button through the proper pinholes and once they're through just bend the ends over on the underside to help them stay in place. Have a piece of electrical tape handy and turn the board over. Take the long starpower wire and push into into the proper pinhole as far as you can. Now fold the wire flat against the board being certain that you angle it away from where the button pads have to rest. Use the piece of electrical tape to hold it in place.

[Beacon]

There are a ton of those wee little holes in the circuit board so triple check to be sure you've got your wires in the proper locations. Check the pictures and follow the trace (little lines running around on the board). Remember the "killswitch" wires should connect to the down button trace and the "starpower" wires, the Back button trace. Nothing is going to suck as much as doing all this, buttoning it back up and starting up GH only to find the buttons aren't working because you used the wrong pinholes.

Once you've got all the wires where they're supposed to be, use a few piece of electrical tape over the wires on the top side to help hold them in place. As you do this be sure you haven't accidentally pulled them out by checking the opposite side where you bent the wire that's sticking through. Also be sure the little wires aren't touching any other solder points or metal on the other side.

Put the board back on the mounting posts and replace the 4 screws.

Step 6

Look everything over. Make sure your wires are tucked out of the way and won't interfere with any of the body screws or other parts.

Take off the tape you put over the tremolo to keep it from falling out.

Replace the back of the main body and tighten all 11 screws.



Go get your Rock On.

[tranemiles]

Beacon! All I can say is 'WOW' ..another job well done!

[Beacon]

Thanks trane.

Hope folks find it useful.

[Neptune49]

This all seems much to difficult for me to do on my own, but my curiosity is a bit peaked... What exactly is a "Kill switch" and what does it do?

[Beacon]

Sounds a lot more difficult than it is.

A real killswitch is used on electric guitars/basses to cut the signal. It's how Buckethead gets that odd sound to his guitar in Jordan. You've also heard it from Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine). In the old days you'd get the same effect by setting one pick-up volume completely off and the other cranked up - then hit a note/chord and move the pick-up selector back and forth. These days though they have a button on the guitar that achieves the same results without nullifying one of your pick-ups.

Technically speaking, on ours it's not breaking the signal, rather, connecting it. I mentioned it early in the write-up but on the X-Plorer you can "strum" a note with the strum bar or you can use the "Up" and "Down" branches on the D-Pad. The button I added essentially is just like taking the "Down" part of the D-Pad and recreating it where you can more easily reach it.

[David Akers]

Forgive my asking, but I'm at work and don't have the manual in front of me. What does the killswitch do in the game?

-David

[Beacon]

Originally Posted by David Akers

Forgive my asking, but I'm at work and don't have the manual in front of me. What does the killswitch do in the game?

-David

Read the post right before yours mate. Answer's there.

[David Akers]

I get that it replicates down on the D-Pad. Does that mean the button is another strum? *That's* what I'm not sure about. I guess I don't see its purpose.

-David