Bug-zapper Guitar Hero Controller

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Just before Christmas (the night time before?) 2006 my sister in-law asked me what I would like for a present. I requested a DualShock-like controller and Guitar Hero II for the Playstation 2 so that I could construct my own Guitar Hero controller. After Christmas day I spent some time wanting round for a toy guitar that I could hack however did not see anything suitable. I then remembered that during my childhood I'd generally leap about the lounge room with the stereo turned up whereas pretending to play guitar with a tennis racket. Now in Thailand they not solely have tennis rackets however they also have excessive-voltage bug-zappers that appear like tennis rackets. They're great for chasing down probably life threatening mosquitos (utilizing one is clearly a case of self denfence) which disappear in a brilliant blue flash accompanied by a satisfyingly loud bang. Now you can discover an enormous number of DIY Guitar Hero controllers on the web made from LEGO, real guitars, and erector sets and even Guitar Hero playing robots.



Given my fond childhood reminiscences, the tennis-racket-esque (and therefore guitar-like) form of the bug-zappers, their ready availability and low price I resolve to make use of a bug-zapper for the body of my Guitar Hero controller. I purchased a racket with a groovy lightning-bolt motif and began by gutting the handle and eradicating the present electronics. Despite being powered by solely two 'AA' batteries it delivers a surprisingly massive kick - although at a very low present. I additionally eliminated the circuit board from the DualShock controller and de-soldered the rumble motors and Right analogue joystick. The printed circuit board (PCB) has what seem like small check-pads positioned close to every of the buttons and that i soldered wires for my guitar immediately onto these pads using the mapping in the table beneath. A while after my guitar was completed I discovered that shorting the Left D-pad button makes the sport assume that you're utilizing a Guitar controller. I used two small tact switches for "choose" and "back" and these were mounted using sizzling-melt glue at the bottom of the guitar's neck.



Using some facet-cutters I rigorously cut by the camping mosquito killer-frying mesh to make a gap simply massive sufficient for the left joystick and sizzling-melt glued the board in place. Then by trimming the mushroom off the highest of the thumb stick and carefully slicing a vertical slot I used to be capable of mount a plectrum in the top of the joystick. A small screw by means of the shaft held the plectrum in place. It was a novel contact but just a little complicated because the joystick acts because the whammy bar while you play Guitar Hero with a DualShock controller! The rest of the DualShock PCB was housed in a single-half of a undertaking box which was also glued to the back of the mesh. Within the 1987 movie Lethal Weapon, Mel Gibson's character realises that they are dealing with professionals as a result of they used mercury switches. Martin Riggs is analyzing a twisted hunk of metal as Murtaugh walks up beside him. MURTAUGH: camping mosquito killer What'cha received? RIGGS: Part of the gadget.



Holy cow. MURTAUGH: What? RIGGS: Artwork. This is @! MURTAUGH: Swell. I'm glad you favored it. RIGGS: You don't understand. That is real professional stuff. MURTAUGH: Come once more? RIGGS: C.I.A. That's right folks - mercury switches. I needed to be an expert and that i also wanted some kind of tilt change within the guitar to activite star energy so I went in search of a mercury switch. Having solely been in the country for about six months at that stage my Thai wasn't superb. On the local electronics retailer I spent a while trying to elucidate what I was on the lookout for and after many drawings of thermometers and makes an attempt to look like Mel Gibson they advised me that they didn't have any mercury switches. It's a small gadget that you match over your ear whereas driving. Should your head fall forward it then emits an ear piercing beep that causes you to get up while simultaneously deafening you. I think is a really catchy title.



There was obviously some kind of tilt-sensing mechanism inside and certain enough once i opened the case what I saw was artwork - there was a mercury swap inside. Now we had been ready to rock. At first my son was slightly reluctant to attempt the guitar because he was afraid of being zapped. I should have left the high-voltage electronics intact and the guitar could possibly be used for operant conditioning. If B.B. King's guitar is known as "Lucille" then an applicable nickname for this guitar is likely to be "Frank", "Dweezil" or even perhaps "Moon Unit". While making the guitar I was shocked at how troublesome it was to search out acceptable buttons - the truth is the guitar has now been by three completely different generations of buttons. I discovered these stunning looking buttons at the same electronics retailer that bought the succinctly named "Cure Sleepiness Right away" and thought they could be good for this hack.