Jun 17
Fixing The Guitar Hero World Tour Guitar Strum
Although the Guitar Hero World Tour Guitar is my current fake plastic axe of choice, there have been some issues with it. Besides the analog touchpad, which can be effectively ignored (and even disabled completely within the Guitar Hero: World Tour game options), the main problem people had with the GHWTar is that the strumbar tends to malfunction. That is, you’ll see double-strumming (over-strumming) or failing to register up or down strums.
Well, it finally happened to me — my own GHWTar began double strumming intermittently! Fortunately, there is a fix, as long documented on the ScoreHero forums by superGOAT.
Some guitar batches have faulty strum switches, so let’s replace these stock switches …

… with Radio Shack SPDT submini level switch model #275-016. They are $2.99 each.

You’ll need these items to perform the fix:
- Two (2) #275-016 Radio Shack replacement switches
- T-10 Torx screwdriver
- Small philips screwdriver
- Soldering iron
- Pliers
Unscrew the body of the guitar, crack open the body shell, and locate the strumboard. It’s held in by 4 screws, so unscrew those and pull it off. Then desolder the existing switches from the three contact points on the strumboard — six in all — and resolder the new switches in.

The new switches are exactly the same size and shape as the old ones, so it is a perfect drop-in replacement.
I just performed this surgery on my two GHWTars, and it’s pretty easy. The hardest part, honestly, is desoldering the existing switches. I recommend using a pair of pliers to grab the switch on the narrow ends from the bottom. The pliers will hold the strum plate in place while you solder from the top with your other hand. Wiggle the strumboard up and away as you heat up the solder. Yes, it does help to have a “third hand” here; I braced the pliers against my stomach instead.
I did not need to use any new solder. Simply loosening the solder and wiggle-pulling the switches out left more than enough solder in place to secure the new switches.
If you need more detail, Josh Straub has an awesome walkthrough of the strum replacement procedure from start to finish. In fact, Josh has some really excellent walkthroughs of a bunch of useful fake plastic instrument mods, and I highly recommend checking them all out. Please note these are all specific to the Guitar Hero: World Tour Guitar, though:
And for the Guitar Hero: World Tour drum kit –
- Drum sensitivity repair guide (but you should request your free, official MIDI tuning kit from Red Octane, first!)
- Fix collapsing drum kit stand legs
Although I don’t play Guitar Hero: World Tour much for reasons I’ve described before, I still dabble every now and then, and I like to use the real 6-input GH:WT drums for GH:WT drum charts because of the weird 5-input Rock Band drum mapping. That collapsing drum legs fix is exactly what I was looking for. My GH:WT drumkit lists to the left like a drunken sailor after every song.. looks like I’ll be headed to the hardware store tomorrow to pick up a cotter pin!
















