Bug-zapper Guitar Hero Controller

Just before Christmas (the night earlier than?) 2006 my sister in-law asked me what I might 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 looking round for a toy guitar that I could hack however didn't see anything appropriate. I then remembered that throughout my childhood I might generally leap concerning the lounge room with the stereo turned up while pretending to play guitar with a tennis racket. Now in Thailand they not solely have tennis rackets but they also have high-voltage bug-zappers that appear to be tennis rackets. They are nice for chasing down potentially 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 find an enormous variety of DIY Guitar Hero controllers on the net made from LEGO, real guitars, and chemical-free bug control erector sets and ZapZone Defender even Guitar Hero playing robots.



Given my fond childhood recollections, the tennis-racket-esque (and subsequently guitar-like) form of the bug-zappers, ZapZone Defender their prepared 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 only two 'AA' batteries it delivers a surprisingly large kick - although at a really low current. I additionally removed the circuit board from the DualShock controller and de-soldered the rumble motors and ZapZone Defender Right analogue joystick. The printed circuit board (PCB) has what appear to be small take a look at-pads situated near every of the buttons and i soldered wires for my guitar instantly onto these pads using the mapping within the table beneath. A while after my guitar was completed I came upon that shorting the Left D-pad button makes the sport assume that you're using a Guitar controller. I used two small tact switches for "select" and "again" and ZapZone Defender these had been mounted utilizing hot-melt glue at the base of the guitar's neck.



Using some side-cutters I rigorously minimize via the mosquito-frying mesh to make a hole just giant enough for the left joystick and Zap Zone Defender Setup hot-melt glued the board in place. Then by trimming the mushroom off the top of the thumb stick and carefully chopping a vertical slot I used to be capable of mount a plectrum in the highest of the joystick. A small screw by the shaft held the plectrum in place. It was a novel touch however a little complicated as a result of the joystick acts as the whammy bar if you play Guitar Hero with a DualShock controller! The remainder of the DualShock PCB was housed in a single-half of a mission field which was additionally glued to the back of the mesh. Within the 1987 movie Lethal Weapon, Mel Gibson's character realises that they're dealing with professionals because they used mercury switches. Martin Riggs is inspecting a twisted hunk of metal as Murtaugh walks up beside him. MURTAUGH: What'cha obtained? RIGGS: ZapZone Defender Part of the system.



Holy cow. MURTAUGH: What? RIGGS: Artwork. This is @! MURTAUGH: Swell. I'm glad you liked it. RIGGS: Zap Zone Defender Review You don't perceive. This is actual pro stuff. MURTAUGH: Zap Zone Defender Come once more? RIGGS: C.I.A. That's proper of us - mercury switches. I wished to be an expert and that i also needed some sort of tilt switch in the guitar to activite star power so I went in search of a mercury switch. Having solely been within the nation for about six months at that stage my Thai wasn't very good. On the local electronics retailer I spent some time making an attempt to explain what I used to be on the lookout for Zap Zone Defender System and after many drawings of thermometers and ZapZone Defender attempts to seem like Mel Gibson they informed me that they did not have any mercury switches. It's a small gadget that you just fit 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 very catchy identify.



There was clearly some kind of tilt-sensing mechanism inside and positive enough when i opened the case what I noticed was artwork - there was a mercury change inside. Now we have been ready to rock. At first my son was somewhat reluctant to attempt the guitar because he was afraid of being zapped. I ought to have left the high-voltage electronics intact and the guitar could be used for operant conditioning. If B.B. King's guitar is named "Lucille" then an applicable nickname for this guitar is perhaps "Frank", "Dweezil" or perhaps even "Moon Unit". While making the guitar I was surprised at how troublesome it was to search out appropriate buttons - in reality the guitar has now been by means of three totally different generations of buttons. I found these lovely trying buttons at the same electronics store that sold the succinctly named "Cure Sleepiness Immediately" and thought they can be good for this hack.