Guitar Hero Van Halen for Nintendo Wii is not compatible with Rock Band Drums, according to Activision Customer Support. See the Q & A posted by Activision:
Question
What instruments are compatible with this game?
Answer
Guitar Hero: Van Halen is compatible with all previous guitars from previous Guitar Hero titles for this console.
Rock Band Wii Guitars are not supported.
Guitar Hero: Van Halen is compatible with Guitar Hero drums only.
Guitar Hero: Van Halen is compatible with both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band microphones.
Are the Rock Band Wii Guitars Compatible with Guitar Hero Van Halen?
The Guitar Hero World Tour MIDI Drum Tuning Software Kit download link has moved as a result of Guitar Hero's layoffs and shutdown of the RedOctane division and the Guitar Hero Store.
Unfortunately Guitar Hero support has an unfriendly URL, and this link may too expire. If it does, leave a comment on this post and I'll find an updated link.
Update: GuitarHeroPhenom's YouTube Channel has been restored after a 2 week suspension.
Guitar Hero champ and Guinness record holder Danny Johnson a.k.a. Guitar Hero Phenom has become another victim of the overzealous "copyright infringement" battles, resulting in the entire GuitarHeroPhenom YouTube channel being suspended and all videos becoming inaccessible after March 27th, 2010.
The channel was the largest Guitar Hero channel on YouTube, with a following built upon a combination of Danny's unbeatable skills, brother Scotty's high quality HD video editing with picture-in-picture closeups of Danny's finger movements, and father Jack's humorous narration. GHP gained many subscribers over the past 2 years due to their reliable and consistent ability to quickly post 100% FC videos showing Danny mastering the absolute toughest Guitar Hero songs and DLC within hours/days of their release.
For the time being, GHP has moved to their alternate account: GHPh3nom, so you can Subscribe there if you were following GuitarHeroPhenom previously. They've uploaded their excellent HD Full Band Covers on the GHPh3nom channel, including the killer Metallica One cover.
Before the channel was suspended, GHP had: Read more…
5Frets interviews top Guitar Hero player Lilirock to learn more about her unusual playing technique
Manon "Lilirock" Desbiens's extraordinary skill at Guitar Hero has earned her a #15 ranking for highest Guitar Hero 5 Expert Guitar Career score on the competitive ScoreHero.com leaderboard. But the kicker is her very unusual playing technique: she plays the guitar overhand like a piano, using all 5 fingers on her left hand in reverse order compared to normal. Her pinky handles the green fret and her thumb handles orange – even for trills!
To get a better idea, watch this video of Lilirock's 100% perfect FC run of Rush – "The Spirit of Radio" in GH5:
Lilirock talked technique with 5Frets recently in an interview:
5Frets: Tell us a bit about yourself for readers who aren't familiar with you.
It's official: the Expert Bass Drum glitch in Guitar Hero 5 will not be patched or fixed. Drummers will have to either play Hard skill or move up to the brutal Expert+ skill level if they want to avoid the game's bug.
An official post by Guitar Hero developers Neversoft on the GuitarHero.com support forum states:
by Neversoft » Fri Jan 15, 2010 11:12 pm
I have an official statement I can now post about the Expert+ drum glitch:
"Thanks for all the information on the expert+ issue. Unfortunately, it's not something that we will be patching for currently released products. However, we are currently working on solution for future Guitar Hero games."
Thanks,
Neversoft
In reality, Neversoft has actually fixed this problem several months ago, since Band Hero came out in late 2009 containing a fixed Expert skill level. Thanks to Band Hero's song importing feature, players were able to test the same songs on both GH5 and Band Hero for a back-to-back Expert drum comparison, and in every case, players agreed that songs glitched in GH5 were fixed when imported into Band Hero.
Unsurprisingly, the company's recent decision not to correct the game's malfunction has caused a furor to erupt among Expert Guitar Hero drummers.
This is not the first major Guitar Hero malfunction that Activision/Neversoft have refused to correct
Expert drummers discover a flaw in GH5 songs with Expert+ drum charts that causes players to completely fail songs they would normally ace. 5Frets.com investigates the details and talks with Expert players offering workarounds.
Shortly after Guitar Hero 5 was released, expert drummers found themselves failing songs during passages with heavy bass pedal action for no good reason. Even in DLC songs imported from Guitar Hero World Tour, players found themselves suddenly failing songs they were able to pass with no trouble in GHWT.
The Facts: something is broken in certain Guitar Hero 5 Expert Drum Charts, and the company fixed it in Band Hero
Here are the facts that nobody disputes:
The glitch happens only in Guitar Hero 5
The glitch happens only on songs that have the Expert+ drum skill level
The glitch happens only when the player is playing the Expert skill of a song that also features Expert+
The glitch happens to both GH5 on-disc songs (see link for list of the 9 Expert+ tracks), as well as DLC and disc imports like World Tour and Smash Hits (particularly the free Metal Track Pack DLC)
The glitch affects all platforms: Xbox 360, PS2 & PS3, and Nintendo Wii,
The company fixed this problem in Band Hero
UPDATE: January 16th, 2010: Official statement says the GH5 expert drum glitch will not be patched or corrected
Nintendo has evidently put an end to free DLC songs for Guitar Hero and Band Hero Wii players. 5Frets.com investigates why, by contacting Nintendo, Neversoft, and Steve Ouimette.
Over the last 5 months, 3 packs totaling 10 free DLC songs have been released. But one thing remains constant: None of them have been available free for Nintendo Wii players. Why is that?
Players who own both Band Hero and Guitar Hero 5 can import 69 of the 85 songs in Guitar Hero 5 into Band Hero. 5Frets.com has both song lists: which Guitar Hero 5 songs export to Band Hero, and which songs do not export.
The cost to export GH5 for PS3/360/Wii players is $6 / 480 MSP / 600 Wii Points.
For those who prefer to stick with the Guitar Hero 5 interface (and online players), you can export 61 of Band Hero's 65 songs into GH5 for $5 / 400 MSP / 500 Wii Points.
(Or if you're really a die-hard Guitar Hero fan, you can export both ways, giving you GH5's songs in Band Hero, and Band Hero's songs in GH5…)
Guitar Hero 5 Export to Band Hero Song List: 69 Tracks
Here's a full GH5 song list containing all 86 tracks for Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PS2 & PS3. This handy table includes Guitar Intensity, Bass Intensity, Vocal Intensity, and Drum Intensity ratings, plus denotes which Drum tracks feature Expert+ skill level.
You've seen and laughed at the corny commercial for the Snuggie, followed by the Weezer Snuggie. Now, 5Frets.com introduces the Guitar Hero Snuggie:
From the price "ding" to the bonus offers, to the fast talking 800 guy, we hope you have as much fun watching this as we did making it. (If you haven't seen the original Snuggie and Weezer Snuggie commercials, you probably won't get the joke references.)
How & Why We Made the Guitar Hero Snuggie Commercial Video
It's official: the 
Players who own both Band Hero and Guitar Hero 5 can import 69 of the 
