Guitar Hero World Tour Drum Sensitivity Repair Guide
Fix your broken Drum Kit so it doesn't require excessively hard hits to register properly.
Featuring large photos of the repairs!
By Josh Straub, ©2009
Please post this website link on forums and share with anyone having GHWT Drum Kit issues!
Estimated time for repair: 60 minutes
(disassemble, glue, allow to cool, reassemble)
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Anxious to try drumming for the first time, I went to the store early on Saturday night, October 25th 2008 to ensure I got a Nintendo Wii "Band Kit" at the Guitar Hero World Tour midnight release. I was the first guy in line and the Band Kits all sold out 20 minutes after I got there.
My excitement soon turned to frustration when I got home and discovered that my drum kit (which was advertised and promoted to be quiet, velocity-sensitive, rugged, and better than Rock Band's instruments) kept missing many of my drum hits. I found that striking the drums harder would get them to register, but not always, and I was striking them so hard that the whole drum set was slowly slipping downwards, through the plastic clamp that holds it up. (See here for a fix to that problem, too.)
After fixing my drum kit, I went from only being able to get a 20-30 note streak, to hitting 200-300 note streaks and 97-99% accuracy on the first night! It is an amazing difference. Now I can use the drums properly and do drum rolls, etc. without the drum kit malfunctioning on me. Update July 2009: I hit my first 1,100 Note Streak!
Note: This guide assumes that all of your drums DO at least register when you hit them firmly in the direct center. If you have problems with certain drums not working whatsoever, you've got other issues this guide won't address. (Although seeing the disassembly photos might give you some ideas.)
A Word About Warranty
Before we get to the fixes, you should know the official Activision/RedOctane policy is to visit http://www.activision.com/support and follow their RMA exchange process to get your faulty/broken hardware replaced under warranty. The warranty is officially 90 days but forum reports (March 2009) suggest that some customers have had no trouble getting their equipment replaced on a timely basis.
Activision/RedOctane have also released an officially supported "Drum Tuning Kit" (screenshot) solution to the drum sensitivity problem. Reports indicate that it goes a long way towards fixing the sensitivity, but some drum kits still need the D.I.Y. hot glue fixes (below) for a 100% cure. The Drum Tuning Kit requires a USB-MIDI cable, which Activision will send you free of charge. If you can wait a week or so for the kit to arrive, I recommend you try this first. If it doesn't cure your drums 100%, then proceed with my D.I.Y. fixes.
Obviously, opening your drum kit and fixing/modifying it may not be warranty-friendly. If you want to take matters into your own hands and get your drum kit working TODAY, then the fixes on this site are your solution. Some people have gotten their instruments replaced 2 times and STILL don't have a set that works 100%! So doing an RMA replacement has no guarantee of getting a 100% flawless kit.
Demonstration Videos
Don't take my word for it – check out these videos showing how my drum kit responded out of the box (poorly), compared to after I fixed the sensors with hot glue.
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Video #1: Poor drum response out of box. Watch the drum kit on the TV screen, on the left side – you can see when it fails to register my hits. In this video I tap various areas of the pads at different strengths to see what it takes to register a hit. Download Video: 0759_wiidrumkit_before_fixes.avi (20 MB, High Quality 640×480, CD-quality 44kHz sound, WMV9 codec) Right-Click, Save As. |
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Video #2: Good drum response after fixing with hot glue. Now the drums work like normal, if you use at least mild strength. (I test just how softly you can hit them in this video.) Watch me drum off the colored rubber rim of the Red/Blue/Green!! No way could I do that before the fix! Download Video: 0803_wiidrumkit_after_fixes.avi (12.6 MB, High Quality 640×480, CD-quality 44kHz sound, WMV9 codec) Right-Click, Save As. |
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Video #3: Gently tapping the red pad sensor to demonstrate how extremely sensitive it actually is. Keep in mind the red pad was the WORST on my kit out of the box! This goes to show it's the mounting of the sensor, not the sensor itself or the wiring causing the issue on my kit. Listen close to hear the drum sounding off from the TV behind me in this video. Download Video: 0787_wiidrumkit_tapping_sensor_directly.avi (3.3 MB, High Quality 640×480, CD-quality 44kHz sound, WMV9 codec) Right-Click, Save As. |
Explaining the Problem
The issue appears to be the rubbery glue used to attach the drum sensors to the rubber/plastic drum/cymbal pads. The sensors themselves are very sensitive. The rubbery glue is too thick and dampens too much of the vibration, preventing the sensor from accurately registering your drum hits.
| The solution is to attach each sensor more securely to the drum/cymbal, so that it transfers vibration better and registers your hits far more easily! |
This will make your drum kit work like it was supposed to work, right out of the box… </rolleyes>
Best Fix: Hot Glue the Sensors
If you don't feel comfortable gluing your new $100 drum kit, scroll down for some quick-n-dirty tape/cardboard suggestions you can use to test the fix first without "committing" to anything!
I was able to fix my drum kit by using Hot Glue to better secure the sensors to the kit. Perhaps start with the cymbals, they are the easiest to fix (5 minutes) and you can gauge your results before you move onto the drum pads (red/blue/green) themselves.
Simply remove the 4 Phillips screws with a screwdriver (Make sure to use a proper size screwdriver – you don't want to strip the screws), and the little plastic cover will pop off of the cymbal.
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Before you start gluing, you can verify that your kit is functioning properly by starting the game and gently tapping the gold sensors directly with a drum stick. (Be careful). On my kit, the slightest tap to the sensor with a drumstick would register on the game. I was surprised how sensitive they really are! If you do this test and yours does NOT seem sensitive, STOP because something is probably wrong and gluing won't fix it. See my video(above) of me tapping my sensor to demonstrate this! |
Now you can apply a small amount of Hot Glue around the sensor to secure it to the plastic. You don't need a ton, and don't put any on the sides or the plastic cover won't fit back on (see image below).
Notice how I get a small amount over the top of the gold ring. Allow the Hot Glue to cool (5 minutes), then reassemble and test. If you have a Wii, go into the GHWT game "Mii Freestyle" mode where you can easily SEE how your cymbal hits are registering (soft, loud, or not at all.) This makes testing very easy, compared to playing an actual song where you have to wait for the right color notes to come along.
The correct amount of glue may be different for you. I would recommend 3 blobs if yours requires a strong firm hit to even register consistently. If yours is not that bad but just needs a little improvement, try 1 blob. I had a guy email me saying he went straight for 3-4 and now he gets double hits every time (too sensitive).
Hot Gluing the Drums
The drums use the same type of sensor, so they get fixed the same way. It's just a little more involved to remove the back cover of the drum kit, but nothing too difficult as long as you're careful not to lose the dozen or so little screws. On my Wii Drum Kit, the screws were all small Phillips (+ shaped) screws. I have heard reports that some kits use a Torx (star) bit instead. Whatever your kit has, be sure to use the correct bit. If you have the Torx screws, Sears sells Craftsman Torx screwdrivers in the T6 & T10 sizes you may need.
Below is a photo after I hot glued the 3 drum sensors:
Tip: Use a flat tip screwdriver to hold back the foam while you're gluing, so you don't melt it with the glue gun, and so that the glue doesn't get into the foam! The glue sticks strongly to the plastic but in my case, I could remove it in 1 chunk using a pliers to grab it. If it gets in the foam, you'll never get it all out. (Should you feel the need to remove the glue in the future, that is.)
Did this guide help you or save you from having to buy new instruments?
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Quick & easy fix: Tape the sensors
Understandably, some people don't want to glue their new $100 drum kit. I feel the hot glue solution is the best long term fix. But in the meantime, a handful of people on the GuitarHero.com Community Forums have reported success by simply taping the sensors.
Here is a YouTube video showing how to fix the Cymbals with tape. If you do the tape fix, be extremely careful not to rip the tiny sensor wires!! (See Cardboard fix at the bottom of this page if this makes you nervous.)
Here's one of the images posted on the GuitarHero.com Forums of another users's tape fix (used with permission):
Quick & easy Cymbal fix: cardboard spring
Finally, here's one last easy fix from the GuitarHero.com Community Forums that you can try. This was the first test I tried and it worked surprisingly well, although not as good as my Hot Glue fix.
Cut a small strip of cardboard and fold it into a 4 or 5-layer Z-shape so you can stuff it into the plastic rectangle that goes over the cymbal sensor. The cardboard adds pressure to the sensor, helping it to better pick up the vibrations from your cymbal hits.
Hopefully these fixes resolve your issues. Happy drumming!
When I first got my GHWT drum kit the red pad was almost completely unresponsive. I felt like I needed to hit the pad so hard that I might break it. Now after using this guide to fix it, I only have to tap the pad lightly to get it to respond. Thanks for making such a comprehensive guide with so many pictures!
Thank you soooo much! This really is the best guide out there. Keep up the good work
i used the fix for my sensor now its over sensitive and when i strike the yellow cymbol it registers the red also can any one help me out
If your kit is oversensitive now, you either used too much hot glue (carefully peel some off), or get the Drum Tuning Kit to fine tune things and decrease the sensitivity of your red pad. Link for drum tuning kit at top of page under "warranty".
This may also be a loose wire, check to make sure that the wire didn't break from the sodder job and re-sodder if necessary. If a re-sodder is needed, just make sure that the black wire is in the center area and that the red is in the outer area being carefull not to have any sodder overlap the two areas.
While I was searching for a cure for our drums, I came across this site. It is well written and has some great info. Thanks!
My particular problem was not sensitivity, but a complete lack of function of the orange cymbal. However, the cymbal worked fine when switched to the other cymbal tower. I figured it was either the wiring or circuit board. Thankfully, it turned out to be wiring.
I found a fix by replacing the plug that attaches to the cymbal with one of similar size I found in a box of old plugs and parts. I spliced it to the wire that comes out of the cymbal tower. I did in fact disassembal the drums but that turned out to be an unneccessary step. While in there I did a few tests that led me to the solution. Unscrewing the seemingly dozens of screws was the the most time consuming part of the process! I am not saying this will work for everyone but it worked for me. I bought mine on Ebay and didn't want to try to mess with the warranty (if I even have one). I have seen this problen echoed be several frustrated people and I hope this easy fix will help someone.
Ran some searches when my red drum pad stopped working and came across this site. The pictures allowed me to see exactly what I was getting myself into. After opening up the kit I immediately found that the red wire to the pad had fallen off. A little solder Later and my red pad works again! I also figured while I was in there I'd tinker with the sensitivity issues. The hot glue method outlined here works perfectly. My drums have never been this accurate!
I have a fix for when the PLASTIC underneath the red drum is BROKEN or cracked (all the way like mine) – you must disassemble the drum fixture by pulling out the head (little rubber tabs will release) – then you crazy glue (or gorilla glue) a CD onto the broken plastic, then fix the sensor like above recommends (I used crazy glue). enjoy.
Also note that using either a silacone lubrication or a small amount of liquid hand soap will help to get the head back on.
I just hot glued my drums as per the guide, and still have an odd problem. For some reason, the drum does not work properly at the standard angle on the legs, but taking it off, and laying it horizontal, it works perfectly. More glue needed, or does it sound like jonbabe's fix might be needed? I don't want to pull it apart again without a game plan.
happydave, sounds like you're going to need some trial & error testing. Get a helper and experiment on Music Studio or Mii Freestyle mode, and try wiggling the wires or drumming at different angles and see if you can pinpoint exactly what is causing the change when you use a different angle. Strange problem, I'm not sure what else to suggest here.
Okay, round 2 with the drums tonight, and I found the problem was likely the wiring. My buddy had yanked it off anyhow, but with a little solder, and electrical tape (also stripped the cover a bit for more contact) the red drum was even TOO sensitive. Had to set it to 0 with the tuning tool! And it still works perfect!
when i taped my drums, i put them back together and they didnt work at all
help please
Well i opened up my set and discovered that my red drum pad issue is due to a disconnected red lead wire. anyone know the best way to reattach the wire? is the wire just glued to the surface of the sensor?
Solder it back to the sensor. Those wires are really easy to break.
If you have problems with broken wires, you must connect them to each coin sensor: one connected to the smaller sensor on top, one to the big sensor below.
Now, I've noticed a small lag between hitting and registering, of about 0,1 sec, and it's a pain in hard songs. I've been to the delay adjustments, but to no change. Any thoughts?
I have scoured the google web for a solution, but no one seems to have the answer. I have ps3 ghwtour kit. All the pads work fine. I could possibly go for a bit more sensitivity tho ( thanks for the hints ) – however. Its my bass pedal that is fuhkt. The plastic covering of the lower contact has ripped off leaving and awkward shaped 'hole' where the pedal contacts. I have tried tape/paper/card/blue tack to try and get a flat surface. I have lost all sensitivity. I may try the hot glue method, but Its the face of the contact thats the real problem. Its not a real problem in medium, but I play on expert and you cant hit any continous or doubles. Only hard single strokes. HELP!
i used this guide and intialy used 3 globs of glue on the drums, took it down to 2 and finally used only 1 due to drums being excesivly sensative. as for the cymbals i used 3 whick worked great. i guess start with 1 on drums and test and work you way up. great guide btw and keep up to good work.
I fixed the red drum pad for my husband who had previously taken the entire thing apart! He removed the rubber pads off the top and I can't see to get them back on. Any help or tricks?
I've had to remove the rubber pad so I could mend the plastic underneath, and putting back was not fun. You can't simply push the rubbers nipples back into place, as you've notice. Crazy glue is what I had to resort to, but that means that it is not coming back off if something else goes wrong
The problem with getting the rubber pads back on is friction. You need to use lubrication in order to get them back on. I recommend silicon lubrication or a small amount of dish or hand soap.
my green drum is over sensitive, i believe i need the USB-Midi cable and tuning software. does anyone have a cable i can borrow?
this really helped. when i took the drum apart it turned out that my black wire wasnt fasten to the sensor. thatnks for the help
hey, my drum cymbal isn't working. the conection wire is broke. the plugin and the wire thing has came out and i can't get it back in!!1
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I have the same problem. The yellow drum symbols connection wire was broken. We tried soldering the wire together without any luck. Any more ideas on this?
i have a strange problem with my drum kit , the yellow cymbol is under sensitive meaning when playing nearly half of my hits dont register on it but on the flip side every single time i hit the orange symbol it also sets off the yellow one …. any ideas?
My blue sensor fell off the pad.. what kind of glue should i use?.. hot glue didnt work btw
Some kind of epoxy adhesive (resin) should work, although in this case you might get an over-responsive sensor.
Thanks for this guide, I'm hopefully getting my drums next week so if they don't work as expected I know what to do
Just bought second hand drums. The blue pad doesn't seem to work and the yellow cymbal is under sensitive. Problem i have is that the previous owner ruined the screws on the back and so i can't seem to open the drums. Can anyone help?
^ If you have a solder iron use it to heat the screw and then gently unscrew it, if a screw driver can't do it use some pliers to turn it while it's still hot. You can still use new screws to put it back together.
Excellent guide, it worked great, if any now it's registering double and even triple hits in the music studio but in normal play it has no problems, used 3 dabs on each sensor and you can totally control the response with how much hot glue you use. Now I can play at night without making loud noises!!
Very, very nice guide!
Could you please tell me what drum vibration sensors (class, type) they used to build original drum kit? I've been thinking about building my custom drum kit for GH/RB.
My daughter broke both left and right cymbal cables on Guitar Hero drums. Could you please tell me what cable i need to buy and where i can buy it.?
Thanks,
Amela
I fixed the poor response on my yellow cymbal with some hot melt glue and now I'm back getting respectable scores again!
Thanks for you guide – it's excellent!
Where to buy a sensor, what type of sensor is it, datasheet?
Radio Shack Piezo Element part #273-073 has been reported as a functional substitute: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062402
I have found that it is not always the sensitivity that is the problem with the drum set. I was seeing a lot of issues with my red drum (like everyone seems too) and decided to do a self-repair. What I had discovered was that they used some sort of tack to cover the sodder. This tack made it appear as if nothing was wrong, but upon furthur inspection it was noticed that the origional sodder job had come undone. I removed the tack coating and was holding the whole wire in my hand with the rest of it still soddered to the sensor (wire broke). After re-soddering both the red and black wires in place and using electrical tape instead of the hot glue (as suggested in this article for sensitivity), the whole pad worked much better. So my suggestion is, if your looking to increase sensitivity you may also want to double check to make sure that the wires didn't break and that the sodder job is holding properly.
The issue I'm having doesn't occur all the time but just when I'm playing a passage with just the yellow cymbal and red drum. Sometimes the red drum will register a light hit when I'm hitting the yellow cymbal repeatedly. Does anyone know exactly what the problem is? I'd rather not have to get the tuning kit and midi cable but I will if it's the only solution.
GreenMunky, your situation is a classic case of needing the Drum Tuning Kit and MIDI cable. Fortunately it's free from Activision – just follow the links in my article under the "Warranty" section. I know it sucks but once you get the tuning kit, you will wonder how you ever lived without it. Kind of like how at a real rock show – the guitar and drum technicians have to tune the instruments every night before the show. But for our controllers you generally only have to tune them really good once and then you can leave it.
So, after rocking out last night, in the middle of a song, I notice reduced sensitivity in the green pad. By the time the song was over, none of my green pad hit were registering at all (I couldn't even advance the menu at the end of the song!!!!). I instantly went to my MIDI-USB tuning software and tried to adjust the drum pad's sensitivity to no avail. Besides blaming Boston for adding far too many green hits on hard, I looked at this guide to hopefully repair my drum kit. I have yet to open it up, but to me this is sounding like one or both of the wires inside the drum pad have come loose. Is the fix for something like this a simple solder job? Pretending for a moment I have little to no idea what I am doing (I don't!), are there wonderful instructions for that kind of drum repair?
Ripped it apart. The black wire to the green pad had come off. Simple solder job fixed it right up!
Thanks for the followup, James. It's great to hear you were able to save your drum kit with the repair.
Does anyone know how I can replace the rubber covers on the front of the drum set? I thought I could fix the sensitivity problem by taking the covers off, and now I can't get them back on. Any suggestions?
Austin, check out WildDragon's comment from September 1st. He suggests that hand soap or dish soap will provide the lubrication necessary to get the drum covers back on.
Okay, I've read through this and it seems to be the best way to fix my drum kit. The only bad thing is I don't have a hot glue gun but I do have superglue. Will it work the same? Because I'm needing a long term fix and something that will hold the best as I drum 75% of the time I'm playing GH. So will SuperGlue work just as well as Hot Glue or should I spring for the Hot Glue and Gun?
William, superglue is not the same as hot glue. Hot glue is rubbery when dry, whereas superglue is rock solid. A Hot Glue Gun is a handy tool to have around the house for many types of fixes, so you can't go wrong buying one. But if you don't anticipate using it for anything besides a one-time Guitar Hero drum fix, you could buy a real cheap one at Harbor Freight or the like.
Alright, thanks for the info. I have a friend who is lending me one tonight. I will follow the instructions and post the verdict afterwards.
I would not recommend superglue, as it tends to become brittle after drying, and cannot withstand the kind of repeated impact that you will subject your drums to. Also, superglue works well on plastic because it "eats" into the plastic and bonds by melting into the metal, and after repeated impact, you would risk even greater damage to your kit if the bond were to shatter in the wrong place.
You can pick up a hot glue gun and any home improvement (Home Depot, Lowe's, etc…) or craft store usually for less than 10-15 bucks, and they are very useful to have around the house!
Quick link: Home Depot has one online for 5 bucks:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xit/R-100184801/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
Which means they probably have it in store, too.
Dude you just saved my life!
I'm from Brazil, and we have no tech support whatsoever here
And i got my complete band kit while traveling to USA… i got home all excited like "YEAH, i'm one of the few guys that owns this kind of stuff around here", assembled all the instruments, to find out that my orange cymbal wasnt responding, and my guitar is not strumming down =(
Now my drum set is perfect, and my guitar would be perfect too if i knew how to use soldering stuff
Thanks a lot man, i hope you receive lots and lots of donations ( i have no credit card nor paypal account, but i'm close to 18 and i'll make sure to donate someday [ i mean it ] )
Hi I was wondering if you have a guide to fix the jack on the yellow cymbal? The wire fell out and im past my warranty so id like to fix it instead of buying a new one.
Thanks
Just got done replacing the wiring for both cymbals, with the help of my brother. If you understand a little bit about how to splice wiring, read on – this should be no trouble. Otherwise, look for the guy on the internet who sells replacement cymbal cables for $20 each.
We did this with a part from Radio Shack "6-Ft. Shielded Cable, 1/8" Plug to 1/8" Plug", part #42-2420. Cost $3.99. The nice thing about this part is that this cable is long enough to replace both existing wires, by cutting it in half, and then using the other end of the old wire – the end that's inside the drum kit housing with a little square white plug on the end. Just be sure the end of the wire from the old cable is OK first – you can check for continuity with a multimeter, or just hope for the best. If the wires look like they're still plugged into the little white square plugs, they are probably fine.
First, unplug the cymbal cables and remove the cymbals. Next, open the kit (20 screws and all that) in order to get out the old wires. Unplug the two little white plugs at the other end of the two cymbal cables from the circuit board. Pull out the old wires by feeding them out through the cylinder at the top by the cymbal – there are two screws you have to take off. Cut the old wires in half, and keep the end with the white plug that goes into the circuit board and set aside the 1/8" audio jack end.
Feed the new wire into the cylinder leaving about 6 inches out so you can plug it back in the cymbal. Tie a loose knot in it on the other end that is inside the drum kit, so it doesn't rip out next time you take the cymbal off and forget to unplug it first! Strip the cut end of the old wire to expose the outside wire and the shielded wire in the middle. Do the same for the new cable. Match up and twist together the wires from the old cable and the new one – outside wire to outside wire and shielded wire in the plastic center to the other one. Solder if you are so inclined for a more secure connection. Make sure the two sets of connected wires aren't touching each other, and then put electrical tape around the whole thing.
Plug the white plug back into the circuit board for each cable. Remember which is which. The positive wire for the yellow cymbal is yellow – for the orange cymbal , it is white. The yellow cymbal wire goes in the lower middle, between the plugs with the green and red wires.
Plug the 1/8 inch audio cable end back in the cymbals and test your new cable before putting it all back together. Once you've tested and made sure all is well, tape down the extra wiring in an open area inside the kit housing. Then put it all back together and curse the makers of this thing for putting you through all this!
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