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TheDave
Joined: 04 Mar 2008
Posts: 636
Location: The OC
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 Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:16 pm Post subject: Another Wireless 360 X-Plorer - ITS DONE!!! (3-11) upd: 4 |
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Originally, I started this thread to ask if it had been done yet, after some helpful posts from the first few reply's (Thank you!), I was shown that it had been done. Here are the previous 3 (that I could find):
http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=84265
http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=73662
http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=86720
After seeing all those, and the idea's, I went and hacked up my extra controllers to make one as well!
I'm not quite done yet, but I will continue to posts pics as things progress.
As of right now (2am this morning), I now have a (mostly) working Wireless X-Plorer Guitar for my xBox 360 
Here are the first pics:
As you can see the battery case is not yet mounted inside of the shell. That is one of the remaining items I have left to finish.
Here's what is done (so far):
*) All fret's & strum bar working!
*) Original start / select buttons working
*) Main / Power "X" xBox button working
*) "TILT" SP Activation working (perfectly!)
*) Headset port working (straight transplant)
*) LP's whammy working (straight transplant)
*) Useless "expansion port" wired up
*) connect /sync controller button working (for 1st time sync's to a new xBox)
What still needs some attention:
*) Internalizing the battery case! -- DONE (see update 4)
*) 4 green controller led designator lights surrounding the power / main "X" button -- DONE (see update 3)
*) 4 way directional pad -- DONE (see update 4)
Some more info / notes -- FAQu:
Why didn't you replace the start/select buttons?
I did not replace the select / start buttons because I am not a "squeezer".
I REALLY wanted the TILT SP activations to work correctly.
Damn, the inside is a mess! Are you gonna clean that up?
Nope!
I only care that it functions 100% looks nice from the outside.
What parts were used from each guitar?
Wireless LP Parts:
*) wireless "main" circuit board
*) headset ports circuit board
*) fret button's circuit board only
*) whammy bar assembly
*) connect / sync controller button
Wired X-Plorer Parts:
*) main shell (duh!)
*) strum bar circuit board
*) "misc" buttons (main) circuit board ***see note***
*) the useless "expansion port" phone jack
*) headset ports "shell"
*) fret button's & rubber button contacts (so it still feels exactly like an X-Plorer)
*** Note: ***
I kept the X-Plorer circuit board attached (minus many chips & tiny parts that were ripped off) because I wanted to re-use that circuit board for all the misc button contact points. And it works great!
It is just a pain in the ass to have to solder (sooooo many) tiny wires from the X-Plorer circuit board to the LP's circuit board.
===================== Update 2 --- 3-9 (afternoon) ==================
I did a little more work today, mostly cutting out the battery box from the LP, and cutting / trimming it down to fit inside of the X-Plorer, here are the results:
I am going to get some white paint in order to keep the battery box & cover matching the rest of the guitar. So no more updates tonight.
Probably tomorrow I will post a pic of the battery box mounted inside of the guitar.
===================== Update 3 --- 3-10 (afternoon) ==================
While waiting for paint to dry last night (literally), I decided to solder up the xBox controller # indicator LED's:
Ignore all the scratches & missing crap off of this circuit board, it is ONLY used for button contacts (& these LED's). These LED's are Frick'n TINY!
All of this work was done under a magnifying light with a tiny (15 watt) soldering iron.
The wire you see there is just 5 strands from a spare 80 wire IDE cable.
The LEDs only needed 5 wires anyways, a common GROUND, and 1 unique(+) wire for for each LED.
This wasn't too incredible difficult (it wasn't easy though). The biggest thing about doing this kind of tiny work, is just the ENORMOUS amount of TIME it takes to do things carefully, and not screw up. Also, I didn't feel like sourcing, ordering & the waiting for red LED's to swap out, so I will stick with the Green ones.
All that's left now is doing the same kind of tiny wiring for the directional pad, and to glue in the painted battery case!
I hope to some final pictures tonight!
===================== FINAL Update (4) --- 3-11 (afternoon) ==================
ALL DONE!
Well, it's all done! Here is 1 pic of the internals all complete.
For a full set of many, many more pictures, you can see them all here:
http://not.hellalame.com/wireless-xbox-360-x-plorer/
Please post any questions you have, or requests for further pictures.
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Last edited by TheDave on Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:16 pm; edited 5 times in total |
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ND1310
Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Posts: 778
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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| it has been done....twice i would look in guitar modding 101 |
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rpeet687
Joined: 25 May 2008
Posts: 557
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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| It would be great if you had soldering iron if you were going to attempt this and if you read the two threads of those who have done it already. Good luck> |
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TheDave
Joined: 04 Mar 2008
Posts: 636
Location: The OC
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 11:47 pm Post subject: |
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Doh!
That search function is rather useless... It should of found both of those with all of the keywords combinations I tried...
Oh Well.....
Thanks for the links guys, I will most likely turn this thread into my steps/progress for making myself a wireless X-Plorer.
Edit: I'm not worried about the soldering, as I am pretty decent at that (& have the equipment).
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MrBrownStain420
Joined: 01 Feb 2008
Posts: 423
Location: Virginia
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| Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 7:41 am Post subject: |
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Didn't they sell a wireless version at some point?
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gtaivpc
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 324
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| Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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| MrBrownStain420 wrote: | | Didn't they sell a wireless version at some point? |
Yes they did, at least my friend had one of those till it broke. It came with GH3 (lolwut). |
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ravagetalon 
Joined: 21 Jul 2007
Posts: 2130
Location: KY
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| Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:34 pm Post subject: |
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My standing opinion is that Wired > Wireless. But I Digress.
In order to have a wireless XPlorer you would need to basically gut it and replace the internal components with that of another wireless controller (The Les Paul etc). You wouldn't really be gaining any benefit of the better guitar cause essentially all you'd have of the XPlorer is its outer shell.
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TheDave
Joined: 04 Mar 2008
Posts: 636
Location: The OC
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| Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:52 pm Post subject: |
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bump for topic change, and it's a BIG one!
(see 1st post)
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Whitt333 
Joined: 03 Dec 2007
Posts: 1535
Location: Minnesota
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| Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 2:13 am Post subject: |
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Very nice job! Great job with the hole for the battery pack. Very impressive. Have fun with it.
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BriGuy
Joined: 04 Mar 2006
Posts: 1894
Location: Boston
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| Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:08 am Post subject: |
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Looking great! Good luck with the home stretch!
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TehBanStick
Joined: 06 Dec 2006
Posts: 2709
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| Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:16 am Post subject: |
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| ravagetalon wrote: | | In order to have a wireless XPlorer you would need to basically gut it and replace the internal components with that of another wireless controller (The Les Paul etc). You wouldn't really be gaining any benefit of the better guitar cause essentially all you'd have of the XPlorer is its outer shell. |
Modding is for fun, there doesn't need to be a benefit.
Just look at those who made double necks, do you seriously think they use that feature often? No.
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TheDave
Joined: 04 Mar 2008
Posts: 636
Location: The OC
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| Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:26 pm Post subject: |
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| ravagetalon wrote: | | In order to have a wireless XPlorer you would need to basically gut it and replace the internal components with that of another wireless controller (The Les Paul etc). You wouldn't really be gaining any benefit of the better guitar cause essentially all you'd have of the XPlorer is its outer shell. |
Generally, I agree with your Wired > Wireless.
Especially for the ps2/ps3's.
However, playing on the 360 (& Wii as I have), I have not had one single problem, other than the occasional low battery.
I have seen the "whammy lag" for the X-Plorer, but like I have said, since I don't squeeze, I never minded. This is fixed now anyways with the LP hardware inside of the XP shell.
For me, I find that I ALWAYS get a better score & hit moar notes with the XP. ALWAYS. Every time. So I really like the XP shell.
I think it is the shorter neck really. Mostly because I don't have to hold my hand so far away from my body that helps me so much.
| TehBanStick wrote: | Modding is for fun, there doesn't need to be a benefit.
Just look at those who made double necks, do you seriously think they use that feature often? No. |
Yes, this mod (and all mods) are pretty fun.
For this one though, I think it is greatly improving on what I had. Almost to the point where the benefits outweigh the fun...
I can't count the number of times when I have to pause the game to go grab something out of my car in the garage, or go talk with the wife in another room for just a minute, or run upstairs to grab something. So for me, the wireless part of this mod is extremely convenient. Almost to the point where it is necessary. It is pretty fun doing the mod though
===============
New post for the project is DONE! see the 1st post, and check out this link for many many more detailed pictures that I won't clutter this thread with:
http://hellalame.com/wireless-xbox-360-x-plorer/
Please post questions if you have them.
The guitar has been tested and works perfectly! Even the TILT SP activation!
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TheVoyager913
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 157
Location: Ohio
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:13 am Post subject: |
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Nice job on the Guitar. I'm working on something like that myself. 
Can I have it?
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| Jared1287 wrote: | | If you FC The Camera Eye, I'd jump off my house, which is 3 stories, on video. |
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anonymous_14
Joined: 01 Jan 1970
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| Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 2:05 am Post subject: |
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TheDave
Joined: 04 Mar 2008
Posts: 636
Location: The OC
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| Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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| sk8addict wrote: | | i was wondering if you could explain how you wired the two circuit boards together so that when the guide and such is pressed on the explorer controller it registers on the lp board. |
In short, very, very, very carefully.
In a little more detail, you can see in this picture:
http://hellalame.com/wireless-xbox-360-x-plorer/wireless-x5-lp-guide-button-wires.jpg
This is the "wireless" LP's circuit board. And the 2 wires you see there are soldered to the xBox "Guide" button contacts (for the LP).
Those 2 wires were then run over to the XP's circuit board(***see note), and soldered onto two (tiny) traces which connect to the xBox "Guide" button contacts for the XP button.
***To note, as you can see in all of those pictures. ALL of the circuits, chips, resistors, diodes, etc, have been completely stripped off of the XP's main circuit board. This was done for 2 reasons:
1) keep any unwanted signals from crossing between the LP & XP (or any button contacts)
2) help create (only slightly) bigger soldering points for connecting the wires for all of the LP-XP wiring which was needed.
In order to find all of the used button contact points on the XP circuit board (in order to route them to the LP), a lot of time was spent visually tracing, and electrically tracing (via a cheap/simple voltage tester) all of the contacts which I needed to use.
This was always checked, and re-checked, and tested before actually connecting it to the LP's board.
If you have more questions, just ask 
====================
A couple other things, kind of separate, but somewhat related.
I have been screwing around with this kind of electronics work (soldering too) for like 10-15 years.
Now, you certainly DO NOT need that much time invested to do this. Really, I found it kind of simple.
The biggest thing, by far, was just the enormous amount of time spent being VERY careful to to hit the wrong thing when soldering. Having the right tools makes a ton of difference too.
And, the local Toys R Us has like 50+ XP's on sale for $10.
I am really considering picking up 1-2 more. Because, while this one turned out great (and it works great for me too!), I know I could do better. Now I just gotta find a cheap "doner" LP to steal parts from.
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