Rock Band Mod Rocks; Hardware Quality Doesn't

Ah, the joys of hardware replacement.

Rock Band is here, and like the overdeveloped girl in 8th grade, it's impossible to not fall in love with it. However, just as you subsequently failed out of 8th grade (your mother and I are so disappointed), the Rock Band hardware seems to be giving up left and right. Reports of busted strum bars and finicky drum sets have streamed in from across the globe. As in the case of the Xbox 360, it's difficult to ascertain whether or not the failure rate is high. That being said, it's probably pretty high.

Of the editorial staff here, all of us have had to replace at least one instrument already. Carlos and Faylor both had defective Stratocaster strum bars. Remo and I had the same problem with our drum sets--a sensitivity issue illustrated in this Youtube video--that made it impossible to tap out a fast rhythm on a single pad.

Luckily Harmonix has admitted to the problems, and EA is following through with excellent customer service. Users with faulty hardware only have to put themselves through a short support questionnaire. If provided a credit card number for collateral, EA will ship out replacement instruments using two-day air mail. This is how all hardware support should work.

Upon receiving my new drum set, I realized just how broken the first kit was. I still have some problems with the blue and yellow pads occasionally dropping notes, but rather than endlessly exchanging instruments Silent Wolf style, I decided to stick with this one.

Though their functionality has largely improved, no exchange of hardware is going to fix the innate loudness of the drums. Thankfully someone else has solved this problem. Following this guide on Generation Gamerz to the letter, I set about modding my set with a combination of rubber and felt last night. As it turns out, it's a simple mod, and surprisingly effective.

Altogether it cost me around $25, and excluding time spent gathering materials (one awkward trip to Jo-Ann Fabrics; oh the things we do for games), I spent maybe 20 minutes on the whole project. You get a circular cutter, you cut out some colored felt and adhere it to sticky rubber, and then you stick the rubber to your drum pads. Tah-dah. Because these particular cutters are cheaply made and difficult to use without spinning the materials in circles, I recommend recruiting a friend or loved one to help, holding the paper/felt/rubber while you handle the dicing.

When all was placed and adhered, I was pretty pleased with the aesthetics. I was initially concerned about a major change to the sensitivity of the pads, but it turns out the difference is almost imperceptible--and because of the extra padding, you can really wail on them. Whereas the set was loud enough to be heard from one end of my place to the other, it now is quiet enough to play confidently at midnight. The timbre has gone from a harsh tap to a dull thwack, and travels a shorter distance as a result.

Plus, it's not as obnoxious while playing with your friends. In some cases the noise level was low enough that I almost didn't notice it at all over the music, which is great. One note: while I haven't tested the residual stickiness after ripping one of these things off--in the case your set fails, or you're not happy with the mod--I would imagine the gunk factor will be low. There is no glue involved, which makes me, and horses, happy.

In short, if you're not afraid of cutting things and standing out amongst the soccer moms at the fabric store, I highly recommend this mod. And if you were playing drums today and wondered if it was you or the drums to blame for your 2-star performance, it was probably you. But it could be the drums, too. So watch that Youtube video.