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GHWT PS2 NTSC Band Bundle

Guitar Hero World Tour band bundle for PlayStation 2. Image features two "genericaster" guitar controllers, the drum controller with kick pedal and two drum sticks, and a microphone.

This page lists Guitar Hero-branded peripherals, controllers and their controls, as well as serving as a compatibility guide for the various instrumental controllers (including Rock Band-branded controllers/peripherals) compatible with Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and other software.

This information was available on Rock Band's official website, but as of July 23, 2014, the Rock Band website was no longer available and some of its contents were moved to Harmonix's website.[1] However, the compatibility lists are still viewable on The Internet Archive.[2] All of the information from that webpage has been compiled into a chart below. This page also provides information on what parts for the controllers are compatible with other controllers, such as cables or battery covers.

Controllers[]

Instrumental controllers[]

List of official Guitar Hero-branded instrumental controllers for each playable instrument. This list does not include Rock Band instrumental controllers, which can be found on the Rock Band Wiki for guitars, drums, and vocals, or third-party instrumental controllers that were not officially licensed/approved by RedOctane/Activision.[a]

Peripherals

Notes:
  1. ^ An example of an unlicensed third-party guitar controller that will not be included on the list (nor a wiki article will be made for on the WikiHero) is the TAC Guitar Mania Freedom V Wireless Guitar Controller that Activision and RedOctane sued TAC for, and TAC countersued against in September 2006.[3] Other third-party guitar controllers (possibly unlicensed) include:
    • Pelican Aly & AJ Guitar Controller
    • Gene Simmons Axe Guitar Controller
    • Nyko FrontMan Wireless Guitar Controller (incompatible with Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, and Rock Band)
    • Blockhead's guitar controllers
      • Blockhead Grinder Guitar Controller for PS2 and PS3 (manual)
      • Blockhead Max-V Guitar Controller for Wii (manual)
      • Blockhead Multi Wireless Guitar for Wii (manual)
    • DOYO Wireless Guitar Controller and similar brands
    • And more...
  2. ^ 1 2 3 4 Officially licensed third-party controllers.


Gamepads and other controllers[]

In addition to guitar controllers, all guitar and bass tracks in Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith are also playable on the game system's standard peripherals (i.e. DualShock 2 on PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 controller on Xbox 360 and Windows, DualShock 3 on PlayStation 3, Wii Remote on Wii, and computer keyboard on Windows/Mac OS X).

Guitar Hero World Tour and newer games lack the use of gamepads except to activate Star Power in Vocals and navigate in menus.

List of controls for each controller type:

List of controls for DualShock 2, Xbox 360 controller, and DualShock 3. All fret buttons activate the strum bar on gamepad during songs. There is no separate strum button.

DualShock 2 & 3 Menu function Xbox 360 Menu function Gameplay function
L2 LT Strum Green Fret
L1 Orange menu option (Downloads) LB Orange menu option (Downloads) Strum Red Fret
R1 RB Strum Yellow Fret
R2 RT Strum Blue Fret
Confirm A Confirm Strum Orange Fret
Start Confirm Confirm Pause
Select Activate Star Power
or Battle Power-Ups
L Navigate menu L Navigate menu Whammy Bar (all games)
R R Whammy Bar (GH3 & GHA only)
Navigate menu Navigate menu
Yellow menu option (Setlist) B Cancel
Blue menu option (Bonus) X Blue menu option (Bonus)
Cancel Y Yellow menu option (Setlist)
In the cheat menu when entering a cheat code, and serve as Strum Up and Strum Down respectively.

By default, playing standard gamepad controls use the shoulder buttons, triggers, and the bottom interface button to play and auto-strum notes. When playing Guitar Hero or the PlayStation 2 version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, there is a trick to switch DualShock 2's controls from gamepad input mode to guitar input mode to press any buttons without overstrumming and manually strum with the D-Pad.

  • Guitar Hero: Holding ◂➕ at any time switches DualShock 2 in guitar input mode. Releasing ◂➕ switches it back to gamepad input mode. On the main menu, this can be identified when the Tutorial option is highlightable when a guitar controller input is detected and when it grays out when a guitar controller input is not detected.
  • Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock: Upon booting up the game, hold ◂➕, then release the after the first loading screen appears. DualShock 2 controller will now be in guitar input mode, using guitar controls. The new controls are as followed:
DualShock 2 Guitar controller Menu function Gameplay function
R2 G Confirm Hold Green Fret
R Cancel Hold Red Fret
Y Yellow menu option (Setlist) Hold Yellow Fret
B Blue menu option (Bonus) Hold Blue Fret
O Hold Orange Fret
Start Start Confirm Pause
Select Select Activate Star Power
or Battle Power-Ups
L2 🎸↑
L↑ ⤥👋 Whammy
, 🫴↑, Navigate up Strum Up
, 🫳↓, Navigate down Strum Down

The Windows and Mac OS X version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, and Guitar Hero World Tour supports computer keyboards and mice as "guitar controllers" and "drums controllers" (in Guitar Hero World Tour) as well as other guitar and drums controllers that support them and these computer games are bundled with Xbox 360 instrumental controllers. Keyboard and mouse controls are customizable but the default keyboard and mouse controls are listed on the table and in-game images below.

Keyboard Mouse Menu function Guitar/Bass function Drums function Vocals function
L-SHIFT Orange menu option (Downloads) Hold Orange Fret Activate Star Power
or Battle Power-Ups
Z Blue menu option (Bonus) Hold Blue Fret
X Yellow menu option (Setlist) Hold Yellow Fret
C Cancel Hold Red Fret
V Confirm Hold Green Fret
A, S, D, F Hit Red Pad
W, E, R, T Hit Yellow Pad
Y, I, O, P Hit Blue Pad
Y, I, O, P Hit Green Pad
SPACE Activate Star Power
or Battle Power-Ups
Foot Pedal Activate Star Power
R-ALT Whammy Bar
ENTER Confirm
R-SHIFT MC Activate Star Power
or Battle Power-Ups
ESC, ←BACK Cancel Pause Pause Pause
LC Navigate Up Strum Up
RC Navigate Down Strum Down
F10 Yellow menu option (Setlist)
F11 Blue menu option (Bonus)
F12 Orange menu option (Downloads)
+ Mic Volume Up
- Mic Volume Down
Notes
  • Notice how the default keyboard guitar controllers are in Lefty Flip. By default, the PC versions of Guitar Hero games are set to Lefty Flip but this can be toggled off and the controls will need to be remapped.
  • In Guitar Hero World Tour, keyboard on Drums uses the 4-lane Rock Band-styled drum highway. For 5-lanes, a Guitar Hero drumkit is required.
Gallery

Besides being attached to a Wii guitar controller to power a Wii guitar controller, the Wii Remote itself can also be used in the Wii version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith with "gamepad" controls. However, other peripherals and attachments for the Wii Remote such as Wii Classic Controllers (including the Pro version) and Wii Nunchuk, as well the GameCube controller, are not supported in these games.

During menu navigations (including the pause menu), the Wii Remote is held upright while during song gameplay, the Wii Remote is held sideways. The sound effects of mishitting notes also output through the Wii Remote's speaker.

Wii Remote input Menu function Gameplay function
B Cancel Strum Green Fret
Upright: , Sideway: Yellow menu option (Setlist) Strum Red Fret
A Confirm Strum Yellow Fret
1 Blue menu option (Bonus) Strum Blue Fret
2 Strum Orange Fret
+ Confirm Pause
-, Upright: , Sideway: Activate Star Power
or Console Power-Ups
.+○:Shake Whammy Bar
Upright: , Navigate menu
In the cheat menu when entering a cheat code, B, (upright), A, 1, and 2 corresponds with GRYBO as usual while (upright) is Strum Up and (upright) is Strum Down. Diagonally ➕▸ (upright) strums the red fret.

Compatibility[]

Compatibility chart[]

All controllers and peripherals listed below are only compatible with the console they were intended to be used on. For example, a PlayStation 3 Guitar Hero World Tour guitar controller will only work with the PlayStation 3 versions of the games listed below, even though the Xbox 360 version of the controller occupies the same column.

Guitar controllers Pro-Guitar controllers Keyboard controllers Drums controllers Microphones
↓ Games GH3–GHWoR guitars* GH2 guitar* Mad Catz Precision Bass Mad Catz Telecaster RB1, RB2, & The Beatles guitars RB3 Squier and Mustang RB3 keyboard GHWT–GHWoR, BH, & Logitech drums RB1, RB2, & The Beatles drums ION Drum Rocker Rock Revolution drums GHWT, BH, RB1, RB2, The Beatles mics Lips mics Mad Catz mics PDP mics SingStar mics
Guitar Hero II (PS2) Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Guitar Hero II (360) Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (360) Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS3) Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (PS3) Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (Wii) Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (PS2) Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Guitar Hero World Tour (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Guitar Hero World Tour (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Guitar Hero World Tour (Wii) Yes No No No No No No Yes No No No Yes No No No No
Guitar Hero World Tour (PS2) Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes
Guitar Hero: Metallica (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Guitar Hero: Metallica (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Guitar Hero: Metallica (Wii) Yes No No No No No No Yes No No No Yes No No No No
Guitar Hero: Metallica (PS2) Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes
Guitar Hero: Smash Hits (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Guitar Hero: Smash Hits (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Guitar Hero: Smash Hits (Wii) Yes No No No No No No Yes No No No Yes No No No No
Guitar Hero: Smash Hits (PS2) Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes
Guitar Hero 5 (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Guitar Hero 5 (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Guitar Hero 5 (Wii) Yes No No No Yes No No Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
Guitar Hero 5 (PS2) Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes
Band Hero (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Band Hero (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Band Hero (Wii) Yes No No No Yes No No Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
Band Hero (PS2) Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes
Guitar Hero: Van Halen (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Guitar Hero: Van Halen (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Guitar Hero: Van Halen (Wii) Yes No No No No No No Yes No No No Yes No No No No
Guitar Hero: Van Halen (PS2) Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (Wii) Yes No No No Yes No No Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
Rock Band & Track Packs (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Rock Band & Track Packs (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes
Rock Band & Track Packs (Wii) No No Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No
Rock Band & Track Packs (PS2) No Yes No No Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No
Rock Band 2 (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Rock Band 2 (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Rock Band 2 (Wii) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No No
Rock Band 2 (PS2) No Yes No No Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No
The Beatles: Rock Band (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
The Beatles: Rock Band (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
The Beatles: Rock Band (Wii) Yes No No No Yes No No Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
Lego Rock Band (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lego Rock Band (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Lego Rock Band (Wii) Yes No No No Yes No No Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
Rock Band 3 (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Rock Band 3 (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Rock Band 3 (Wii) Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No No
Green Day: Rock Band (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Green Day: Rock Band (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Rock Band 4 (PS4) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes ? Yes No Yes ? No
Rock Band 4 (One) Yes with Legacy Game Controller Adapter Yes with Legacy Game Controller Adapter Yes with Legacy Game Controller Adapter Yes with Legacy Game Controller Adapter Yes; wireless guitar only with adapter* No No Yes with adapter; no double kick support* Yes with adapter; double kick only for RB4 drums* No ? Yes No Yes ? No
Rock Revolution (360) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Rock Revolution (PS3) Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
PopStar Guitar (PS2) Wireless guitars work[c 1] Yes No Wireless guitars work[c 1] Wireless guitars work[c 1] Wireless guitars work[c 1] No No No No No No No No No No
Notes:
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The PlayStation 2 version of PopStar Guitar is compatible with wireless guitar controllers. Some sources say wired USB guitars may not be compatible. IGN's PopStar Guitar Review (archive snapshot of 3 Jan 2013 04:14:00 UTC). PopStar Guitar announcement on Kotaku. The Wii version of PopStar Guitar is only compatible with its proprietary AirG peripheral for the Wii Remote.
  • Rock Band series' guitars, drumkits, and microphones are compatible in Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero for the Wii. Do NOT change those things.
  • Guitar controllers for Guitar Hero games (excluding the first two) are compatible with the following Wii Rock Band Track Packs:
    • Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock
    • Rock Band Country Track Pack
    • Rock Band Metal Track Pack
    • Rock Band Country Track Pack 2
  • Guitar Hero Live guitar controllers—with the exception of the Bluetooth iOS Guitar Hero Live controller that can only be used on iOS and tvOS, are compatible on any platform that Guitar Hero Live is available besides iOS/tvOS. However, while the Guitar Hero Live guitar controller is universal with any dongles, the dongles themselves are restricted to a specific console (PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U) but the Xbox One dongle is forward compatible on the Xbox Series X/S along with the Xbox One title and guitar.
  • Rock Band 4 instruments are only compatible on Rock Band 4. Past wireless instrumental controllers can be used in Rock Band 4 but Xbox 360 wireless instrumental controllers require the Legacy Game Controller Adapter to be able to be used an Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S console.
Guitar Hero/Rock Band-inspired video games' controller compatibility notes
  • A majority of guitar controllers should be compatible with many Guitar Hero/Rock Band-inspired games (e.g. Frets on Fire, Phase Shift, Clone Hero, YARG, etc.). However, for best compatibility and versatility on Microsoft Windows or Android OS, a USB Xbox 360 instrumental controller is recommended.
    • Wireless Xbox 360 instrumental controllers can be used if using an Xbox 360 Wireless Game Receivers is plugged into the computer and synced with the Xbox 360 (instrumental) controller. If using a third-party Xbox 360 Wireless Game Receiver and if it's not working out-of-the-box, you may have to install the Xbox 360 Wireless Game Receivers driver to the device manually in Control Panel's Device Manager. The only issue even with an Xbox 360 guitar controller is that the slider bar may not work.
    • PlayStation 2 controllers while using a PlayStation 2 to USB converter. Some older inspired games such as Guitar Zero required a PlayStation 2 guitar controller and may not be compatible with other guitar controllers.
    • Wireless PlayStation 3 controllers with their USB dongle attached to a computer is also an option but guitar tilt and slider bar will not function.
    • Using a Classic Controller to USB adapter (e.g. Raphnet adapter, RetroCultMods adapter, etc.), a Wii guitar controller is useable on PC.
    • Other instruments
      • Notable inspired games that support drums controllers include Frets on Fire X (a.k.a. FoFiX) in 4-lanes, Performous (4-lanes), Phase Shift in 4-lanes as well as 7-lanes with Rock Band 3 Pro Cymbals (Pro Cymbals are not compatible on a Rock Band 1 drum kit) and real MIDI drum kits (for most in-game features), Clone Hero in 4-lanes, 4-lanes + Pro Cymbals, or 5-lanes, Fret Smasher (drums not yet available but planned), and YARG (everything that Phase Shift can do).
      • Phase Shift and YARG both support Rock Band 3's keyboard controller and Pro Guitar controllers, not just for 5-lane keyboard, but also the full keyboard (Pro Keyboard is planned for YARG). Clone Hero supports 5-lane keyboard gameplay.
      • Vocals are playable by microphones in Frets on Fire X, Performous (as it was originally inspired by SingStar/UltraStar as UltraStar NX), and YARG. Phase Shift, Clone Hero, and Fret Smasher do not support playable vocals but can display lyrics.
      • Clone Hero and YARG (planned) supports Guitar Hero Live guitar controllers (excluding iOS Bluetooth guitar controllers) and gameplay style for multiple guitar tracks (including Bass, Co-op Lead, and Rhythm). An Xbox 360 dongle is highly recommended. Other console dongles have compatibility issues on computers; strum bar will not register when holding a fret button. However, a Wii U or PlayStation 3 dongle can be compatible with the third-party program Guitar Hero Live PokeMachine running. A modified version of a Guitar Hero Live PokeMachine also supports PlayStation 4 guitar controllers.
      • Guitar Hero World Tour: Definitive Edition adds support for many microphones and other instrumental controllers, as well as standard gamepads, that the base Guitar Hero World Tour video game on personal computers did not originally support. Any controller can be used for any instrument in the Definitive Edition game mod.

Component compatibility[]

Compatibility screenshots[]

Below is a gallery of images captured from the official Rock Band website's compatibility page. In the case of controllers that are compatible with the exact same software as other controllers, they are listed below as the same image for the sake of saving space.

Instrumental controller compatibility with software[]

Software compatibility with instrumental controllers[]

References[]

v · t · eInstrumental controllers of the Guitar Hero series
Guitar controllers
Wired SG (PS2) · X-Plorer (X360/PC) · Enduro-AX (Arcade)
Wireless Mayflash (PS2) · Les Paul (GH3/GH:A X360/PS3/Wii) · Kramer Striker (GH3/GH:A PS2) · Guitar Hero World Tour (GHWT/GH:M) · Guitar Hero 5 (GH5/BH) · Logitech · Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock · Guitar Hero 7 (cancelled) · Guitar Hero Live
Drum controllers
Drum kits Guitar Hero World Tour · Guitar Hero 5 (GH5/BH/GH:WoR) · Logitech
Peripherals Kick pedal
Other controllers and peripherals
Others Gamepads/Keyboard & Mouse/Wii Remote · Microphone · DJ Hero Wireless Turntable Controller (DJH1/DJH2)
Nintendo DS Guitar Grip · Drum Grip
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