Guitar Hero controller hacked for left-handed

Hendrix, McCarney, Cobain -- don't underestimate the power of lefty guitarists. Got a twitch to take your Guitar Hero licks southpaw? Check out Engadget reader Kevin M's handiwork; not really a how-to in the vein of our own Ben Heck, but it certainly proves those prepared to will a custom-flipped controller into being can do so with some light soldering, hot glue, and a weekend of labor. Prepare for faux-stardom, sinistral face-melters.

[BowserUSC @ May 1st 2007 6:58AM]

Why would left handed people need to play video games?

[John B @ May 1st 2007 9:47AM]

As a leftie who's been playing video games since the days of the Atari 2600, I really would love to know what the hell you're talking about.

[Gil @ May 1st 2007 7:14AM]

"McCarney"?

You mean McCartney as in Paul McCartney!

[jsn @ May 1st 2007 7:35AM]

why bother, you can play it upside down and it works exactly the same... if you're so clumsy that you can't avoid hitting the bar all the time, well....you're just clumsy.

[John B @ May 1st 2007 9:54AM]

@jsn:

Okay, let's reverse the clutch-brake-gas on your car so that it's gas-brake-clutch and we'll see how clumsy YOU are.

Unlike acoustic guitars, electric guitars are NOT mirror images of themselves when flipped to the other direction because of things like the bar. Just because you don't have a personal need for the mod doesn't make it less viable.

And what the hell ever happened to the geek mantra of "because it can be done"? Is it now "because it can be done but only when I see a use for it"?

[steve @ May 1st 2007 3:44PM]

it's not just upside-down, it's also reversed left-right, making it very confusion when looking at the screen, when the keys/colors go in the opposite direction they go on the screen. You can use the left handed option in the menu to fix this, which everyone at the party appreciates.

[Tony Rayo @ May 1st 2007 7:57AM]

Aww, AOL (which owns Engadget) bought out Ben? Oh well, Nullsoft did okay with them (although they did make them remove some freeware apps; there was that one interesting private p2p software very few people probably remember because it was only online for a day or two).

Anyway, the point of all of this is if someone is going to take the time to mod something then help others do the same, there isn't a reason to put them down. Save that for Zune owners.

[tiuk @ May 1st 2007 9:03AM]

Ahh yes, the p2p program you refer to is WASTE. You can still get it on sourceforge. Myself and a group of around 10 people used it a lot back in like 2003, after a couple of years our group kind of died out. Good memories, though.

[Tony Rayo @ May 1st 2007 2:00PM]

Thank you! I could not remember the name. Pretty much the same deal with me a a handful of friends. There was one swed with a 100mbit line we all mooched from though =p. Jebus bless dark fiber! I'm sure most people know this, but Nullsoft is probably known for another little piece of software called Winamp =). I don't remember when AOL bought them up, but I like to blame them for Winamp 3 being so crappy (that's why there was never a Winamp 4, they had to wash themselves clean of the shame =p).

For all the crap that AOL can be blamed for, they do support a lot of podcasters that otherwise wouldn't likely have the resources at hand to put out their content. They probably did something else good but I can't think of it atm. Oh, well, funding Weblogs, Inc. (home of Engadget) would be another one. As many stupid user comments and sometimes author-created ones as there are, it's still a site I check daily =).

[Jon @ May 1st 2007 8:10AM]

Hell Yeah Umass ..

[Marty @ May 1st 2007 8:21AM]

It's a lame mod. There's no insult intended there. It's a lame mod. It's not even newsworthy. The guitar controller works the same no matter which way you hold it. There is a left-handed option in the game so you can play the guitar upside down. All he did was move the whammy bar...which swivels in the first place. I'm all for supporting people who hack and mod and pass that on... but this is about as useful as figuring out how to put a 5th wheel on a Hyundai.

[Tyler @ May 1st 2007 8:45AM]

Hey! This mod isn't lame. The reason I don't play Guitar Hero all the time is because I can't use the whammy bar. Just because it swivels doesn't mean it's in the best place for lefties to use it. You have to use the palm of your hand to wham, and that's very inconvenient.

I'd love to see more of this mod. Thank you for posting it, Engadget!

[msoderberg @ May 1st 2007 9:00AM]

Quite a few guitarists prefer to have the whammy at the top; because it's easier to use that way.

[Dev @ May 1st 2007 10:29AM]

UMass CHEA!

[Jeff @ May 1st 2007 10:48AM]

"Unlike acoustic guitars, electric guitars are NOT mirror images of themselves when flipped to the other direction because of things like the bar."

I think you are confusing real electric guitars with a video game controller.

I see nothing in that pic, other than the tremelo, that would make it not work exactly the same way flipped over.

btw, let's not forget that Hendrix played right-handed guitars left-handed, and he did ok: http://www.born-today.com/Today/pix/hendrix_j3.jpg

[John B @ May 1st 2007 10:54AM]

Ah, yes, so because Hendrix did it, we ALL can do it! How foolish of me! Tell me, where do you get those HUGE, broad brushes?

[Eric @ May 1st 2007 11:26AM]

Kevin would take a picture of it on a pizza box...

Now the world can see my apartment.

[Eric @ May 1st 2007 11:33AM]

Also notice that the backing of the UMass sticker is part of a Busch Light box....

[Bryan @ May 1st 2007 11:54AM]

Man, I'm left handed but I do -everything- besides write with my right hand. I don't know why.

[The Dude @ May 1st 2007 12:15PM]

Hendrix was using right handed guitar, restrung.

[KazamaSmokers @ May 1st 2007 12:18PM]

UMass-Dartmouth (aka SMU): UGLIEST CAMPUS IN AMERICA

[Gleeberries @ May 1st 2007 2:39PM]

I love guitar hero. I enjoy the fact that the whammy bar has been moved as trying to whammy with my wrist or moving my hand is annoying, but not impossible. The thing I like most about this mod is that the peg is on the other side. The strap they give you just isn't long enough to reach across the guitar and over your shoulder if you happen to be left-handed and tall. Gotta love playing guitar with the strap around your neck and the guitar above your belly-button. I never understood why they didn't put pegs on both sides.

[Kato @ May 1st 2007 2:39PM]

Wouldn't a lefty actually welcome the rigty guitar controller? I mean, the right hand doesn't do much, it just hits the strum bar. I would think lefties would rejoice in having their dominant hand be the one doing all the fine motor work on the fret buttons.

[KilgoreTrout XL @ May 1st 2007 3:04PM]

Kato: That would not allow southpaws you to rock out in the geniune wicked radical manner.

Although the 360 version of the guitar feels as if it's more studily constructed, I prefer the way the PS2's axe looks.

Cool mod.

[jkuo @ May 1st 2007 4:01PM]

yo, hendrix was a leftie, but he played a right handed guitar upside down.

[Chris @ May 1st 2007 8:24PM]

Nice, but howabout we find a more stressing hack to get the guitar working with Guitar Hero II on the PS3

[Kevin @ May 1st 2007 9:42PM]

there is a usb thing u can get at radioshack that lets u use the guitar hero controller on the ps3

[Chris @ May 1st 2007 9:49PM]

I think its only working right now for Guitar Hero 1, still not 2 yet.