Beatles Rock Band pre-order is on, custom guitars are a go

If you're like us, you're literally counting down the days until The Beatles: Rock Band is released (127). So, the news that it's now available for pre-order is, shall we say... exciting to us. Even more enthralling is confirmation of our wildest dreams: there will be two custom guitars available for purchase on top of the Special Edition bundle (the game itself, Höfner bass and Ludwig drums microphone and mike stand). The guitars -- a Gretsch Duo-Jet and a Rickenbacker 325 -- will retail for $99.00 each when the game arrives on September 9th. Until then, may we suggest you use the video after the break to work on your harmonies.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Gallery: Rock Band: Beatles guitars

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

[THE REAL DG @ May 5th 2009 12:32PM]

Is it worth it? I have RB1 and RB2 so should I get this?

[TheSuburbanWhiteBoy @ May 5th 2009 1:16PM]

it's worth it. There is a plug in Yoko controller too

[Jigga @ May 5th 2009 1:41PM]

Its worth it, but you don't need the extra instruments. The game will work just fine with the existing RB instruments. I'm also 99.9% sure it will work with existing GH instruments too.

[Ray @ May 5th 2009 1:42PM]

I hate the RB guitars, I prefer the GH ones.
But I'm still buying the shit outta these!

[Ray @ May 5th 2009 1:44PM]

Has anyone else noticed the video is playing like 20% faster than the real song?

[MCPO117 @ May 5th 2009 12:35PM]

Don't get it unless you love The Beatles enough to have your drunk friends butcher the songs.

[dan2600 @ May 5th 2009 12:38PM]

Still have yet to figure out why RB is considered fun and COOL when its just finger DDR.

[htd @ May 5th 2009 12:41PM]

because it's not finger DDR or guitar mania type of button smashing BEMANJI game, the music is way different and the game play feeling is too

[kjb434 @ May 5th 2009 12:41PM]

It's karaoke for the people that sings. Friends don't let friends sing karaoke. Friends don't let friends play Rock Band or Guitar Hero.

[I.P. Freely @ May 5th 2009 1:14PM]

Friends don't let friends continue to make "friends don't let friends" jokes... especially when they have no friends in the first place.

[htd @ May 5th 2009 12:39PM]

already too many GH games, including RB ones... GH aerosmith is only $9.99 for new these days... dont think brit pop bands are much of guitar hero...

[SonicEarth @ May 5th 2009 12:40PM]

The Beatles are the most overrated band of all time.

[superhobo @ May 5th 2009 12:48PM]

Yes, they suck so much it's unbelievable.

[TheSuburbanWhiteBoy @ May 5th 2009 12:54PM]

You are the most overrated band of all time

[The Walrus @ May 5th 2009 1:17PM]

Yeah, Miley Cyrus is way better. She is such a talent

[ridermiler @ May 5th 2009 1:10PM]

Hope you emo kids are using sarcasm.

[Waffle Slayer @ May 5th 2009 1:11PM]

Hope you emo kids are using sarcasm.

[sgt_easton @ May 5th 2009 4:23PM]

I couldn't agree with you more.

[V Langs @ May 5th 2009 10:24PM]

i truly hope that was a joke....

i like some emo music and i still consider the beatles the greatest band to ever grace this earth.

without them, do you really think emo would have existed? nope.

his guitar gently wept, harrison was emo way before any other band was.

[Pena47 @ May 5th 2009 12:40PM]

Poor ringo, they make him stand while they all sit and relax.

[TTownEP @ May 5th 2009 4:20PM]

Yeah, it's completely backwards.

[B3astofthe3ast @ May 5th 2009 12:43PM]

It seems that HMX is putting in more effort in this band game than Neversoft oput into aerosmith or metallica. hopefully its not just Rock band with beatles characters, and they actually do something worthwhile.

[dan2600 @ May 5th 2009 12:47PM]

I'm not a fan of the series, but I have seen a demo of it played

the have realistic models of the Beatles members

as well as tons of studio samples put into the gameplay to make it more authentic. (at the begging and end of songs)

track mixdowns are really good.

Over all it is a extremely well put together and polished package.

wish they would put this much effort into a good game :-p

[Rob @ May 5th 2009 12:47PM]

indeed.

[Jay Voorhees @ May 5th 2009 12:52PM]

I'm actually really surprised that they didnt raise the price point of guitar games yet again, beyond $100 testing the waters to see how far they could actually push people. Meanwhile, my GH III guitar gently weeps.

[strider_mt2k @ May 5th 2009 12:54PM]

Silly piece of plastic thinks that's it's a rocker, but it's just a frying pan.

[Jake Johnson @ May 5th 2009 1:00PM]

Richard Starkey: Best fake drummer ever...
He was the glue that held the band together, and they won't even let him play his drums on television.


He will have his day.

[Frank @ May 5th 2009 1:00PM]

The idea is already great, but what would really make this the complete Beatles experience is if this had two vocal tracks to do harmonies.

[Quastor @ May 5th 2009 1:37PM]

While it hasn't been confirmed by Harmonix yet, there are plenty of reports leaking the fact that The Beatles: Rock Band will be supporting three-part harmonies.

[Justin Reed @ May 5th 2009 1:08PM]

it looks like a headphone jack on the guitar...anybody else see that on the bottom left?

maybe for a wired headset mic?
or a pedal?

why are these guitars twice the price of regular RB guitars? they look nice but...c'mon!

jr

[GhettoBanjo @ May 5th 2009 1:38PM]

Just like on the RB2 guitar, its a headphone jack for your headset. Not for microphone singing in game though, just chat in online play.

[Harry Heng @ May 5th 2009 1:42PM]

okay anybody know how the strummer is going to be... i mean if i am going to pay a premium price for these guitars i wan to know that the strummer isnt all "mushy" like RB1. I never bought or played RB2 so can anyone tell me if they fixed this issue? I know i'm a GH fanboy with the clicky clicks. Thanks for the heads up.

[Andy Anonymous @ May 5th 2009 2:46PM]

The RB2 strummer still doesn't click, but it's a lot more solid and not mushy like the RB1 one.

[Harry Heng @ May 5th 2009 5:43PM]

thanks for the heads up... i stopped play RB1 for that very reason... so sad indeed.

[Clyde Berry @ May 5th 2009 1:51PM]

I've shied away from every other Rock Band game, but this might push me to the Dark Side that is Rhythm Gaming. Plus, I could probably get my whole family to play... and we could become the Partridge Family.

[melissa @ May 5th 2009 2:15PM]

wow, that rickenbacker. i don't have any guitar hero/rock band games, so i can justifiably get this. STOKED!

[CAHLITO @ May 5th 2009 2:17PM]

Hope you emo kids are using sarcasm.

[CAHLITO @ May 5th 2009 2:17PM]

D'oh!

[Manuel @ May 5th 2009 2:21PM]

Any info on the song list yet?

[juangrande386 @ May 5th 2009 2:23PM]

wow i cant believe how many of you suckers are gonna pay $100 each for guitar controllers when most probably have 2 already

[Nate DiDonato @ May 5th 2009 3:36PM]

ahhh.... even more guitars to be added to the "used" rack at Gamestop

Oh wait, I forgot music stores now sell RB and GH games, too...

Pretty soon they'll outnumber the used real guitars at Sam Ash.

[Eric @ May 5th 2009 3:43PM]

Apparently Harmonix couldn't pull off a Bigsby licence... since John replaced the Kaufman on his 325 with a Bigsby.

[Wii Lover @ May 5th 2009 4:51PM]

I love how uninterested Ringo is. LOL

[Eh @ May 5th 2009 5:00PM]

$100 is bullshit. The margins for these shoddy made controller are out of... control.

[CaramelZappa @ May 5th 2009 11:12PM]

Beatles songs are generally simple and easy to play. Pick up cheap little squier strat, it's money better spend.

[Beatnik @ May 6th 2009 11:27AM]

Love the Beatles, greatest band of all time. I am 29 but I still prefer real instruments as controllers.
Why not use real guitars like this:
http://www.guitarrising.com/
Cheap versions of Rickenbacker, Gretsch, Hofner, Epiphone casino guitars?

[Nate DiDonato @ May 7th 2009 4:53AM]

Like what? A product that was shown a year and a half ago and still hasn't come out?

Even when it does, it's just going to be a bunch of wannabe elitist pricks sitting at home on their PCs wanking by themselves.
At that point, you might as well join a cover band. At least you'd get paid to play a bar or club.

RB and GH are APPROACHABLE and MARKETABLE to a wide audience, games that use real instruments are much more limited to finding a wide, profitable market.

If you own a guitar and want to play a song, most people get the tab/sheet music/tabit/guitar pro file/midi/whatever or just jam with the song. They don't want to screw with midi interfaces or USB audio devices.

When I started playing guitar a decade and a half ago, I saw midi pickups, midi guitars, blah blah blah...
None of that crap catches on. You're making niche markets for niche markets.

Fellow musicians: stop being pricks about RB and GH existing. At least now you get to hear kids play more than just, "Smoke on the Water" when they pick up a guitar at the local music store. Plus, they're more fun to completely destroy when you plug into the amp next to them (which is even funnier when you plug in like a $100 strat-clone guitar and they're trying out a $3000 Gibson)...

If I'm around other musicians, I can jam.
When I'm at a party, I will gladly play RB or GH. I wouldn't pay for them, but I'll go to someone's house, drink, and play them.
I can play with lots of people who aren't necessarily musicians. Plus, you can always talk the other people into playing a different game eventually...

[htd @ May 7th 2009 12:35PM]

this one is similar and free, found through wiki, need to register to download, any one tried?

http://littlebigstar.net/main/

[Matt @ May 12th 2009 2:01PM]

When is the Jonas Brothers version coming out? ;)