So, I've gotten a PM from someone about which bass pedal I use and how I keep it in shape, so I decided to make this thread for the instruments.

Drums: Taking care of the pads and pedal...

To take care of the pads:
Do NOT slam on them.
Do NOT open them up if you don't know what you're doing.
If the lock holding the pipe together that holds the pads up keeps coming loose, and you have it in the perfect position for you, tape it down, it works great. I've had my pads fall down halfway through Run To The Hills while I was having a decent run... trust me, it's something you don't want to happen to you in the middle of an amazing run.

To take care of the bass pedal:
Wear socks. Shoes... yeah, too much wait is being pushed onto it. With the feet, now only can it be a bit painful, hard contact without any pads doesn't really help the state of the pedal.
If you have friends who play the drums, watch them and make sure they don't go a bit rough. (specifically those who have no idea how to take care of things, especially of others, and those who hit a bit too hard on the pads or the pedal)




Taking care of the Stratocaster:

First things first, the Stratocasters are not very durable or strong, especially the earlier ones they sent out on accident. I had one of the early ones, the strum bar wouldn't register half of the time, the frets stopped working, and now the strum is absolutely broken. Sometimes, Overdrive doesn't activate. Sometimes it does, but it keeps you waiting a bit too long.
How do you prevent the wear of the first models? You can't exactly PREVENT it unless you refuse to use it or send it in. But you CAN delay the wear by going easy on the strum bar. If you're strumming so hard you can hear the impact, you should probably calm down a bit. If you use the noise from the impact as a "click" as you would with an X-plorer or Les Paul, you may want to open it and install some way to make a clicking noise. (WARNING: THIS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY AND MAY NOT WORK. I won't tell you how, for I don't know exactly how. Hint: Use Google.) If you wash the Stratocaster using a wet towel, I recommend you stop, the water doesn't really help the Stratocaster. You can wipe it with a dry towel if you want it clean that bad. But it's appearance doesn't really matter.
For the frets, it's a rarer problem but still can occur. Theres not much of a way to prevent it other than just hope you got a model of the Stratocaster that won't malfunction like mine. Most of the tilting problems also occur unexpectedly, and you may just want to switch to adjusting to the select button, it provides a very accurate activation and you can pull off squeezing (activating Overdrive late and hitting the note along with it and/or hitting a note it would run out just a bit earlier so you get the note) a lot easier. You may just want to invest in a different guitar, of course, if you dislike the Stratocaster or have a malfunctioning one.

Taking care of the microphone:

There's not much to say about the microphone. Most are in a very good condition, but some of them have problems registering pitches (i.e. holding a steady pitch and the arrow showing your pitch is at that area one second and then a hell of a way's away the next even though you're keeping a steady pitch). There's not much to say but to keep it away from dust-filled areas and to make sure not to allow water or any other material/substance to clog the holes in which your voice passes through. Most any USB microphone will work for Rock Band and they're fairly cheap, so if you feel you want a better one, feel free to just buy one.

NOTE: NONE OF THESE METHODS WILL PERMANENTLY FIX YOUR INSTRUMENTS; MOST, IF NOT ALL, WILL BREAK AFTER TIME DUE TO WEAR. THESE ARE ONLY WAYS TO SLOW THE WEAR OF THE INSTRUMENTS

That concludes this thread. If you have any questions, just feel free to ask.

This message was edited by PIKAPIKA910 on May 05 2008.

You know, it's possible to not slam your bass pedal and still have it break. It's made of a half-inch plastic and has a pressure point where it breaks (most of the time).

It's a flawed design; it has nothing, or very little, to do with the person playing it.

Yes, I know that it will still break, but you can at least prevent it from breaking for a while. Some seem to break really fast, some seem to never break. It depends on both the person and whather there were any flaws (noticeable or not) in the bass pedal's production. I know production is usually exactly the same but it can change quite a bit without being noticeable to the eye. The person using it actually does have quite an impact on the pedal's life.

If you keep it on medium, yes. There's a very small chance that'll happen. The pedal itself, though, cannot withstand an adult foot on expert difficulties. The design prevents this. the pressure point I'm talking about is about an inch or so from the pedal's base. There's absolutely zero support in this area, which is ridiculous, considering how much weight is put on that area when the pedal is pressed down.

Well, I always hit it a small amount below the Orange line on the pedal and there's only slight cracks on the edge. It all depends on how hard and where you press it.

Do not slam on the pads, eh? Maybe that's why my green pad is about to fall off and my blue and yellow don't register fast rolls.

Either way, you've got to realize that all the instruments will eventually break. They were flawed designs, the only non-flawed one was the microphone. These may expand the life, but they will all break at one point.

Still, I fail to see how I snapped my first pedal in half after months and when I got my replacement pedal it snapped in half in 2 days. After that, I just put a metal plate on my pedal.

I never said the equipment will never break, in fact, I believe I said it WILL most likely break.

Yes, I realize that, but you should make it more clear in the first post. Otherwise, it seems as if though you're saying it will never break, and then when someone's equipment breaks after reading it, you'll have an angry mob chasing after you (in theory).

Okay, I've made the edit in the first post in big letters so nobody misses it. ;D

quote Cdemon

You know, it's possible to not slam your bass pedal and still have it break. It's made of a half-inch plastic and has a pressure point where it breaks (most of the time).

It's a flawed design; it has nothing, or very little, to do with the person playing it.

Like I said, the pedal's design is flawed; it has no support where most of the pressure is applied.

http://www.megapedal.com


honestly the only way you can keep it from breaking I love how EA sent out crappy perpherials yes you can prevent there wear and tear but eventually it will break I mean did gears of war send you a disc that will spontaneously combust... I think not so they leave it up to us the users to find replacements that are good I would have rather paid another $100.00 for a good set that will be almost completely fault free well they deserve having items sent in over and over again a thier cost in my opinion.

This message was edited by Solid Shadow on May 17 2008.

quote Solid Shadow

http://www.megapedal.com


honestly the only way you can keep it from breaking I love how EA sent out crappy perpherials yes you can prevent there wear and tear but eventually it will break I mean did gears of war send you a disc that will spontaneously combust... I think not so they leave it up to us the users to find replacements that are good I would have rather paid another $100.00 for a good set that will be almost completely fault free well they deserve having items sent in over and over again a thier cost in my opinion.

This message was edited by Solid Shadow on May 17 2008.