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All First-Party Guitars

First-party guitars are produced either directly by Harmonix/Neversoft or licensed to another company (Red Octane, Mad Catz, PDP, etc.) to make guitars in collaboration with Harmonix/Neversoft. They are typically of higher quality than third party guitars and have more direct support from the CH community. 

The following page lists all known first-party guitars, their downsides, and compatibility information.

Guitar Hero Guitars


Guitar Hero 5

Guitar Hero 5.png

Game: Guitar Hero 5
Platform(s):  Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Description: One of the most reliable guitars. The WT and GH5 Guitars feature compatible swappable faceplates.

Windows
Mac
Linux

Guitar Hero Kramer Striker

Kramer.png

Game: Guitar Hero 3
Platform(s): Playstation 2
Description: Has severe input delay in its original form, but is a popular guitar for modding.

Windows
Mac
Linux

Guitar Hero Les Paul

Les Pauls combined.png

Game: Guitar Hero 3, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith

Platform(s): Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii

Description: Three official variants, with the white one being Wii-exclusive. The neck is detachable from the body and is known for having a weakpoint at that contact area. A common solution for the issue is hardwiring the neck to the body.

Windows
Mac
Linux

Guitar Hero Live

Live.png

Game: Guitar Hero Live
Platform(s): PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, iOS
Description: The only 6-fret guitar. All variants except iOS are identical, and what you need to connect one will depend on the receiver rather than the guitar itself. See the guitar's Receivers & Dongles entry for an overview of available receivers.

Windows
Mac

Mac support is currently unknown. It's likely that most (if not all) variants are incompatible.

Linux
  • Xbox 360 Receiver: Natively supported.

  • PS3/Wii U Receivers: Natively supported as of the 5.11 kernel. For older kernels, set up the hid-ghlive-dkms kernel module.

  • PS4 Receiver: Natively supported as of the 5.15 kernel. For older kernels, set up the hid-ghlive-dkms kernel module.

  • Xbox One Receiver: Requires the xpad DKMS kernel module.

  • iOS Guitar: Unknown.

Guitar Hero SG 

SGs combined.png

Game: Guitar Hero 1 and 2
Platform(s): Playstation 2
Description Three color variants available.

Windows
Mac
Linux

Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock

Warriors of Rock combined.png

Game: Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Platform(s): Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Description: The Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 variants can have issues syncing to their receivers. The guitar features detachable wings and has a rare "Battle Axe" variant.

Windows
Mac
Linux

Guitar Hero World Tour

World Tours combined.png

Game: Guitar Hero World Tour & Guitar Hero: Metallica

Platform(s): Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC

Description: World Tour guitars are known for having weak strum switches that must eventually be replaced. The Guitar Hero Metallica variant is identical aside from a different faceplate.

Windows
Mac
Linux

Guitar Hero Xplorer

Xplorer.png

Game: Guitar Hero 2 and 3
Platform(s): Xbox 360
Description: Plug-and-play everywhere except Mac. Requires any Xbox 360 breakaway cable to connect via USB, and usually  comes with one.

Windows
  • Xbox 360: Requires connecting via USB.
Mac
  • Xbox 360: Requires an adapter that can convert Xinput into other APIs, such as the Mayflash Magic NS2.
Linux
  • Xbox 360: Requires connecting via USB.

Red Octane Mayflash Wireless Guitar

Mayflash.png

Game: Guitar Hero 1-3
Platform(s): Playstation 2
Description: Known to have bad latency and general reliability issues!

Windows
Mac
Linux

Rock Band Guitars


PDP Riffmaster
Riffmaster.png

Game: Fortnite Festival, Rock Band 4
Platform(s): Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Description: Originally released for Fortnite Festival and Rock Band 4 in 2024. Available at various retailers and PDP's own website.

Windows
  • PS4/PS5: Requires the Playstation variant's unique receiver. Lacks tilt and whammy support on PC.

  • Xbox One/Xbox Series: Requires the Xbox variant's unique receiver and a dedicated program to work with Clone Hero.
Mac

Not supported.

Linux
  • PS4/PS5: Requires the Playstation variant's unique receiver. Lacks tilt and whammy support on PC.

  • Xbox One/Xbox Series: Requires the xone kernel driver for full support, or Steam input for partial support without tilt and whammy.

Rock Band Stratocaster (RB1)

Rock Band 1.png

Game: Rock Band
Platform(s): Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Description: The base Rock Band 1 and Rock Band 2 guitars are visually identical outside of their neck colors. The Rock Band 1 guitar features a maple neck.

Windows
Mac
Linux

Rock Band Stratocaster (RB2 & RB3)

RB2s combined.png

Game: Rock Band 2 & Rock Band 3
Platform(s): PS3, Xbox 360, Wii
Description: The base Rock Band 1 and Rock Band 2 guitars are visually identical outside of their neck colors. The Rock Band 2 guitar features a rosewood neck. An alternative color variant is also available.

Windows
Mac
Linux

Rock Band Stratocaster (RB4)

Rock Band 4.png

Game: Rock Band 4
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One
Description: Base Rock Band 4 guitar.

Windows
Mac
  • PS4: Requires pairing via Bluetooth and mapping buttons in-game. The PS4 variant lacks tilt and whammy support on PC!

  • Xbox One: Unknown.
Linux

Rock Band Jaguar

Rock Band 4 Jaguar.png

Game: Rock Band 4
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One
Description: Included in the Rock Band 4 Rivals bundle.

Windows
Mac
  • PS4: Requires pairing via Bluetooth and mapping buttons in-game. The PS4 variant lacks tilt and whammy support on PC!

  • Xbox One: Unknown.
Linux
  • PS4: Requires pairing via Bluetooth and mapping buttons in-game. The PS4 variant lacks tilt and whammy support on PC!

  • Xbox One: Requires the xone kernel driver for full support, or Steam input for partial support without tilt and whammy.

The Beatles Rock Band: Hofner, Gretsch, Rickenbacker

The Beatles Combined.png

Game: The Beatles Rock Band
Platform(s): PS3, Xbox 360, Wii
Description: Released with The Beatles Rock Band.

Windows
Mac
Linux

Rock Band Precision Bass 

PBass combined.png

Game: Rock Band 2 & Rock Band 3
Platform(s): PS3, Xbox 360, Wii
Description: Features a unique split strum bar. Different variants were released for Rock Band 2 and 3.

Windows
Mac
Linux

Rock Band 3 Pro Guitars

Pro guitars combined.png

Game: Rock Band 3
Description: MIDI guitars released for the Pro Guitar mode in Rock Band 3. Not natively compatible with Clone Hero.