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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. 

This page lists all known first-party guitars, their qualities, 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: Can be used both wired and wirelessly. Both options lack support for tilt and whammy on PC.
    Wired mode requires connecting the guitar via USB and holding down all five frets while turning it on.
    Wireless mode requiresRequires 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: Can be used both wired and wirelessly. Both options lack support for tilt and whammy on PC.
    Wired mode requires connecting the guitar via USB and holding down all five frets while turning it on.
    Wireless mode requiresRequires 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 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.