PlayStation 3 Rock Band 3 Wireless Fender Precision Bass Controller

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I was scared off by the early reviews here, but I've been using this Wireless Fender Precision Bass for over a month now with my original 60GB PS3 and I have had absolutely NO PROBLEMS thus far! Connection is strong at every distance with no interruptions, the split strum and the thumb rest feel great (although my hands get tired!), the fret buttons have a great feel to it, the strap is a definite upgrade from the ones packaged with the Special Edition bundles... I'm really, REALLY happy with it.

What I think might have happened was that the first wave of these guitars were less than stellar. I bought mine after it went out of stock the first time, so I think this latest run of Wireless Precision Basses are better.

So if you love Rock Band as much as I do, you should DEFINITELY look into this guitar. It basically reinvented the game for me!

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I didn't purchase the first release of this for RB2. I figured they may have gotten the bugs I'd read about taken care of. That is absolutely not the case, at least for the model I have in hand. I'm going to return it now and will update this review if the exchanged unit actually works.

The problems:

It keeps disconnecting.

It will randomly switch the FX option for no reason.

Overdrive tilt is also wonky and only works when it wants to.

It sounds like something is rattling around in there, perhaps the gyroscope or something like that is the culprit for all the problems.

Very disappointing, especially for a luxury item.

UPDATE (first review was one star): Replacement unit arrived within a day. Amazon.com's exchange service is second to none.

That said, the new unit is better than the first. However, it still has some of the exact same issues although they happen considerably less. I can usually get through about 30 minutes of playing with no problems then for no reason the connection will drop and/or the FX switch will go wonky. I'm not sure I'm going to keep the new one but I do really like the feel of the larger guitar along with the dual strum bar. I played bass guitar many years ago and the feel certainly is nice. If the connection worked like it was supposed to and the FX switch didn't randomly change itself onscreen this guitar controller would be a keeper and a 4 star rating. One star off for not having the best response time for Overdrive.

SECOND UPDATE (total of three stars): Still having the occasional disconnect and typically once a session the FX switch problem will pop up but otherwise works just fine. Very likely going to hold onto this plastic guitar despite my worries about recurring problems listed earlier in this review.

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Like everyone else to review this guitar so far, I've been plagued by connection issues with this controller.

I wanted this guitar for PS3 since the XBOX 360 version came out probably a year or more ago. Given the rave reviews for the XBOX 360 version I figured there wasn't anything to worry about with this one.

Everything seemed fine as I unpacked the box, no apparent mishandling of the package. I put it together and put in the included batteries. Seemed fine until about 30 seconds into playing the first song. For no reason at all the "Overdrive Effect" menu came up and disappeared, about 3 seconds later the controller stopped responding. I pressed every button on the controller to no avail. Rockband did not recognize that the controller had been "unplugged" (as it would if any other guitar had been disconnected) and pause the game... to the contrary the game continued to play. About the time I was going to fail the song the controller connected once again and I was able to play again. This happened randomly every 30-45 seconds if not more often. Needless to say it was very frustrating.

The guitar wasn't just going idle or anything like that. I was actively playing and it would disconnect. I'd tried new name brand batteries, I'd tried hitting the "sync" button on the bottom edge of the bass, and it was just not working correctly.

So I worked with Amazon to get a replacement sent out and the replacement does it too! I don't understand how a product can get shipped out with these kind of issues. The disconnects make this controller completely unplayable.

I can tell you that the idea of this guitar is strong, I usually play Bass on expert and consistently get in the 90%+ and I could tell that the guitar would improve my playing especially on the really fast runs, but I just can't use this guitar when it won't stay connected.

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I had purchased one of these around a year and a half ago (if I recall correctly) and right out of the box I started experiencing the same problems many others are complaining about with the signal dropping and the effects menu popping up in the middle of a song despite the fact I hadn't touched it. I put up with that ever since though it never really interfered so badly that it ruined my overall experience. It began several months ago to act as though the batteries were dying even though they weren't that old. The power switch would be turned on, the light surrounding the PlayStation button would flash red and then nothing. I assumed perhaps I had played the game more or longer than I had remembered or realized, but after a moment, and messing with the batteries which at the time appeared to be the 'fix', it would always come back on and work (although the effects menu pop-up problem still occurred). Then about a month ago it just refused to turn on. The light would flash and then nothing. I'd turn it off and turn it back on...same thing. I changed the batteries and same thing again. I bought brand new fresh batteries (the previous ones had been in a package sitting around for a while) and tried them and the same thing again. The red light will only flash once in a while; most of the time it does nothing. I opened it up figuring there's a loose connection somewhere, but nothing appears to be wrong inside. Frustrating to say the least.

I had heard about Mad Catz having made a new version and I really enjoy playing with the bass controller, so I decided to try again. I am happy to report that the new bass which arrived this afternoon plays perfectly. No problems whatsoever. I played through several songs and the only problem I had during that time was if and when I missed a note. No dropped signals, no effects menu pop-up. I can even tell the difference in the way this one feels compared to the original which I still have. The old one's neck always seemed flimsy to me. This one feels far more sturdy and has a different texture on the back (the old one's neck is smooth). Even the usb dongle has a different design; possibly the connection problem was located there (online forums indicate a connection issue in the older ones that is sometimes resolved by using a usb extension cable and attaching the dongle to the guitar which would tend to support that idea).

There is one thing that might worry someone who purchases one of these newer ones. The sticker on the back is still the Rock Band 2 sticker (the guitar comes in a Rock Band 3 labeled box), however the product version number is clearly a later version, so don't be discouraged. I assume Mad Catz is merely using up the stickers they had already rather than spend more on new ones just so they say "Rock Band 3".

Bottom line, with the newer versions Mad Catz seems to have corrected all the problems of earlier bass controllers. This one works great and has a great price. All the other colors are available out there, but they're at least $30 more. It looks like Amazon won't have the seafoam green much longer, so you better grab one now while you can. At this price, they won't last long.

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I have to concur with the above review. I got this for my birthday this year, and was excited to use this controller to play some of the RB songs that I enjoy playing bass on. I didn't even get through one song before all the classic symptoms began to rear their ugly heads. Random Disconnects, the effects window randomly popping up, etc.

I had other concerns with this controller as well, however. First off, upon checking the branding sticker on the back of the controller, instead of saying "Rock Band 3" as I would have expected, it actually said "Rock Band 2." Also, one of the manuals that came with the controller said "Rock Band 2" in the headers. Additionally, there were scuff marks on the front and back of the bass body. As the box said "Rock Band 3" all over it, I fully believe that Mad Katz is repacking their old RB2 basses in RB3 boxes. Unacceptable.

When Rock Band 3 was announced and it was announced that Mad Katz would be creating the controllers, I had my doubts that MK would be able to rectify their old ways and make quality controllers. Those doubts have now been confirmed. I will most likely never knowingly buy a Mad Katz controller ever again.