Well... it sure has been a minute. Y'know how it is, life is gonna life. Anywho, I've made some big moves with this project, and I'm very excited to share my progress! ![[Articles/Projects/Wireless Guitar Hero Controllers/attachments/Pasted image 20260116182813.png]] At a glance, these two revisions don't look too different, but if I asked you to play circle the differences, you could come up with a few. Here's a better idea of what's changed: ![[Articles/Projects/Wireless Guitar Hero Controllers/attachments/Pasted image 20260117124438.png]] Check that out! Nearly fully featured! Only a few things that I have left on my list before calling it "done". #### Correct power management Notice how I put "read below" under the power board callout? Turns out haphazardly grabbing an Adafuit PowerBoost off the shelf at Micro Center because you've heard it said before in watch-me-build-this videos on YouTube doesn't mean its the *right* component. I didn't quite understand that a PowerBoost doesn't necessarily mean it can charge a battery. Whoops! In that revision from the picture above, I was supplying power and ground from the USB-C port into the Vout of the PowerBoost... and I wondered why it wasn't charging. With that understanding corrected, I ordered a [PowerBoost 500 + charger](https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/adafruit-industries-llc/1944/5761270) for the next revision. #### More guitars?!?!? Oh, yeah, you betcha. I've also been fiddling with other GH controller variants. My latest achievement was converting a GH3 Gibson PS3 guitar. This one I'm most proud of yet. Here's a breakdown of the features: ![[Articles/Projects/Wireless Guitar Hero Controllers/attachments/Pasted image 20260122185545.png]] I've even crudely wired up one the LEDs for status! ![[Articles/Projects/Wireless Guitar Hero Controllers/attachments/ezgif-1867c2f968954d4f.webp]] There's a few things I'd like to get done on this one before I feel satisfied with it as a real working prototype. ##### 1. PS/home button & d-pad Having no vestigial buttons would make it feel more "complete" rather than something I obviously abandoned because I don't have a solution. You may be wondering what the solution is? Measure the existing board and create a dupe that has a breakout for the button pads. How do I plan to do this? No idea, I have no prior experience in PCB design, which isn't a problem, but how do I create a button pad? I'll zero in on this another time. ##### 2. USB-C charging & data Charging? The easy part. I plan to order a few of these [vertical USB-C female breakout boards](https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/sparkfun-electronics/23055/21738811), which I can wire up to Vin on the PowerBoost. Data? Also no idea! Off the top of my head, I *could* just quick 'n dirty mangle a usb-c cable with one end going into the ESP32, and the other connects to the d+ & d- ports, but I think this wouldn't work since power is required. Clearly more thought is required here. ##### 3. Power button Keeping the classic push-and-hold-to-turn-on is such a neat show-offy feature that I'm dying to figure out. I'm teaching myself basic circuitry principles, and I have a pretty good idea of how to implement (i hate this word, sorry) it. I also have a few of these [latching dual coil relays](https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/kemet/EC2-3TNU/4291110) in my DigiKey cart. Some sort of on:disconnect and after X milliseconds => turn off seems easy enough as well. I'll have to rely on the power-on behavior being hardware-based, but turning back off can use microcontroller logic. Once all these things are done, I'll consider it a MASTERPIECE, but alas, incomplete. I have a full list of icebox features in the back of my head that I want. Here's a short version of that shopping list: - "monoboard" (stole that term from [phunkycustoms](https://www.phunkycustoms.com/)) - drop in replacement board with everything on it - dedicated wireless module that plugs into computers and communicates with up to 4 guitars using big-girl wireless and not smelly bluetooth - auto-switch between wireless and wired mode - a configuration dashboard that can be accessed by plugging the guitar into a computer - fortnite festival mode (sorry not sorry) #### Wrap it up white boy That's all for now! I'm in this one for the long-haul, I have 4 guitars sitting in the corner of my room waiting for brain surgery. And that's only counting the ones here! I will stop at nothing to ensure I don't pick up an actual instrument ever, I'll just keep on [smashing frets](https://lavoiestudios.ca/games/fret-smasher/) like a chud.