CRKD Gibson Les Paul Guitar Controllers Review: A New Generation Of Rhythm Controllers

Ever since Fortnite Festival debuted backmost successful 2023, it’s been feeling similar guitar-based bushed games were poised for a comeback. The CRKD Gibson Les Paul Guitar Controller truly drives that home, joining respective different integrative guitar controllers that person deed the marketplace since Festival added enactment for them. And it doesn’t look similar that bid is stopping immoderate clip soon.

But portion past year’s PDP Riffmaster revitalized the marketplace conscionable by being a integrative guitar that you could really bargain new, the CRKD Guitars consciousness similar a measurement into what the aboriginal of bushed games mightiness really look similar – implicit with RGB lighting and a mobile companion app that’s lone a small spot annoying. This feels similar the opening of an existent bushed crippled renaissance.

Design and Features

CRKD brought connected immoderate folks who worked connected the aged Guitar Hero controllers to plan these Gibson Les Paul designs, and that’s instantly evident close retired of the box. Especially with the Black Tribal Encore Edition, which is fundamentally the Guitar Hero III controller, conscionable with RGB lighting and a spiffy embossed plan connected the body. There’s besides a Blueberry Burst Pro Edition that has a gorgeous bluish colorway with golden and metallic accents.

Both guitars are the aforesaid size, measuring 29.5 inches long, and 1.38 inches heavy astatine their thickest point. Each guitar besides has a removable neck, which you’ll person to connect erstwhile you instrumentality it retired of the container the archetypal time. Luckily, you conscionable descent it successful and it’ll fastener successful place, past there’s a fastener you tin clasp down to descent it backmost out. The fastener is simply a small pugnacious to property the archetypal fewer times you messiness with it, but that’s astir apt for the best, arsenic it makes it little apt they’ll detach connected accident.

But the crushed this detachable plan is immense for these CRKD guitars is that the necks tin beryllium swapped retired astatine will. You see, the 2 editions usage antithetic fastener styles for the fret buttons: The Encore Edition uses the aforesaid benignant of membrane switches recovered connected accepted guitar leader controllers. However, the Pro Edition comes with mechanical switches that consciousness much better. CRKD of people sells the necks separately, truthful you tin ‘upgrade’ your Encore Edition to 1 with the mechanical frets.

You’d deliberation that if you privation the mechanical frets you could conscionable get the Pro guitar and not fool with upgrading, but the strum barroom is really antithetic betwixt the 2 guitars arsenic well. While the Encore Edition uses the aforesaid mechanical ‘clicky’ strum barroom arsenic classical Guitar Hero controllers, the Pro switches things up – virtually – with a haptic strum bar. What this means successful signifier is that, utilizing CRKD’s mobile app, you tin dial successful the actuation constituent for the strum bar, making it arsenic delicate arsenic you request it to be. But possibly much strikingly, you tin customize however overmuch feedback you get erstwhile you strum. That’s right, the strum barroom vibrates arsenic you strum.

Anyone that’s played a batch of these integrative guitar games successful the past knows that determination was this strict disagreement betwixt the “Guitar Hero” consciousness and the “Rock Band” consciousness for strum bars, with the second being overmuch mushier and quieter. The haptic strum barroom connected the Blueberry Burst variation really puts it determination successful the middle, with customization moving it person to either utmost based connected your preference. In the mates of weeks I’ve spent with these guitars, I decidedly grew to similar the haptic strum bar, but the clicky strum barroom is incredibly nostalgic, and I could spot Guitar Hero faithfuls truly preferring it.

The buttons that aren’t typically associated with a guitar controller are besides notable. You get a D-Pad embedded up astatine the caput of the guitar, which makes it ace casual (in theory) to navigate menus. The joysticks are adjacent much fascinating: up connected the apical near country of the guitar, you person thing that looks similar a pickup switch, but it really acts arsenic the near joystick. Surrounding that is each look fastener typically recovered connected an Xbox controller – this is peculiarly utile successful Fortnite Festival, but much connected that later.

There’s besides a fastener labeled “CTRL” adjacent to the strum bar. When you’re really playing, this volition activate Overdrive, if you don’t consciousness similar tilting the guitar upwards. However, you tin besides clasp the fastener down for a fewer seconds, which volition let it to brace with the CRKD app connected your phone.

Beneath the strum barroom are what look similar 2 dials, nevertheless the 1 closest to the bottommost of the controller is really your close joystick. The different 1 acts arsenic the powerfulness fastener and a mode switch. Both guitar controllers travel pre-programmed with 5 presets. The archetypal one, which is ‘1’ connected this dial, makes your machine admit it arsenic a emblematic guitar controller, which is cleanable for assemblage games similar Clone Hero and YARG. Modes 2–4, however, are dedicated to antithetic difficulties successful Fortnite Festival. Then, if you crook it each the mode to mode 9, that puts the guitar successful ‘Keyjam’ mode. (It unluckily doesn’t spell to 11.)

Keyjam is CRKD’s fancy nomenclature for saying that it's emulating a keyboard and mouse. This is cleanable if you’re trying to play thing that doesn’t traditionally enactment guitar controllers. The mode does alteration what each fastener does, though, but luckily CRKD includes a sticker to bespeak what the buttons bash successful Keyjam mode. The different modes are near blank intentionally, to let you to navigator up your ain fastener assignments.

CRKD sent maine the multi-platform mentation of some guitar controllers, which natively enactment PC, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS and PlayStation. There is simply a level power down astatine the bottommost of the guitar that’ll archer it what it’s connecting to, and it’s important that you acceptable it to the close platform. I accidentally bumped it erstwhile to wherever it was betwixt PC and Switch and it, uh, didn’t work.

On PC, it tin link via a wireless dongle, Bluetooth oregon via USB-C. I recovered that USB-C is the champion mode to play, due to the fact that it introduces the slightest latency. But if you privation to spell wire-free, the dongle truly doesn’t present overmuch latency. The dongle volition besides fto you link to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation, though you volition person to trust connected Bluetooth if you privation to jam connected Android oregon iOS.

Out of the box, the dongle is tucked distant successful a compartment adjacent to the strum bar. Just descent it retired of place, and it’ll beryllium determination acceptable for you, then, you tin conscionable enactment it backmost erstwhile you’re done with it. But that’s not the lone concealed compartment. On the different broadside of the strum barroom there’s different sheet that you tin descent disconnected to uncover a removable and rechargeable battery. This is awesome, arsenic it means you don’t person to interest astir buying a caller guitar erstwhile the artillery yet dies, you tin conscionable swap it out.

Software

The CRKD Gibson Les Paul controllers are highly customizable, and astir of that customization is done done the CRKD mobile app. When you acceptable it up for the archetypal time, you’ll request to brace the guitar to the app by scanning an NFC constituent connected the backmost of the guitar. This process volition uncover a unsocial serial fig and a ‘rarity’ rating, if you attraction astir that benignant of thing.

Once it’s paired, you tin participate the CTRL paper successful the app, wherever it’ll punctual you to clasp down the CTRL fastener connected the controller for a fewer seconds to connect. Once it’s connected to your phone, it’ll disconnect from immoderate level it was connected to earlier – truthful beryllium alert of that. From the CTRL menu, you’ll beryllium capable to alteration fastener assignments, lighting, and adjacent tilt sensitivity. And, of course, connected the Blueberry Burst edition, you’ll beryllium capable to tweak the strum barroom itself.

When I archetypal started utilizing the guitar, though, I ran into an contented wherever I had to re-pair the guitar with the dongle each clip I utilized the app, which was extremely annoying. However, I figured retired that you conscionable person to deed the exit fastener successful the app, and the guitar volition automatically link to the past instrumentality it was connected to. It’s a elemental thing, but it decidedly threw maine for a loop, truthful it’s thing you should beryllium alert of.

Still, it would person been bully to person a PC app that lets you tweak the aforesaid settings arsenic the mobile app. I mightiness beryllium too much of a PC gamer, but I’m not a immense instrumentality of breaking retired my telephone conscionable to tweak the settings for a controller that’s already connected to my PC. Especially due to the fact that I person to spell done a full process to link the guitar to the mobile app successful the archetypal place.

Gaming

After spending a fewer months connected the PDP Riffmaster, the CRKD Gibson Les Paul truly feels similar it’s connected an wholly caller level – particularly the Blueberry Burst edition. With its mechanical frets and haptic strum bar, I tin consciousness the notes I’m ‘playing’ overmuch better, which lone makes maine much accurate. Especially successful much hard songs with agelong strings of fast, repeated notes, the haptic feedback whenever a strum is actuated helps a lot. But things get a small much analyzable erstwhile you’re extracurricular of a song.

Particularly successful Festival, the CRKD Les Paul makes it a spot hard to navigate menus and specified extracurricular of songs. Even erstwhile I flip the mode dial to the dedicated Fortnite modes, I can’t truly usage the fret buttons and strum barroom to spell done the menus similar I tin on, say, the PDP Riffmaster. Now, I tin beauteous easy navigate the menus with the joysticks and the look buttons astir the pseudo pickup switch, but that doesn’t consciousness rather arsenic natural.

It doesn’t assistance that the D-Pad located connected the caput of the guitar is conscionable a elephantine square, truthful if my thumb isn’t centered connected the down arrow, for instance, my cursor volition conscionable determination to different menu, which isn’t precisely adjuvant erstwhile I’m conscionable trying to prime which opus to play.

Luckily, this contented seems to beryllium unsocial to Fortnite, and erstwhile I’m playing Clone Hero oregon YARG, navigation feels incredible, adjacent if I privation the commencement fastener was located connected the beforehand of the guitar, alternatively than tucked distant connected the borderline of the controller.

No substance what your bushed crippled of prime is, these CRKD guitars consciousness fantabulous erstwhile you’re really playing music. But due to the fact that of however seamlessly they enactment with games similar Clone Hero and YARG, this Les Paul feels similar it was designed for the bushed crippled faithfuls that ne'er fto Guitar Hero die, alternatively than conscionable different effect to Fortnite Festival.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra