The X-Plorer controller from Guitar Hero 2 is about to hit its 20th anniversary. One writer has spent decades proving why it remains the best guitar controller he has ever owned.
The X-Plorer came bundled with Guitar Hero 2 when the game launched in 2007. The writer was 16 at the time and remembers the moment vividly: playing expert Dragonforce’s ‘Through the Fire and the Flames’ at a friend’s house, passing the grade and earning nods from the room before the group drifted off to smoke a joint.
He got high on riffs instead. The five coloured buttons and the strum bar felt better than a real guitar, he says, and he has kept that controller running ever since.
The 20-Year Test
The X-Plorer still works perfectly. Its white plastic has turned yellow with age, and there is grime between the frets and the gaps in the shell. But the Gibson sticker beneath the fretboard is still attached, and the fret buttons move smoothly enough that his fingers glide across them.
He compares the newer Guitar Hero Live guitars to the X-Plorer’s simplicity. The Live guitars require special remapping software to work on PC — RB4InstrumentMapper with VJoy — and soldering to fix a battery that exploded into corrosive acid. The 20-year-old X-Plorer plugs in and plays.
The Whammy Bar Fix
The X-Plorer’s one failure was a broken whammy bar. The piece of plastic that allowed the bar to reset to its centre snapped off years ago, leaving the bar hanging limp and modulating songs to a random pitch.
The writer took it apart and found the cause. He says a 3D printer could replace the broken piece easily. Instead, he wrapped the whammy bar in an elastic band and attached the other end to the guitar strap thingy. The bar works perfectly now.
Simple things require simple fixes.
A Second X-Plorer
The writer owns two X-Plorers. The second came from his partner’s days working at GAME, a UK games retailer. Someone cleared out an attic of old tat and dropped a full Rock Band kit and an X-Plorer controller into the store’s trade-in stock.
The writer saw the guitar behind the counter, paid £2 for it, and walked away with a steal. They cost upwards of £50 nowadays.
New Guitars, Old Favorites
The writer is not opposed to newer guitars. His go-to for YARG and Clone Hero is the CRKD Gibson Les Paul Blueberry Burst Pro Edition, which has a Hall effect haptic strum bar, an incredible number of programmable buttons, and wireless play.
He pre-ordered the new CRKD 8K Gibson Explorer Guitar Controller at Gamescom faster than anything in his life. He admits he is not normally one to pre-order anything, but a brand new explorer spoke directly to him.
Stage Tour and Beyond
The writer is happy with YARG and Clone Hero. Stage Tour looks sweet, but he is content with what he has.
His collection includes two X-Plorers, two Guitar Hero Live guitars, the CRKD Blueberry, and a Rock Band kit in an attic somewhere. Among the guitars he owns, the X-Plorer remains his favourite.
The X-Plorer’s endurance is remarkable. A controller from 2007 that still glides under the fingers, still holds a Gibson sticker, still plays expert Dragonforce at full tilt — that is a piece of hardware that earned its place.
The writer’s affection is not just nostalgia. It is a working machine that outlasted its rivals.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Guitar Hero 2 released | 2007 |
| Writer’s expert ‘Through the Fire and the Flames’ run | 16 years old / ~2007 |
| X-Plorer 20th anniversary approaching | Now |
| Writer’s current age | 34 |
The X-Plorer is a piece of hardware that outlived its rivals. It plugged in, played, and kept playing for twenty years. That is the kind of performance that earns admiration, not just nostalgia.
Source material: “A love letter to the Guitar Hero X-Plorer Controller,” PC Gamer.
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