Joystiq is reporting that Red Octane has officially admitted that two models the the Xbox 360 Guitar Controllers for Guitar Hero II are defective.

"We have isolated this issue to two model numbers that can be found on the guitar's packaging. The numbers are 95065 and 95055. We are asking that customers who puchased [sic] their items from a retailer perform an exchange with that respective store (for a model number other than the defective two listed above). Customer's [sic] who purchased through our online story [sic] can complete an rma request for their defective item and we will exchange it for a fully function [sic] guitar controller. We do apologize for the inconvenience and will resole [sic] these matters."

However there appears to be a disconnect between the model number on the box and guitar model included inside. Xbox 360 Fanboy received Guitar Hero II model 95067, but it included a broken 95065 guitar.

Due to a rather hectic travel schedule recently I neglected to purchase GHII for 360. I love the game and would happily drop down the cash for the extra songs. Now I am glad I waited.

I read this article, it should be easy to fix the problem...

I would much rather try to fix it myself than go through the hassle of exchanging or RMAing. Still lame there was a defect. Anyone know how good RedO support is?

I grew up in the eighties. A bad guitar sounds like something you would want.

"I grew up in the eighties. A bad guitar sounds like something you would want."

Ha ha Prince...Duran Duran...Culture Club...ha ha

But then again, Steve Winwood, Police, and, um...um...

You're way off. Try...

Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Yngwie, AC/DC, Dio (early-to-mid eighties, before most of them wussed out/went "pop")

Metallica and Megadeth (mid-to-late eighties)

...to name a few.

I dealt with RedOctane customer support for a well known cord problem with the first Guitar Hero controller over a year ago. I got a replacement in about 4 months, during which time they actually lost my ticket, thus I didn't exist... I would like to think that they've improved. However, considering the state of their "official statement" (damn near unreadable), it doesn't look very good. If there's a way to fix it yourself, I'd definitely suggest doing so.