Maybe I rocked it a little too hard.

Looks like I got one of the defective Rock Band guitars. The strum bar on my fake guitar had been intermittently not registering up strums…now it doesn’t register them at all.

While playing Guitar Hero I never once used the up strum option. I only ever down strummed. I never really mastered the more difficult levels and never needed to alternate the strum for speed. For all I know, my Guitar Hero guitar also doesn’t have a functioning up strum.

In Rock Band, however, I’ve have been using the up strum. Partially because I’m getting better at playing fake guitar and need to alternate to handle the faster parts of some songs, but mostly because if you only use up strums while playing bass the game will label you as “Authentic Strummer.” Obviously this is a highly coveted title (it isn’t) and it gives the bass player a little meta-game to play.

EA has come right out and admitted that some of the release guitars are defective. They’ve made it incredibly simple to swap out the defective guitars for functioning ones. They two-day air ship you a new guitar. You put the defective guitar back in the shipping box and send it back to them. It doesn’t cost you a dime and it’s quick and convenient. So props to EA for manning-up to the situation and providing a quick fixing for it.

I have a tracking number to keep tabs on my new guitar. It appears that it hasn’t actually shipped yet though. I’ve read that there is a slight delay because EA is getting pounded by requests for replacements. This situation is being exacerbated by the fact that people without defected guitars are also putting in requests for replacements. Why you might ask? Right now it is not possible to buy a Rock Band guitar without buying the whole Rock Band bundle. Stand alone guitars are not going on sale until the end of January. If you want to play Rock Band with two Rock Band guitars (instead of using one Guitar Hero guitar) you pretty much have to buy a second bundle. Or you can claim your guitar is defective; in which case EA will send you a second guitar. If you don’t ship back your defective guitar they will charge you for it and you have effectively bought a second guitar two months ahead of the street date. Clever, huh?

Not really. I expect your karma will be damaged because you’ll be preventing someone without a single functioning guitar from getting one because you’re a greedy little prick. EA has started charging $125 for non-returned guitars, but in a world where people will pay double the street price on e-bay to get an item slightly before its street date, I’m not sure how effective the modest mark up will be.