Revival Kit

A comprehensive information page for the SOLDERLESS REVIVAL KIT for Guitar Hero Controllers by RetroCultMods. Click on the guitar below for its individual Revival Kit guide!

Supported Controllers

Click on the pictures to be taken to the respective guitar’s build guide!

Xbox/PS Les Paul

Click here to be taken to the XB/PS Les Paul Build Guide

Xbox/PS Sunburst

Click here to be taken to the XB/PS World Tour/Sunburst Build Guide

Xbox/PS GH5

Click here to be taken to the XB/PS GH5 Build Guide

Wii Les Paul

Click here to be taken to the Wii Les Paul Build Guide

Wii Sunburst

Click here to be taken to the Wii World Tour/Sunburst Build Guide

Wii GH5

Click here to be taken to the Wii GH5 Build Guide

Xplorer

Click here to be taken to the Xplorer Build Guide

SG

Click here to be taken to the SG Build Guide

MayFlash

Click here to be taken to the MayFlash Build Guide

Kramer

Click here to be taken to the Kramer Build Guide

Supported Platforms and Games

PC

• Clone Hero
• YARG
• Fortnite Festival (Click here to be taken to the Fortnite Festival setup section)
• Guitar Hero 3 / BetterGH3
• Guitar Hero World Tour Definitive Edition
• Gitadora
• Emulators
  • RPCS3
  • PCSX2
  • Dolphin
  • Xenia (not tested)

Mac

• Clone Hero
• YARG
• Emulators
  • Dolphin
  • PCSX2
  • Other emulators are not thoroughly tested, so YMMV

PlayStation 2

If using a guitar, the V3 Adapter must be set to the RB Guitar Preset.

• Guitar Hero World Tour
• Guitar Hero Metallica
• Guitar Hero Smash Hits
• Band Hero
• Guitar Hero 5
• Guitar Hero Van Halen
• DJ Hero
• Rock Band
• Rock Band 2 (and DX)
• Rock Band Track Packs (not tested)

PlayStation 3

• Guitar Hero III
• Guitar Hero Aerosmith
• Guitar Hero World Tour
• Gutiar Hero Metallica
• Guitar Hero Smash Hits
• Band Hero
• Guitar Hero 5
• Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock
• Rock Band
• Rock Band 2 (and DX)
• Rock Band 3 (and DX)
• Lego Rock Band
• The Beatles: Rock Band
• Green Day: Rock Band
• Rock Band Track Packs (not tested)

PlayStation 4/5

• Fortnite Festival (Click here to be taken to the Fortnite Festival setup section)
• Rock Band 4

Xbox 360

• Guitar Hero II
• Guitar Hero III
• Guitar Hero Aerosmith
• Guitar Hero World Tour
• Guitar Hero Metallica
• Guitar Hero Smash Hits
• Band Hero
• Guitar Hero 5
• Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock
• Rock Band
• Rock Band 2 (and DX)
• Rock Band 3 (and DX)
• Lego Rock Band
• The Beatles: Rock Band
• Green Day: Rock Band
• Rock Band Track Packs (not tested)

Xbox One/Series

• Fortnite Festival (Click here to be taken to the Fortnite Festival setup section)
• Rock Band 4 (AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED. Click to be taken to the RB4 Authentication section)

Wii

If using a guitar, the adapter must be set to the RB Guitar preset, regardless of game.

• Rock Band
• Rock Band 2
• Rock Band 3
• Lego Rock Band
• The Beatles: Rock Band
• Green Day: Rock Band

*Track packs need further testing.

Switch

• Fortnite Festival (Click here to be taken to the Fortnite Festival setup section)
• Any game that supports Pro Controllers (must use V3 Adapter’s gamepad preset)

Instructional Material

Authentication

Xbox One/Series (Rock Band 4)

To play Rock Band 4 on your Xbox with a MiniHost Adapter, you will have to authenticate the MiniHost with a licensed Xbox One or Xbox Series controller.

1. Turn on the Xbox One/Series, then using your Xbox controller, load into Rock Band 4.

2. Disconnect the Xbox controller from your Xbox One/Series. (Pop out batteries)

3. Connect the licensed Xbox controller into the female USB-A port on the V3 Adapter.

   • Xbox One – models 1537, 1697, and 1698
   • Xbox One S – models 1708 and 1797
   • Xbox Series S/X – model 1914

   
4. Plug the adapter into the console with the gamepad plugged in.

5. Wait a moment, then press start on the gamepad to verify the connection is made. On the “Join” screen, a guitar player should appear.

6. Unplug the licensed Xbox controller from your device.

7. Plug in your guitar, if applicable.

8. Play the game!

If your controller is connected under the profile you want to use for the guitar, you’ll need to “drop out” the controller before assigning that profile to the guitar.

(image)

Fortnite Festival

PC, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/Series - Keyboard Mode

NOTE: EPIC HAS CHANGED A SETTING IN FORTNITE THAT HIDES PRO MODES NORMALLY. YOU WILL WANT TO ADJUST THIS TO ALWAYS HAVE PRO MODES SHOWING. TO FIX THIS:

GO TO Settings > GAME > scroll to bottom > change “Always Display Pro Parts” to ON.

Move the MiniHost adapter’s toggle switch to “K”.

This will put your guitar into keyboard mode, where your inputs will be assigned to the default Fortnite Festival Pro Lead Keyboard settings:

• 1-5 for frets
• Right Ctrl & Right Shift for strum
• Forward Slash (/) for whammy
• Page Down for overdrive

You will know it’s working if your instrument changes when you press the frets in the Festival Main Stage Lobby.

Note that you will have to control your menus/character movement with keyboard & mouse/other controller, but once you load into the game from the Festival Main Stage, the guitar will function as intended!
Have fun!

Nintendo Switch

NOTE: You will have to switch between two modes while navigating and playing, so be ready to do that often.

MODE SWITCH BUTTON COMBO:

YELLOW + START

(press and hold yellow first, then tap start once)

1. You want your MiniHost Adapter to be on the Default (GH Guitar) preset. If you have changed yours to be something different, please download the latest RCM Programming Tool and factory reset it back to Default. You will have to calibrate your whammy (and tilt if needed).

2. Turn on your Nintendo Switch and plug your adapter/guitar in! It should be able to navigate the NS menu immediately. If not, unplug and plug in the adapter/guitar again.

3. Once you have confirmed that your adapter/guitar is working on the Switch, open Fortnite Festival.

4. Once the game is open, you should be able to navigate the game with the guitar, at least somewhat.

5. Open your game settings, then switch to the GAME tab. Scroll to the bottom and switch the “ALWAYS DISPLAY PRO PARTS” to ON.

   
6. Load into Fortnite Festival Main Stage, then select your songs. Once you ready up, HOLD YELLOW then tap START. Your guitar should then function to for play!

7. After your song is over, do the YELLOW+START combo again to be able to navigate.

Calibration

Tilt Calibration

1. Open the RCM Programming Tool

2. Plug your guitar into your computer

3. Click the Configure button in the RCM Programming Tool

   
4. Click the Tilt dropdown menu

   
5. Click Calibrate

   
6. Posture the guitar in your normal playing position, then click Next. After that, posture the guitar in the height that you would like for tilt to activate and hold it in that position while clicking Next again. Your tilt should now be calibrated!

   
7. If you feel like the tilt needs to be adjusted, just calibrate again!

Whammy Calibration

1. Open the RCM Programming Tool

2. Plug your guitar into your computer

3. Click the Configure button

   
4. Click the Whammy dropdown menu

   
5. Click Calibrate

   
6. Without touching the whammy bar, click Next. Then, push the whammy bar further in (like furthest activated) without pushing too hard to damage it. Hold it in that position, then click Next.

7. Now you’re setting the Deadzone. The Deadzone is where the whammy begins activation. So you want to make it to where the whammy cannot actuate unless you intentionally press it inwards. Once you’ve set that, click Next.

8. You’re done! If you find that the deadzone isn’t quite right, you can adjust it via the slider or by recalibrating.

Troubleshooting

My Revival Kit is not appearing in the RCM Programming Tool

There are multiple potential reasons for this occurring.

• Your Revival Kit might be going into a different mode during plug-in. Unplug the frets and start/select board, then try to reprogram.
• Faulty USB cable or USB port. Using the same cable, try a different USB port, then switch the cable and try again.
• Lastly, you may just need to hard reset the device. Holding the BOOT/RESET button (small gold button on the Revival Strumboard) while plugging the Revival Strumboard in will put it into recovery mode, which will make a drive named “RPI-RP2” appear on your computer.
  
  Drop this file into that folder.
  CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FLASH NUKE FILE
  
  After you drop the file in, open the RCM Programming Tool and attempt to reprogram.

If you continue to run into issues, send us an email at [e-mail]

The RCM Programming Tool isn't opening on macOS

If you are experiencing the following pop-up, macOS is detecting the RCM Programming Tool as a false-positive for being malware.

To fix this, open your System Settings/System Preferences.

Then navigate to the Privacy and Security tab in the left side menu.

Once you’ve entered this tab, scroll down to the Security section, then you’ll see that the programming tool was blocked. Click Open Anyway. It will ask you to either enter your password or input Touch ID.

Once you’ve completed this, the programmer will open. However it is only for this revision.

Say you had 10.7.11 instead of 10.7.10, you would need to do this process again.

The RCM Programming Tool is not seeing my device on Linux

If the RCM Programming Tool is not seeing your device, it is likely due to a permissions issue in Linux.

You will need the following file:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD\

68-RCM.rules

Navigate to /etc/udev/rules.d/, then drop 68-RCM.rules into the folder.

Once you’ve done that, open the RCM Programming Tool. Your device should appear now! If not, try unplugging and plugging back in.

My Revival Kit is not working in BetterGH3 on SteamOS/Bazzite/Linux

Add this to your Steam Launch Options:

WINEDLLOVERRIDES=“xinput1_3=n,b” %command%