(Part 2) Best products from r/rocksmith

Here's my daily practice schedule. I also take lessons once a week. Been making great progress.

Lesson Book- 15 minutes OR Youtube/JustinGuitar

This helps me learn tablature and all that. This is what I also use when I am practicing while doing other things like watching TV or playing a game of Civ. Once I can play a lesson in beat without making any errors, I move on. This is what my instructor also uses to teach me during my lessons.

Rocksmith - 1 Hour

includes

• Guitarcade - Important - at least 15 mins, if not more
  
  Pick a game that focuses on an area you are struggling with. At this point for me it was learning the fretboard and strings so I mostly played Ducks Redux, String Skip Saloon, and Return of the Chordead. When it starts to feel competitive in regards to earning a higher score, you're probably ready to move on because at that point it will be about playing absolutely perfectly.
  
  
• Lessons - Eh - Maybe 10-15 minutes, depending on which lesson
  
  Lessons can be hit or miss but some were great. I would do the 101s and the ones that the Mission Checklist recommend to you. I wouldn't grind it trying to get 100% in every lesson though, if you feel confident in the what it is teaching then you can move on.
  
  
• Learn A Song - Important - the remainder of time
  
  I consider LAS the "fun" part of practicing. I don't believe playing Learn A Song 100% of the time is going to get you anywhere but it can help you hammer in everything you worked on earlier. I also recommend just playing what Rocksmith recommends to you, and pick a few songs that you enjoy. I usually play the songs I enjoy near the end of my session to keep it fun.
  
  
• Riff Repeater - Important - not for beginner though
  
  For a beginner, you probably won't spend too much time with Riff Repeater but I did use it for a few songs where I really wanted to nail a section down. Get familiar with it though because later on you will be using this a lot to master the songs you want to learn.
  
  As for the other features, they can be fun to mess around with but I have not found them be helpful in learning at this point.
  
  .
  
  It helps to not just get your knowledge from Rocksmith. If you can't afford lessons, check out JustinGuitar on Youtube. Actually, there's a ton of helpful resources available for free on the web. I started out just getting 5%-10% a song, a month later that was up to 20%-60%. It feels great.
  
  Also might help if you get some sort of hand strengthener lol my pinky was a weak bitch. Force yourself to use and get used to it right away.
  
  edit: For your 2nd question, make sure you are not pressing down too hard on the fret, it will change the note!

> I know this game is much more like a real guitar

It is straight up real guitar if you want it to be, if if you choose to play simplified lines it's still real technique, reading rocksmith is just a more fun way of reading sheet music or tab + some looping/speed tools (and a lot more really, lots of neat stuff)

> My question is how good does it work for someone who has only played guitar hero

Guitar hero helps you build a sense of coordination between left/right hands and helps you with your musical timing but expect to have to put in a little time getting the basics of fretting/picking down & getting a feel for it (especially when it comes to chord playing, which is why a lot of people start out playing 'emulated bass' if you just want to jump in and have that rockband/GH experience without putting in the time to learn your basic chords). If you take the lessons section of rocksmith seriously and use youtube to fill in the gaps you'll be able to pick it all up technique wise (you'll need lessons/courses/books to learn music theory but rocksmith sneaks little bits in).

> also which version should I buy on steam?

You just missed the steam sale by 2 hours and 30 minutes. You need the cable anyway so just order the hard copy w/ cable (then activate it on steam afterwards) or you can find replacement cables sold separately and buy the game during the next steam sale. Good move going PC, that will give you access to a ton of extra 'custom DLC' songs.

>Are their any guitars in particular that work well for this game as well?

No, except that if you want to play the range of stuff in the game you'll probably want something versatile, I would go electric over acoustic for rocksmith purposes (for obvious reasons). I would probably go with a strat-type over a tele-type for the versatility, solid over hollow for a non-country/blues guitar. It also really depends on your budget. A $60 dollar used squire is gonna feel better than a beat up rockband controller (especially if you take the time to adjust it a bit). Reverb is a great way to pick up a used axe cheap. Go to Sam Ash or Guitar Center or w/e play the different styles, find one that feels comfy then go find it on reverb used. If you want a guitar that is gonna play real nice and have a very tight action then expect to put down at least $500-900 (new prices). I picked up a Korean PRS-SE Tremonti on Reverb used for $500 ($850 new I think) and it plays fantastically. Like buying a car you pay more for less return as you go up the price curve. Once you break 1k+ That's when you start getting into fancy electronics, beautiful hand crafted domestic instruments, increasingly rarer woods but the difference between a 2k instrument and an 8k is only going to matter to collectors & the most discerning ears w/ clean tones. Chappers & The Captain will demonstrate all the ways in which you can spend tons of hard earned money on gear and help you with cost/benefit analysis and buyers guides.

If your TV does indeed do 1024x768 then you should be fine with it.

You should be fine at standard-defintion resolutions (480 vertical pixels) using the yellow (composite) cable that comes with the console, but a component cable should give a sharper picture even on standard-definition (depending on your TV and the quality of your eyesight) and will take full advantage of the resolution of a 1024x768 telly.

• Component cable for Xbox 360
  
• Component cable for PS3
  
  If you're buying a new telly soon, then maybe see if you can get away with the yellow composite cable for a while, because any new TV will have an HDMI cable, and that will give a better picture (depending the TV and your eyesight) than component. The HDMI cable will be a bit cheaper, and you'd always choose it over component.
  
  I'm not aware of any gameplay differences between the two consoles. Someone said in another post that the E3 demo units were 360s, so that was what the early development must have been done on, so the title must be better and more "native" to that console. Personally, I don't think it makes any difference.
  
  I have a PS3 (and I actually bought a new PS3 for Rocksmith) and I think it's a better console, from a hardware point of view - I've had my PS3 for over 4 years and it's still going great. Early models of the 360 had a terrible failure rate and I still think of it as a "cheap" console; however the latest slim models look like they've fixed these problems, and they're a fair chunk cheaper than the PS3. I kinda feel like the 360 is less cost, if you just want to see if you get along with Rocksmith.
  
  My copy of Rocksmith hasn't arrived yet, but it's a bargain compared to the cost of guitar lessons. If it works even reasonably well then buying a console to play it on is still a bargain compared to, say, 10 or 20 hours of lessons.

It will likely be on sale along with the original just "Rocksmith" game, but it's never certain when the sales will pop up for a week. I have read if you put the game or DLC in your steam wishlist it will send you an email of the sale going on. According to this link it will be around halloween https://www.whenisthenextsteamsale.com/ . I think I remember there being a sale last halloweenish. Anyways I would get the 2014 and/or "remastered" version off of amazon so you get the cable your going to want to have, or at least get the cable off there for like $30.
https://www.amazon.com/Rocksmith-2014-PC-Mac-Cable-Included/dp/B00D6PTMHI/ref=sr_1_2_twi_dvd_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506807510&sr=8-2&keywords=rocksmith%2Bpc&th=1
Here is just the cable. It says its for the xbox 360 but it will work on PC too.
https://www.amazon.com/Rocksmith-2014-Cable-Trilingual-playstation-2/dp/B00I0701P4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1506808848&sr=8-3&keywords=rocksmith

The Rocksmith 2014 version, before "remastered" came out, automatically gets updated to remasted in steam if you find a cheap version of it on sale with the cable. So basically all Rocksmith 2014 versions are the same. Plus they will still play the DLC from the original Rocksmith just called Rocksmith. I would definatlly pick up that original version when the sale comes plus the "Rocksmith 2014 - Disk Import Pack". That will get about 50 songs from the original rocksmith into the newest verson RS remastered.

Another bonus of getting Rocksmith on PC if you're willing to run a crack is CDLC. Or bacically Custom Downloadable Content not officailly from ubisoft and free . Basically you go to http://customsforge.com/ to get the crack and the songs are downloaded from http://ignition.customsforge.com/ . Lots of stuff is there that cannot be licenced like Metallica, Guns and Roses, AC/DC ,etc. About 20,000 song or something are on there. About a few hundred are actually worth it.

If you're playing on PC now I'd suggest looking into a decent pair of powered studio monitors. I've had amps galore over the years and while I would love to have one now I just don't have the space or the means to ever really crank it up. Instead, I opted for a solid pair of powered studio monitors, connected to my PC via optical cable. I run my headphones out of those and they sound great and when the family is away I just unplug them, crank up the volume and it sounds better than any low end amp I've ever had. Rocksmith makes for a pretty solid amp/fx rack as well. Far better than you're going to get from a low end amp.

I went with these and I'm very happy. https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-MS40-BEHRINGER/dp/B000IKSIOM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1467162737&sr=8-3&keywords=behringer+monitors

There are monitors for all budgets as well, so don't look at what I paid and feel like it's out of reach.

If you are using the digital connections, I can almost promise it doesn't. If you're using the RCA connections, maybe... I'm not so sure though. I thought direct was just to decode the 5 or 7 channels and send them to speakers without any Onkyo alteration (like Theatre, Hall, Orchestra, Large Room, etc).

Reason being is that the balance and tone controls on a system like that used to go to analog circuits. Now a days, those go into values in a DSP calculation even if you're not doing surround sound enhancements. When you go into a mode like direct, it's just uses 0's as the values to alter the sound. It doesn't bypass the calculation. It just does it with values that don't change the signal. The delay could always be the same.

I like the Onkyo stuff. I have it in my den, but play RS on a computer in my office with no amp. Headphones right into the computer.

So if you're really feeling crazy, you could get this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00356J8KE/
Plug your guitar or bass into INPUT. Plug your rocksmith cable into PARPOUT. Then on the backside you have a balanced XLR (with floating ground) connection that you can plug into your pedal board or amp stack.

You don't HAVE to buy that box, you could use a simple splitter, but what this does for you is float (remove) the ground connection between your computer and your amp/effect stack. If you don't lift the ground, noise will probably come in through the ground on your USB cable, and your amp will have a digital/squeeling/processing noise.

Turn the guitar/bass volume level all the way down in the game and adjust lag to just deal with the latency caused by your amp or computer. You'll hear the music over your Onkyo rig, but your part will be perfectly synced and your own sound!

You're on your own to match tone, but that's part of the fun. Also helps you hear yourself over the rest of the 'band'.

I have this setup upstairs in my game room. It's where I play most.

Now if I only had talent, I'd be in business.

If you're into the idea of him being able to use his amp while playing Rocksmith you have a couple options; /u/ZagatoZee uses and recommends a fairly cheap way to do it (idr his specific setup but I'm sure he'd be happy to share :) )

I've personally used a more expensive option, Radial Big Shot ABY; the important thing here is that it has a ground lift otherwise with a lot of set ups you get a really loud annoying hum.

Looks like you already got some, but worth mentioning to anyone else who is looking....

This pair is around $30US and the cool thing about them is that they have 2 separate inputs. So, for RS you could plug one cord into your PC and the other set into your amp/FX rig if you like to play with a separate amp.

Sound via hdmi from the xbox is laggy.
TV's also process their pictures before displaying them (also laggy, unless the TV has a game mode, sometimes even then)

That tends to make things trickier than they need to be for a music game.

PC has a bit more flexibility too - you can always install the game on a newer PC, and bring any DLC you've bought with you.
you can move from the 360 to an xbox one, the DLC will follow your xbox lve account, but you may have to rebuy the base game.

If the TV has a VGA input, can't you just use a pc to drive it?

The bundle guitar
seems OK,
I bought the older PC bundle, which came with a Les Paul jr instead of a Les Paul special.

I've been playing for a little over a year now. I still don't have an amp, I don't need one, I just use my PC.

That's not a bad question at all! You can have luck with a very simple Y cable - but for me, it produced lots of noise because it's not separated (Current can flow freely between your PS3, guitar and amp).

I am right now using this, so a pricier signal splitter that grounds the signal.

It does definitely pay off; even more so if you can use the cheap cable!

You are way over-thinking this. You don't want to change the signal that goes to the PC. You want as clean of a signal as possible to allow for better note detection.

Get his splitter Link and plug the Real tone cable into one output and run the other through your signal chain to the amp.

In the game set your guitar sound to almost zero so that the only thing you hear is what comes out of the amp. As far as pedals and amp, that's going to depend on what type of music you plan on playing. Amp and pedal selection is as all determined by personal preference.

Audio Technica ATH-M50x

They get a lot of praise from audiophiles, and the coiled cable lets you stretch it under your guitar neck easily. The next level up, the 70x, has a more transparent sound for music production, which could help hear yourself better, but the 50's have a better mix as a listener.

I've been pretty happy with this Epiphone Les Paul Special II.

These work wonders http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0085MX3SG/ref=s9_top_hm_awbw_by8fl_g200_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=mobile-hybrid-11&pf_rd_r=1QMEXTH62X5MFX517H54&pf_rd_t=30901&pf_rd_p=0b1d4446-e0f7-5cd4-b75e-ad8848112f97&pf_rd_i=14333021

Also, playing more is the ultimate solution. You could also try lighter gage strings at first, that tends to help as well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01LXOO4QO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


See i got this and its an amazing beginner guitar and well within your budget.

I think on the output side from your guitar you might be able to get away with just a Y connector, since pickups have a high output impedance. They do sell ABY switches, which are designed for this purpose though https://www.amazon.com/OSP-Guitar-Amplifier-Selection-Switch/dp/B004VFTSO4/ref=sr_1_4?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1510606280&sr=1-4&keywords=guitar+aby

For mixing headphone outs, I found this on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/JUST-MIXER-Audio-DJ-Mixer/dp/B01LPT8KQA/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1510605779&sr=8-13&keywords=headphone+mixer
Annoyingly, you'd probably need to buy a 3.5mm to 1/4" adapter to mate your amp headphone out to the mixer.

I have not tried either of these products, so I don't know if they are any good, it's not a recommendation, just an idea to steer you in the right direction. You may be able to find cheaper or better alternatives.

Do you have an amp? You can set up your guitar to go through both the amp and the game using a headphone amplifider or a a female Y cable

I personally use the headphone amplifier setup and turn down the volume on my guitar in the game to 80, the music to 90 and crank up my amp on clean to actually hear what I'm playing ;)

I had the DI Box setup and either Rocksmith wouldn't recognize the output, or the tone coming out of my amp would sound like crap. I solved it by buying an ABY box, which is about $10 more than a DI Box. The amp sounds as it should and Rocksmith can recognize everything without having to mess with the gain. (https://www.amazon.com/Donner-Selector-Guitar-Effect-bypass/dp/B07N3ZBHR5/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=aby+box&qid=1569625907&sr=8-3)

Look into a DAC/AMP

I spent a little money, nothing bank breaking, to get good audio from my PC

I use the Topping VX1

It attaches to your PC by USB and/or line out (the green jack)

I use the line out from my PC to the AUX input on the back of the DAC

I run from the Topping VX1 to a 8" sub from Dayton-Audio and from the sub I go to 2 Dayton Audio B652 speakers.

The sound is really good. Much better than from crappy PC speakers. Also the Topping has a switching headphone jack so you can leave your headphones in at all times.

I am using the audio technica m50x headphones which are decent.

I bought this guy, so I can plug into rocksmith and my amp at the same time. It works great!

I use an ABY switch. I guess a looper with two outputs would work too, and a looper is a really good tool for jammin on your own. You can loop a chord progression and practice scales or improvise on top.

If you want a never-ending supply of picks: https://www.amazon.com/Pick-Punch-Original-PROCESS-PRIORITY/dp/B005FIFM14/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=pick+punch&qid=1572525225&sr=8-4


My wife got me one for Christmas 3-4 years back, and it not only results in you having faaaar more picks than you will EVER use, it's actually fun making them.

FYI, my son uses this inexpensive pickup, and it works quite well: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005H2007E?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00

Dont have this surround sound on mine :(. You have any idea if I can use this cable from the interface to the mixer ? Or is it better to use a 1/4 to XLR ?


https://www.amazon.com/Tisino-Stereo-Y-Splitter-Return-Insert/dp/B07K59P692/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=Tisino+1%2F4+inch+TRS+Stereo+to+Dual+1%2F4+inch+TS+Mono+Y-Splitter+Cable+Send+and+Return+Insert+Cable+Patch+Cord+-+3+feet&qid=1556567503&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Just added this to my setup this week. Works perfectly. Doesn't have to be this one, but a ground lift switch is a must. The noise is ground loop hum between the pc and amp.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FKIO6M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This also allows you to send the clean iso B signal to Rocksmith, then send the A signal to any effects then amp that you want. Remember to lower your in game volume so you just hear yourself through the amp.

My wife bought me Rocksmith a few years back to work with the acoustic guitar. You just have to buy a pickup and a female/female adapter. Might be a cheaper transition than going full electric from the start. Hope this helps: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005H2007E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_2cdBybDADR5HR

You want to split the signal as soon as possible. A Tuner like the Boss TU-3, has 2 outputs, or you can just use a basic Y-splitter or AB/Y pedal. I'd go with the tuner option personally. Guitar into tuner. Tuner output A to your pedals, output B (bypass) to your realtone cable.

That way RS gets a clean guitar signal to read and you just lower the volume in game of your guitar.
Pedals, you can go nuts here, depending on what you like to play etc, but regardless on what pedals you end up with, you'll NEED a DI box with a ground lift between the last pedal and your amp, otherwise you get a truly offensive humming sound through your amp.

I ended up getting this one (or something amazingly similar) http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-Pro-PDC22-Instrument-Balanced-Unbalanced/dp/B00356J8KE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1427377287&sr=8-3&keywords=di+box

That is a 2 channel box, but only 1 channel is needed. You'll likely also need to get an XLR-1/4 cable to go from the DI box to your amp.

Hi, I noticed you were asking about the splitter setup. I've been playing this way since I first got the game a year ago and love it. I'll try to give as much info as possible.

I have this splitter

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000068O56/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I plug the "male" end into my bass, then plug the RealTone cable and just a regular 1/4 guitar cable male ends into the female ends of the splitter. The USB end of the RealTone cable gets plugged into the PC/PS4/XBOX as normal and the guitar cable gets plugged into your amp/pedals/whatever. I much prefer this setup as I can barely hear myself when just relying on the ingame audio. Word of warning, this device seems to be a hit and miss on whether it will work, but I figured for such a small price it wasn't too much of a risk.

I'm not versed in the use of the more complex splitters, but hoped this helped somewhat

The XBox 360 does support analog audio output, if you use the component HD AV cable. It includes analog stereo RCA outputs. http://amzn.com/B000B6MLPU

I recommend the purchase of a gripmaster

Optical output to Behringer MS40 studio monitors. MS20 is fine too.

Here it is on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000068O53/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00

You can buy the game and cable bundle for $40 on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Rocksmith-2014-Remastered-PC-Standard-Mac/dp/B01KVVSRPW/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rocksmith%2B2014&qid=1552682326&s=gateway&sr=8-1&th=1

Rocksmith 2014 Edition - PC/Mac (Cable Included) on amazon $64.99

Skip the mic and get a splitter. Tons cheaper, I suspect it will pick up notes better than a mic anyway.

Hosa YPP-111 1/4 inch TS to Dual 1/4 inch TSF Y Cable https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000068O53/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_XWyBybJWFJXHM

splitter cable for 5$.

It's on Amazon prime for $53 including cable.

Cool Bot

Do you think this would work on a budget?
OSP ABY Guitar Amplifier Selection Foot Switch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004VFTSO4/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_WXkVub09ZZB4Q

Non-mobile: Amazon prime

^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble.

Splitters are probably cheaper than buying a pedal.

Link for mobile: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KVVSRPW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_lNenyb1NPTR80

I just use something similar to this. It's much cheaper.


www.amazon.com/Hosa-YPP-111-inch-Dual-Cable/dp/B000068O53

https://www.amazon.com/Rocksmith-2014-Remastered-PC-Standard/dp/B01KVVSRPW?th=1

Not as good a deal, but Amazon.ca also has PC, PS4, XB1 with cable for $54.99 CAD.

https://www.amazon.ca/Rocksmith-2014-Edition-Remastered-PC/dp/B01KVVSRPW/

I use one of these https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-YPP-111-inch-Dual-Cable/dp/B000068O53

Plug into guitar out and connect a regular cable to amp and the realtone cable to ps3.

No more lag.

I use one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-YPP-111-inch-Dual-Cable/dp/B000068O53 at home currently with a laptop with no issues. I had to switch around the outlets that the amp and laptop were plugged into until I was able to get the hum to stop. I do have some problems where the sound will crackle if I move around too much though.

You can also try the instructions on this link: https://www.reddit.com/r/rocksmith/comments/3hdnte/how_to_get_rocksmith_and_your_amp_working/