Review: DecalGirl Guitar Hero 3 Controller Skin

DecalGirl Guitar Hero 3 Controller Skin
Manufacturer: DecalGirl
Site: Buy from DecalGirl
Price: $14.99 (available for Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)


Overview : Dress up your Guitar Hero™ III Gibson Les Paul Guitar controller with a luscious, full-color guitar skin kit from DecalGirl! The brilliant, high resolution, full color design is digitally printed on premium adhesive-backed cast vinyl then covered with a clear protectant layer for the ultimate in durability! An innovative repositionable, removable adhesive means no air bubbles and a fast, easy and accurate installation. As always, the skin can be removed at any time without leaving any sticky residue! Each kit includes a head stock skin and (for Wii versions) a matching skin for the Wii remote controller.

Quality/Usability : With Guitar Hero 1 and Guitar Hero 2, you were unable to change the faceplate of the guitar. Only way to customize it was by doing it yourself with paint or other means. When Guitar Hero 3 came out, RedOctane allowed gamers to customize their guitar by being able to change the faceplates. Unfortunately, some faceplates were just hideous looking.

DecalGirl jumped on the Guitar Hero train and produced skins for the Wii and PS3/Xbox 360 guitars. DecalGirl is well-known for their high quality vinyl skins. Skins produced by DecalGirl are vibrant in color and durable. There are a lot of skins to choose from and there will be some that will catch your eyes. You can even match all your consoles such as DS, Wii, Xbox 360, etc. to have the same skin.

The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 guitars are similar in size and style. However, since the Wii guitar requires the Wiimote to be placed into the guitar and there is an opening in the faceplate, the Wii gets a skin for the controller as well to match. The vinyl skin comes all on one sheet. The sheet also includes the fret and fret dots.

To apply the console skin, I started with the biggest piece which was the faceplate. Considering its rounded all around, I didnt have a specific spot to start from. However, I did make sure that one side was aligned before smoothing out the remaining area. Considering the skins are fairly big, it should not be a problem applying the skin. There are a couple of ways to smooth out the skin. You can use a credit card or something similar, your fingers or a rag. I personally use my fingers first to set the skin in place and use a rag to flatten and smooth the skin out. I dont use a card because it has sharp edges/corners and if there is a small hard particle that got trapped underneath the skin, it can ruin the skin.

Applying the fret vinyl skin was also fairly easy. There are six small circles that you'll need to poke out. I started with the bottom of the fret and worked my way up (end). Once all the main pieces have been applied, you have the option of going all out and adding colored fret dot vinyl skins. There are nine colors to choose from and each has 6 dots.

Those who have the Wii version, installing the controller skin is very easy as well. Just start anywhere by matching up the corners and work your way around the controller and you should be set.

Conclusion : Overall, the DecalGirl Guitar Hero 3 Controller Skin gives the guitar a sweet look to it. Installation is very simple and clean. I love the fact that DecalGirl also includes vinyl skin for the fret and fret dots. It would of been nice if DecalGirl included maybe vinyl skins for the fret buttons as well.

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