Rock Band 3 Fender Squier Official Price, Release Date
Keeping this short and sweet. According to an email sent to me from Fender, with a link to Fender.com, here are the OFFICIAL details of the Rock Band 3 Fender Squier Pro guitar:
$279.99.
Pre-Order begins 1/1/2011.
Available on 3/1/2011.
Discuss.
Note: As some people are mentioning in the comments below, this is probably without the required MIDI Controller.
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March is not as late as I feared. And the price is cheaper than I expected (I thought it would be more ~300$). So I’m happy.
Price not surprising, release date is. That seems *forever* away.
In41
To be honest it is cheaper than I thought it would be, but I have been saving up for it since it was announced. I will be there to pre-order in 2011!
Now I have that much more time to learn Pro Keys!
Taker Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Haha, great way to think about it! That is, if I can hold off getting theMustang for that long….
NobleJon Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 2:56 pm
That’s exactly what I was thinking. And I’m glad. I was worried I’d just overwhelm myself with instruments and never find time to learn any of them because of the girth of options.
Now I can save up for a few months after spending way too much on Rock Band 3 and Dance Central, and I’ll have excitement dedicated to a single release instead of spreading/thinning it out for so many other games/songs/devices.
Unbelievably pumped for this … but too bad this won’t be out for the holidays
Decent price, but remember that you need to also purchase the madcatz MIDI box too.
Cheaper than I expected, and a bit earlier than I expected. This = win in my book.
Release is close to my birthday too, making it an easier sell with the wife. =)
Only 320$ w/ the midi adapter is a great price, i’m glad its coming out in March, so i can save all my Christmas money and snow shoveling money (if it snows as much as it did last year in VA)
Delibird444 Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 3:02 pm
There are SOOO many reasons I want it to snow that much again this year…
I want to be locked in the house with nothing but Rock Band 3 and Poptarts.
Jonathan Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 3:10 pm
That would be the life!
Polite Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 8:14 pm
I can’t find poptarts anywhere anymore. I wonder if it’s only an american thing now.
case Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 6:24 am
Where are you? There’s plenty in Ontario, Canada.
But honestly they’re so bad health-wise that I’d rather eat the “nutritional” equivalent in chocolate bars.
Ben Reply:
November 4th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
really?? i’m up In Sudbury Ontario which in Central North Ontario and we have no snow! heck it hasn’t been that cold yet either.
Spiff Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Here’s hoping they will make a $300 Guitar/MIDI Adapter bundle .
Awesome shit! Definitely not as expensive as I thought it would be. A month later that I was expecting though. Totes was hoping to get it for my February birthday, but whatever. xD
Question: I’m STILL really confused about the MIDI adapter box. Do we need it for this? I thought since this was an officially license controller, we DIDN’T. That we only needed the MIDI adapter box if you wanted to use a DIFFERENT guitar as a controller.
RockBandAide Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Yes, you will still need to purchase the MIDI Controller in addition to the stand alone (console neutral) Squier guitar.
The only guitars supported in Pro mode for Rock Band 3 at this point are the Mustang and Squier. The Mustang does NOT need the MIDI Controller.
Cassie Drake Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Ahhh… ok. Cuz I could clearly see that there were SOME console buttons on the guitar, but no home button for any specific console. So I was a bit confused.
Thanks for clearing that up for me. =)
Dorkmaster Flek Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 3:39 pm
From what we understand, everything on the guitar for the game is done with SysEx commands. This means that theoretically, other instrument manufacturers could create there own guitars that are compatible with RB3 via the MIDI box if they use the same standard. I have no doubt ambitious hackers will also create their own devices to do this as well. It should make for some good YouTube fodder.
Polite Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:29 pm
Though they would have to nail the technology that they are putting under the fretboard to track your finger positions without the need to strum as with most midi guitars.
Sans Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:23 pm
I don’t see why they can’t do this for even for the legacy controllers. Make them all console neutral and have a little box to attach to it. No more Xbox the only one gett “X” controller.
Polite Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:31 pm
That’s a really good idea. Wish they had thought of it around the time that guitar hero 3 came out (which is when it all started getting ridiculous).
Cheaper than I expect, further away than I expected. pity the video doesn’t work.
Awesome news. I’ll definitely be getting this now instead of the Mustang, but I’m still going to have to save up a lot of money.
$279.99 is an amazing price imo! <3
I am gonna be at my computer hitting F5 on 12/31 when it hits midnight (assuming it will be available for pre-order right at midnight) to assure that I get one
Polite Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:31 pm
That’s going to make for a pretty depressing new years eve, though?
Decent price. Release date seems far away, but it’ll be here before we know it. Plus that gives HMX plenty of time to release more Pro DLC tracks!
Well, I know what I’m getting for my birthday (3/4/11) next year.
Kal-el Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Me too! (3/5/11)
WhizKidRaven Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 3:44 pm
You guys are both 100 years old?! That’s awesome!
imarabbitmonkey Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 6:23 pm
thats the date of their birthday not of their birthDATE lol
Kangaroo62 Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:38 pm
No. In MARCH they will be 100 years old. Right now they’re still 99.
The guitar is MIDI out to be console neutral (one set of internal hardware, natch). Thus the box is necessary to flavor its output for your console of choice.
I will say it is nice to see a set of controller buttons on the front too. I was expecting all those to be relegated to the breakout box but this is a nice surprise (it looks like they are overly generic for all 3 platforms.)
@Cassie
See the little midi port on the bottom on the Guitar? That’s how it connects to the game, Not wirelessly like the other instruments.
Cassie Drake Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Yeah, I didn’t notice it in the little picture, but after I commented, I clicked on the link and saw it there. Thanks for pointing it out though. xD
O_O that’s my birthday
I wish it was out by the gift season…
*Sigh*, looks like I’ll have to find another excuse to “need” this.
Price is much lower than I expected, and that should aid in the cause
.
Is this just american or is this a worldwide release date.
RockBandAide Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 3:08 pm
I have no further information than what was in the link above. Although my gut tells me this is a US release date.
jayyaj13 Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 4:34 pm
dam no worries just hope the eu release aint so far behind, really want pro guitar
PSPCOW Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:50 pm
…..I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you. Rock Band 3 sold virtually NO copies in the UK. Around 7300 if my mind is right.
I live in the US and have an Xbox 360. Needless to say, I’m in Rock Band heaven right now!
Whizzer Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 3:39 am
And we have no idea where those numbers come from. Don’t just believe anything you read.
storm20200 Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 4:26 am
That was in the first 2 days of sale and according to wikipedia/eurogamer! Not the best indication of how well it will do in the uk.
Any info for UK pricing/release? I hope we won’t get screwed over with this.
So I’m guessing that’ll be roughly June 2012 in the UK, for £450?
But seriously, that’s a very reasonable price for the guitar, impressed.
And in march 2011 a squire will join my epiphone les Paul custom
To put it in perspective, the Fender Replica guitar controller (with the fender body and Rock Band guts) was $300 when it was released (though you can get it for $100-$150 now). Based on that, I assumed the Squier would be at least $300, more like $350. $280 is quite the nice surprise.
So fucking pumped for this! The price is a little cheaper than I thought. I figured it would be closer to $300. No way it was going to be less than $250 though. Glad to see preorder date and pricing! Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck March is so far away!
Hope that GameStop will sell it! Have $150 in credit there and will trade in stuff to get more.
Polite Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I would be surprised to see this being sold in shops, except specialist stores like independent gaming stores. They make it sound like they aren’t doing a huge run of these guitars.
Costs as much as my bass did. Cheaper than I thought it’d be (even with the midi) but still passing. Not interested in playing with a guitar again, been there, done that, never enjoyed it.
Polite Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 8:12 pm
What an odd thing to come here to say.
Does Anyone Else Get The Error
“200, Stream not found, NetStream.Play.StreamNotFound, clip: ‘[Clip] ‘http://video.fender.com/products/guitars/rockband3_squier/RB3_SquierGuitarandController_teaser.mp4”
If Anyone Knows How To Fix This When Trying To Watch The Video On The Website Please Tell Me
DancnDude Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Somebody posted the video on YouTube for those of us whose browsers won’t play the original video. Somebody was saying it was due to having Flash 10.1 installed, but I don’t know if that’s really the case. Either way, the YouTube video is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Z-KveKXQE
Dinkydulu Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Cheers Man!
Whizzer Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 6:02 pm
It should play now and you can also follow the link in your post to download the video. I’m using Flash 10.2 beta, but that doesn’t matter. 10.1 should be fine too.
Wow. That’s a lot cheaper than I expected. I think I’m going to TRY and hold out for a bass controller
trying…
not…
to…
spend…
money…
…
…
losing…
For me the big question would be is the $279.99 price a video game MSRP or a guitar MSRP?
Polite Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Good point, because street value of musical instruments is usually a bit lower than the MSRP, but game products usually doesn’t budge.
$280 plus MIDI is a lot better than I expected.
I’ve only got two questions, both about availability:
1) will these be mass-marketed, or can we expect only a handful of them in March? I remember reading somewhere that there was going to be very limited availability.
2)just where in the hell, exactly, will you buy the Squier? At a guitar store, or a game store, or both? Somehow, I get the impression that Fender will sell these at guitar stores instead of usual gaming outlets (last time I checked, you can’t buy a real guitar at most Wally World box stores)
Jonathan Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 5:26 pm
I would expect Fender to seell them at there site, Guitar Center, Amazon and other big music stores. I can’t see the Squier being sold at places like Gamestop, Best Buy, Target or Walmart. It seems like the kind of unique item that would be sold where actual guitars are sold
Wendell Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Well I know that both Target and Best Buy sell guitars now, and some Best Buy stores already sell real Fender guitars. So, Best Buy definitely and Target possibly. I do think that Gamestop might not be the best outlet for these. Hoping that they will be on musiciansfriend.com for $100 off MSRP and free shipping!
sperine Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 5:36 pm
This is my question too. I would much rather go out and buy it than deal with shipping because I’d have to go through the college mailing system to get it in March.
The video works now.
I always said if its under #300 without the MIDI pro adapter I’d get it, this has made me so happy. I honestly didnt think itd be priced this well. Definitely gonna pre-order this.
The price is good (<$300) but the wait from the launch date is excessive. Waiting 4+ months from launch date is alot to ask. I am curious what their sales volume target is?
With the $280 price HMX and Fender are really buying into selling someone interested in music their first guitar and then get more business from them down the road.
if I divide the price of a mustang in the UK by the price of a mustang in the US and multiply that number by the price of the squier here, then I get the UK price (hopefully) of £205, which is very acceptable imo.
just for any UK people who wondered, I think this works out roughly for the other new kit too, so may well be the approx price. however if we get it or not remains to be seen…
benhodgson92 Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 6:36 pm
“roughly” being up to £15 more, still £220 is worth it I think…
then again i may just come to america and steal one…
Polite Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Oh crap. It only just occurred to me that they might not ship it internationally. *panics*
benhodgson92 Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:47 am
that would be annoying
This is pretty much what everyone was expecting/hoping for, yes?
will it have a midi port?
Polite Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:34 pm
It has a midi port on the guitar which you can connect to standard midi equipment. It’s not confirmed, but i almost guarantee that the midi spec will be the same as the mustang guitar, which you can get the details of here:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/createdigitalmusic/~3/KirtMEekIw0/
Whizzer Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 3:43 am
It connects to the MIDI Pro through the MIDI port, so that should be fully functional. It would be surprising if the MIDI port would not be fully compliant with other MIDI equipment/recording software.
Anybody know what the song used in the trailer was?
The questions I still have are:
1. Are they going to have a limited number of pre-orders?
2. Will they take pre-orders from international customers?
I have to admit that this time is well placed for me, as I’ve already pre-ordered a mustang, it’ll hopefully give me enough time to decide if i need this as well.
Oh as for the note saying that you will ‘probably’ need to buy the midi controller, on the fender page it says “The Squier by Fender Stratocaster Guitar and Controller requires the use of the MadCatz® MIDI Pro adapter (sold separately), compatible with the Nintendo® Wii™, Microsoft® Xbox 360®, and the Sony PlayStation® 3.”
I think that’s as official a word as you are going to get.
Croq Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Yep. Seems that they could work something out on that, but looks like we’ll be over $300 by the time we’re done.
In a past interview asking about the delay with the Squier Harmonix said that Fender was looking to do a simultaneous worldwide release for the guitar and it would take a lot of time to build up enough stock to be able to do that.
My money is on this guitar being released around the world within a week or two of March 1st 2011.
I wonder how they are able to sell it for so cheap
The cheapest Strat I saw on Fender.com was $699.99 MSRP
Whizzer Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 3:45 am
It’s a Squire, not a Stratocaster.
RitchieBlackmoore Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 6:25 am
It is a Stratocaster… Just not a Fender. Like the difference between Fiat and Ferrari.
BravoGangUS Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 7:22 am
Huh? What do you mean it’s not a Fender?
It’s a Fender Squier.
Saeglopur Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 7:41 am
Actually, it’s a Squier Stratocaster.
A Strier. xD (yay, bad joke)
Saeglopur Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 7:43 am
A Fender Squier Stratocaster btw.
Saeglopur Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 7:47 am
Damn, where’s the edit button?
So, to get this straight:
Fender Squier Stratocaster = cheap
Fender Stratocaster = expensive
BravoGangUS Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 7:54 am
What are the main differences that make it vary so much in price? If I may ask
RockBandAide Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 8:33 am
Fender’s price list: http://wpc.077d.edgecastcdn.net/00077D/fender/support/pricelists/2010//FL2010_USDom.pdf
Search for “Bullet” (the Rock Band 3 Squier is based on the Fender Squier Bullet body).
Croq Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:11 am
Not really sure why Fender chose to spell it Squier rather than Squire. Throws off my spell checker all the time…
Wendell Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Squier is the name of a company that Fender bought back in the day, IIRC. They used to make musical instrument strings.
I’d love to buy one of these. I started playing guitar at age 11 and put in over 10 years hard work before i developed a very aggressive allergy to nickel and was forced to give it up. Take it as a warning to new players or people intending to make this their first guitar. You will be in contact with nickel for many hours at a time (who really plays RB for just a song or 2?) and may never have had an opportunity to discover they have this allergy. I’d even suggest people go get a patch test done first. The allergy is more common than even I expected.
Well that pricing is in line with the Squier line. Here’s my big worry. Anyone ever played a Squier? They really aren’t the best guitars. It’s a crap shoot where you will try out 10 in a store hoping to get one that plays well enough. Damn that special fret board. I’d so much rather pony up on a Moog or Parker to play this game with (omg moog guitar drool). I’m so curious about what exactly they’ve put in the neck. I can’t wait to read about some local luthiers making some solid and well playing compatible guitars for RB3.
RockBandAide Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 8:30 am
Don’t forget, this is a start guitar for probably 90% of the people purchasing it. It is in the best interests of both the player, Fender, and Rock Band that this thing is kept as inexpensive as possible. If people want better guitars, they should buy better guitars.
jimmyinnernets Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 8:45 am
Oh I understand that. I own better guitars. I just don’t own a better guitar that plays Rockband Pro Mode since none is available to me.
Xzyliac Reply:
November 3rd, 2010 at 7:10 pm
I’m of the same camp. Honestly I’d pay $300 plus the MIDI if I could just ship my Les Paul off and have the neck replaced.
But it’s not terribly bad. And after a few months you’ll be able to find cheaper. If nothing else this’ll become one of those dime a dozen products on Craigslist that parents buy for their kids and they ragequit.
Which is not to say it’s the fate I hope for the product but we all know it’s gonna happen eventually. Might as well let them fall into the hands of people who care.
Sold. On the day my Mustang arrives too. Oh the ironies.
So, are the only choices for pro mode the Mustang and Fender?? Just wondering because we won’t be getting even the Mustang until the end of the month which is really disheartening to me.