The high action poses another problem, which is that it makes playing videogames with the SixString harder as well. Lowering the bridge wouldn't do any good for making games easier to play, either, because the block that holds the strings in place in "game mode" actually raises them up a little higher than normal! To register what fret you are holding while playing a game, you have to press the string down fairly hard. And like I said above, high action means it is more difficult to press down because the string literally has to travel further.
Another slight issue I have is that the frets used for playing videogames are 2,3,4,5,6 (and have the green, red, yellow, blue, orange coloring on the top and bottom of the neck for easy reference). This means when you are sliding back and forth, it is easy to go a bit too far and end up on the first fret instead of the second, which obviously messes you up. It would have been better if they started the videogame controls on the first fret so you could use the nut (the little notched bit at the end of the fretboard that guides the strings into the tuners) as sort of a "home base" to reorient your fingers. Another issue is that the frets on the SixString are quite a bit larger than the fret buttons on the normal Guitar Hero or Rock Band controllers we're all used to (which means you have to move your hand more than you're used to), and you have to press down pretty much exactly in the center of a fret for it to register in a game. The precision required and the pressure needed to actually register hits makes it kind of hard to use as a game controller, frankly. Again, you do get used to it, but it isn't optimal.
I know the argument against what I said above is that "It is a real guitar, you should play it like a real guitar and not try to use videogame guitar skills". That is both right and wrong. Yeah, it is a real guitar, but what you actually do in the games, including the one it was designed for, Power Gig, isn't really anything like playing real guitar. You aren't really playing the songs since you're only using 5 frets and the string you use doesn't matter a lot of the time. Also, slowly learning a real song and playing it from memory is a lot different from trying to sight read notes as they quickly pass by.
It Works With Rock Band and Guitar Hero
One nice thing about the guitar is that it is fully compatible with all of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games (no word on whether it works with Rock Band 3 Pro Mode, I'd say probably not ...). The way you play Rock Band or Guitar Hero is that you can hold any string on the colored frets and then pluck any string you want. My advice is to hold the first string (the smallest one) since it is the easiest to press down and be precise with, and pluck the sixth string (the biggest one) since it is the thickest, easiest to hit consistently since it is closest to you, and is the hardest to break. The only change to this strategy is that in order to play three-note chords in a game you have to hold two strings (two fingers on different frets on one string, another finger on the third required fret on a second string) instead of just one since it won't register three fingers on one string. I was able to play a bunch of Green Day songs on Rock Band with the SixString fairly successfully, and it was actually a lot of fun. It feels completely different from a normal guitar controller, and made old songs I can normally play in my sleep feel fresh and new again.
Power Gig: Rise of the SixString plays mostly the same as Guitar Hero and Rock Band, other than the chording mode which I'll cover in more detail in the full review of the game.
Bottom Line
The bottom line on the SixString guitar controller is like this. It isn't a good guitar, but it isn't awful. It is kind of expensive at $120 ($180 for the Power Gig game/guitar bundle minus $60 for the cost of the game), which is a turn off since you can get a cheap Squier Bullet Stratocaster for about $100 and it is a full sized beginner guitar. You can't play videogames with a real normal guitar, though, so that does add some value to the SixString because it is pretty fun to use once you get used to the crazy high action.
In the end, I see myself using it in a couple of ways. It is fun to play Rock Band and Guitar Hero with, so I'll keep it around when I'm in the mood for those games but don't want to use a normal guitar controller. I also kind of like that it is smaller than a normal guitar, which will make it great for practicing and learning new songs. I intend to keep it next to my computer so I can pick it up and start quickly trying to learn new songs when I find a decent tab for a song I like (yeah, I use tabs, what of it?). That is just how I'll use it though, what about everyone else?
Honestly, it isn't a particularly good beginner guitar, and Power Gig as a game isn't going to teach anyone to really play anything, so if you are looking for a cheap entry level electric guitar you should look elsewhere. It is a passable game controller, though, and is compatible with music games you already own. It makes Rock Band and Guitar Hero feel surprisingly fresh and new. With those things in mind (it is merely okay as both a real guitar and game controller) so you know what to expect, the SixString might be worth picking up if you already know how to play guitar and want a new toy to mess around with or if you are a gamer and you want a different feel for RB / GH. Also, and I do hate throwing the game under the bus like this, Power Gig is probably going to see pretty rapid price drops, and if you can pick up the game + guitar bundle for under $120 or so ($100 would be even better), it will definitely be worth it at that point.
It is all right at the moment, but the SixString will get a lot more desirable when the price comes down.
