Nyko Frontman Wireless Guitar Hardware Review

The Nyko Frontman wireless guitar is an excellent affordable alternative piece of hardware to first party Guitar Hero and Rock Band wireless guitars, which cost a lot more. For budget shoppers though, you just can’t get a better feature set and play experience than the Nyko guitar for the money. Available in black or white for $20 a pop, it’s over $30 cheaper than either Guitar Hero or Rock Band guitars. This hardware review is for the PS3 platform, but Xbox 360 and Wii versions are expected to be similar. Below is a shot of the back of the box:

The Frontman guitar features an interchangeable pink pick guard in both black and white variations, though the black version ships with a white pick guard while the white guitar ships with a black pick guard. The pick guard is shiny and sturdy and the only complaint is its glossy exterior collects fingerprints easily. This is more noticeable on the black pick guard more so than the white or pink ones. Here is a shot of the black guitar wearing the pink pick guard:

From the picture you can see the white knob on the upper right is actually the direction pad and cut off in the lower right is the effects bar. The strum bar makes a click noise so it’s more reminiscent of the Guitar Hero variety than the Rock Band one which makes no noise. It has a sturdier feel than the Guitar Hero strum bar, however, which is like the Rock Band bar. At any rate, it’s a pleasure to use offering the best features of both Guitar Hero and Rock Band guitars. The three white buttons on the left are the PS3/on/link, start, and select buttons. The neat feature about the "on" button is that it lights up one of four colors (red, blue, orange, and green) to indicate player number. So if you and friend are both jamming out on your same-colored Nyko wireless guitars, there’s no confusion when you come back from a break who’s guitar is who’s thanks to the colored "Nyko" button.

You can see here that this guitar has sensed that it is player 3 (orange). This button is used to link the guitar with the wireless USB receiver. Before playing you must always press this button to link the guitar to the receiver but it’s usually very fast, less than a second, but never more than three. The first time you plug in your guitar to link, though, it does take a little bit longer to establish a connection. While it does this, the "Nyko" button actually pulses white.

This means the button is actually capable of displaying five colors, but it cheats with the white by lighting all red, blue, orange, and green LEDs at the same time. Look closely at the picture near the upper edge of the button and you will see how the white light is made.

The Nyko guitar is compatible with Guitar Hero III and Rock Band 2 (though only through a minor adjustment which is covered later). The included three AA batteries are good for 80 hours of gameplay and the battery housing actually hides a small hex tool that looks cleverly like a guitar pick.

The tool has a hexagon base and allows you to interchange the pick guard plate.

The buttom base of the guitar has a small USB port which allows for wired gameplay if you run out of batteries. Not only that, it can also charge rechargeable batteries if you are use them.

The guitar features a wireless USB receiver unit that looks like an effects pedal. Nyko really paid attention to the details: first the hex tool looks like a pick and now the wireless receiver is disguised as an effects pedal. That is a much better job than the drab treatment the Guitar Hero and Rock Band receivers get. Though it looks like a hefty unit, it’s quite light and only two buttons actually work.

The big black button is part of the link process, so the first time you sync up a guitar, you need to press this button and the "Nyko" button on the guitar. After the initial sync you don’t need to touch this button ever again when you power on your PS3 again. Simply touch the button on the guitar. The second functional knob is the one in the center, which you merely need to turn to Guitar Hero or Rock Band to play. There is a small issue which we covered previously for Rock Band 2 players, which is an incompatibility between the Rock Band mode and the Rock Band 2 game. To keep the story short, for Guitar Hero and Rock Band 2 players, use Guitar Hero mode. For Rock Band 1 players, use Rock Band mode. If you want to know the full details, you can read the post. There is one small problem with the effects pedal wireless receiver and that is the USB cord. It’s pretty short and can be a problem if your PS3 is stacked on the edge a shelf with no room to hold anything else. Then again, this is a problem with the Rock Band USB port as well. You may need to consider a USB extension cable if you have this problem. Also, there was no problem plugging in the wireless receiver into the Rock Band supplied USB hub.

Remember how Nyko paid attention to the details? You’ll be surprised again when you glance at the bottom side of the USB receiver to discover five LEDs. These light up when the corresponding button is pressed on the guitar. While you’re playing, your receiver will likely be flashing a veritable Christmas light show.

The most brilliant thing? The lights correspond exactly to the color keys on the guitar. Now that’s called paying attention to the little things! For reference, the buttons on the guitar:

Gameplay-wise, the Nyko Frontman wireless guitar plays most similarly to a Guitar Hero guitar and it’s a real joy to use. The buttons are somewhat small and don’t cover the entire key like the Rock Band and there are no separate keys for solos. The middle button even has a small bump so you can feel what position your hands are in without looking.

Here is parting shot of the Nyko Frontman wireless guitar between Guitar Hero (left) and Rock Band (right) guitars.

The positives:

• Affordable price
• Cool LEDs galore
• Attention to the details: tool that looks like pick, receiver that looks like effects pedal, LEDs light up when you play
• Colored button indicates player number
• Interchangeable pick guard
• Quick to link after initial sync
• Auto power off
• Batteries are included and are good for 80 hours of gameplay
• 25 foot wireless range
• Wired gameplay option
• Recharges batteries

The negatives:

• Incompatible with Rock Band 2 in Rock Band mode, needs to use Guitar Hero mode (then effects bar won’t work, but not a big deal)
• Pick guard attracts fingerprints easily
• Small buttons

In summary:

Despite a few negatives, the positive features far outweigh anything lacking on the Nyko Frontman wireless guitar. It comes with just as many features are first party hardware and then some. Nyko really put in the time and effort to design a solid guitar. Considering what you are getting for such a low price point, it’s easily the best wireless guitar out there for the money.

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