These new Gibson Les Paul guitar controllers give me Guitar Hero nostalgia

You can choose between the Encore and Pro models to rock out with in Fortnite Festival and they are expected to ship in June 2025.

Two new Gibson Les Paul guitar controllers have just been revealed, and they’re absolutely stunning. Better still, these guitars have been given the full 2025 treatment, with mechanical switches and even a Hall Effect whammy bar and thumbstick. They’re ideal for Fortnite Festival, but are also compatible with a huge range of older Guitar Hero and Rock Band games too.

Whether or not either of these new controllers can dethrone the PDP Riffmaster in our best PC controller guide remains to be seen, but on paper, it’s looking promising. CRKD is releasing two designs initially, Black Tribal is available on the Encore model and Blueberry Burst for the Pro, with the potential for more designs should these prove popular.

The Gibson Les Paul Pro costs $119.99 / £119.99 and comes with mechanical switches underneath the fret buttons, and Hall Effect thumbsticks disguised as volume and tone knobs. Hall Effect is also used for the strum bar and whammy bar.

If you opt for the cheaper Encore version of the Gibson Les Paul, it will cost $109.99 / £109.99, and swap the fret switches for membrane ones, while the strum bar will instead use mechanical switches.

Both models come with three connection modes; wired (8.2ft cable), Bluetooth, and 2.4GHz wireless. Meanwhile, the Xbox-specific models of the guitars will retail for $10 / £10 more than the multi-platform option.

These guitars are also upgradable, with various fret necks being sold separately. If you purchase the Encore, which doesn’t have mechanical switches in the neck, you can purchase the mechanical neck at a later date, or go all out and purchase the neck fret featuring the standard and solo inputs.

Looking past the design and internals of these guitars, one aspect CRKD has nailed here is compatibility. These Gibson Les Paul controllers can be connected to PC, handheld gaming PCs, Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4, PS3, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One as well as Android mobiles, tablets, and even Smart TVs.

You’ll need to consult the compatibility table for each guitar though, as each works with different games on different platforms. Fortnite Festival, Rock Band 4, YARG, Clone Hero, and classic Guitar Hero games are supported between the two, but you’ll need to identify the model you want based on the compatibility chart on the store page.

If you pre-order either controller, you also get a free guitar strap and collectible pin with your order.

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