HobbyCNC

10/06/2025

Two new products added, both for the PSLGH Guitar from redoctane:
3D printed fret buttons (https://hobbycnc.com/product/3dfretbuttons-pslgh/) compatible with our GH-06 Mechanical Fret Board, and a Neck "Silencer" (https://hobbycnc.com/product/neck-silencers-pslgh/) to help reduce the "plasticy" sound of the frets/neck.

06/02/2025

Pleased to (finally) announce three new updates:

1. Hobbycnc (https://hobbycnc.com/) homepage has been updated to feature the Guitar Hero products. The HobbyCNC PRO boards are still available under the "products" menu.

2. I finally feel comfortable that I've "cracked the code" on design parameters for 3D printed fret buttons (https://hobbycnc.com/product/fret-button/) which should make upgrading a much easier process. So far, I've got designs for World Tour, Les Paul, Kramer and xPlorer.

3. I have also been experimenting with how to make the guitar less "hollow plastic sounding" when playing. I settled on 4mm thick automobile sound absorbing foam. These "Neck Silencers" (https://hobbycnc.com/product/ns/) are laser-cut to fit all the nooks-and-crannies of the guitar neck, front and back.

11/25/2023

I found a source for the M3 x 10 mm TORX screws used on many (most?) guitars to hold the front-and-back of the guitar neck and bodies.

Screws, M3 x 10 mm, Package of 10. Torx head, black. Used on many (most?) Guitar Hero guitars on the neck and body.

11/22/2023

I have a whole lot going on.

1. I managed to find some new guitars, including a Kramer, and an Aerosmith Les Paul (all PS3). I’ve been doing careful, dissection and measuring.

2. I’ve been looking into providing 3D printed battery covers. I’ve got one design done now, just need to figure out which guitars it fits on, and if there are any other battery cover variations.

3. Just released the GH-17 Fret Board for GH5 Wii Guitar (replacement for the MF-GH5-H1 2009-05-15 fret board). https://hobbycnc.com/product/gh-17/

4. I recently re-hosted all my fret button STL files onto thingaverse. https://hobbycnc.com/guitar-hero/3d-frets/. This makes for a more enjoyable and reliable experience.

5. I recently created a  Raspberry Pi “no solder“ conversion for clone hero. It’s a little bit chunky and a bit too expensive, so I’m working on getting the  raspberry pi chip right on the printed circuit board. This should bring down the cost, simplify the entire assembly, and make it compatible with more guitar styles. 

6. I’ve added a new Neck Lock for the Kramer. https://hobbycnc.com/product/neck-lock/

10/26/2022

I'm pleased to announce that all HobbyCNC mechanical Guitar Hero replacement fret boards can now be ordered with 4 new (6 total) switch options! None, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Red and Brown.

09/08/2021

I've been quiet for a while. One of my recent projects was the isolation routing of a PC Board using my DIY CNC to repair the 'frets' on my guitar hero guitar by replacing the 'stock' buttons with low profile keyboard buttons.
Turns out, it struck a nerve with a large audience of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and CloneHero players looking for a clean solution. So I had some boards made and put up the pages on my website (hobbycnc.com/guitar-hero).
It turned from one PC board design, to two, to four to seven to ten!
Why couldn't all these game designers agree on a single standard?
Nevertheless, I now offer 10 different PC Boards (with or without switches) and I provide this service to a world-wide base of Guitar Hero fans.
Who knew?

03/30/2021

Arduino UNO / GRBL to HobbyCNC PRO shield.
I'm a bit behind on my to-do list, but I finally did get around to making a shield to cleanly connect a 3 or 4 Axis PRO to an Arduino running GRBL. One cable to connect to the PRO. 5 opto isolated inputs, option to mirror any axis to the Z (PRO 4 required).
Very few parts, very clean solution.

https://hobbycnc.com/product/arduino_shield/

07/15/2020

The Z-axis failed on my DIY CNC Router recently. The issue was caused because I do a lot of Isolation Routing of PC Board prototypes on my mill, which means a LOT of small Z-axis movement (like a few mm).
See the problem and the solution in my latest blog post:

Anti Backlash Design Change! by BrianV | Jul 14, 2020 | HobbyCNC Blog | 0 comments Anti-Backlash Improvement I developed a simple-yet-effective backlash preventer for my DIY CNC Router plans. The design uses a coupling nut with a fl**ge welded on. This is fixed to the gantry. A spring is ‘pinched....

08/22/2019

I decided to offer assembled HobbyCNC PRO boards. As it turns out, not all of my customers are handy with a soldering iron, or they want their results quicker! So I build the boards, by hand, 10 at a time. Not a big deal. Testing them, however, is a big deal. I test these boards under full power – four motors at 3 amps each. That’s 24 screw terminals, plus 2 for power and 2 for the fan.

So I decided to build a ‘board of nails’ tester using my 3D printer to make the framework and my CNC router to make the PC board.

Check my latest blog post for details and photos!
https://hobbycnc.com/testing-assembled-hobbycnc-pro-boards/

03/12/2019

My DIY CNC Plans have been very popular. I finally got around to posting a 'shortened' version of the plans (minus the measured drawings) so you can see first if it's something you want to invest your $10 in!
You can download the plans (minus the drawings) from the HobbyCNC plans product page.

DIY CNC Router Plans make a great starting point for building an inexpensive 3-Axis CNC router from readily available parts and materials. Designed specifically for the hobbyist, a fantastic learning tool. Entire 24x36" CNC Router can be made from one sheet of plywood!