Figure out your Layout.



I decided to have a minimal number of buttons, which meant leaving out buttons I didn't need.



I did not need a select button. I did not need shoulder buttons.



I needed A,B,X,Y, Start, and Guide.



I knew from playing that the menus could be controlled with left and right or up and down. I decided to use just up and down. this also let me make selections from the guide menu without another controller. Unfortunately, there is one in game menu that doesn't work with these controls. The pause menu. I dicsovered this after I was done building my controller. I am annoyed by this, but at this point, I am just hoping that rocksmith will be patched this in a future update so that the pause menu is the same as the other menus, from a control standpoint. I know it is unlikely. C'est la vie!



This next part is where I made some mistakes.



I had decided to use suzo-happ arcade buttons. They are very durable and pretty inexpensive. They require a 1 1/8" hole. For the guide button, I decided to use an LED lit arcade style button. I got all of my buttons on eBay.



At the center of each button location, use a center punch to make a ding in the surface so your drill bit won't wander. I made the mistake of trying to use a spade bit to cut these holes. I ruined my spade bit. I only had a dull holesaw aside from the spade bit, so my progress stalled for a few days. Instead, I decided to use a step drill (unibit). These are not cheap, but harbor freight has one for about $16. Use a drill press and clamps to make these holes if at all possible. My buttons required a 1 1/8" hole. If yours are smaller, this may not be nessecary.



Looking back, I would have drilled out my button holes before I bent the metal, and I would have used a drill press with a step drill bit. Not doing that made this step very difficult for me. I would have had to do some additional planning, but it would have saved me lots of time and energy.







