With Stage Tour making its way to the stage later this year, there’s no better time to pick up a guitar controller. If you were unaware, the neat thing about RedOctane Games’ Guitar Hero successor is that you don’t have to pick up their new, fully-priced instruments and can make do with alternatives like the CRKD Gibson Les Paul instead.
CRKD’s guitar controllers can often be pricier than the official Stage Tour axe, but thanks to Woot, the Black Tribal Les Paul is $74.99 instead of its usual $124.99 price. That’s a $50 saving, which is music to my ears, as it’s not only cheaper than the official Stage Tour guitar counterpart, but also a price that you won’t currently find at Amazon’s own US storefront.
I was a Guitar Hero aficionado, so my excitement for Stage Tour is turned up to 11. Regrettably, I don’t have a valid excuse to pick up a new guitar controller, as my PDP Riffmaster “will work natively with Stage Tour” according to the game’s official FAQ, so long as I make sure to grab the PS5 version to pair properly with my PS5 guitar controller.
However, had I been on the market for a new music gamepad, I was undoubtedly eyeing up the CRKD Gibson Les Paul. It features a hall-effect strum bar, mechanical frets, and a neck you can swap to gain 5 additional frets. Not only that, but Stage Tour FAQ states that CRKD guitars will also work natively with the game, and the Les Paul has the benefit of actually looking like a real-life guitar.
As someone with a background in music, a licensed guitar controller that shares a stunning resemblance to real-life Les Pauls is going to look better when displayed against the rest of my instrument collection. The Riffmaster is neat, but its aesthetic doesn’t tick my music-nerd boxes in quite the same way. Not to mention, CRKD’s alternative is available in different designs, including a black-and-blue Blueberry Burst Pro look, which is also $74.99 at Woot today.
Whether you pick up this CRKD Gibson Les Paul guitar controller (or fork out the $129.99 at Best Buy for the Stage Tour Kramer guitar bundle), just make sure you’re getting the right one for your platform of choice for the best compatibility. Have an Xbox Series X/S? Then you can rock out with this Woot deal and Stage Tour when it launches on December 10.
On the hunt for a new pad? Check out our guides to the best PS5 controllers, the best Xbox Series X controllers, and the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers while you’re here.
