I'm the voice of your Guitar Hero nostalgia, and I think you should look at the price of the PDP Riffmaster guitar controller right now

A reviewer showing off the PDP Riffmaster Guitar in front of some RGB lighting

(Image credit: Future / Duncan Robertson)

We're all getting older, and with each passing year, the glory days of those long Guitar Hero sessions get blurrier and more distant. I know you've felt it too; the itch in the back of your brain every time you hear Hotel California or Knights of Cydonia. I know, because I'm the voice of your nostalgia, and I'm here to tell you that revisiting your rock-god days isn't as expensive as it is normally.

Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival are both free, new generation versions of the GH and Rock Band games we all enjoyed, so the only thing standing in your way, if you have a gaming platform that can run either game, is a controller. Granted, the PDP Riffmaster or the CRKD Gibson Les Paul Guitar controller don't make it easy with their regular MSRPs, but the Riffmaster has just dropped back to its lowest ever price of $99.99 at Amazon.

I dread to think what old Guitar Hero III controller you've dug out of a cupboard in an attempt to revisit that Dragon Force track you never managed to beat on expert difficulty (we all know the one). Jokes about me being your inner monologue aside, I'll level with you.

It doesn't feel fair that controller brands like CRKD and PDP (now Turtle Beach) are charging us a premium to scratch our nostalgia itch. More than $100 is a lot to pay for a guitar controller when you don't even get an official partner game alongside it, like we did in the good old days.

But that's why I think you should know about a deal like this. The Riffmaster has only dropped down to just under $100 a few times, according to the price history data I can see, so hey, if this is an era of gaming you're desperate to revisit, now is absolutely a good time to do so.

A PDP Riffmaster controller in front of an RGB corner light — (Image credit: Future / Duncan Robertson)

The good news is that no matter if you're playing on PS5, Xbox Series X, or Nintendo Switch/2, the Riffmaster will work on your platform of choice. There are three dedicated editions of this controller for each one, and all three are seeing this discounted price right now. The Switch version only arrived on the shelves in the back half of 2025, making this the first time it's ever seen a significant discount.

I recently picked up my Riffmaster again as a PC controller, and I've been enjoying some Clone Hero. While I wish the controller were a bit bigger, and had a clicker strumming bar to really feed into the feeling of those guitar controllers from yesteryear, this is far, far better than going to the effort of finding your older controller that probably doesn't work on a modern platform.

Image 1 of 2

The frets on the PDP Riffmaster controller — (Image credit: Future / Duncan Robertson)

My favorite things about the Riffmaster are the ways it's been modernized compared to the older controllers. There's a 3.5mm headphone jack, a second set of frets for rocking out during a solo, a folding neck so you can store the thing away when you don't want to use it, and a slot under the faceplate for you to store the USB dongle.

Your next best bet is the CRKD Gibson Les Paul Guitar, which definitely has a more alluring design than PDP's all-black and grey version (I'm sad we haven't had more of those swappable face plates that were promised). That'll set you back $124 for the standard black model, or up to $199 if you opt for one of the special edition bundles. We're currently testing CRKD's controller, so we'll report back when we have a verdict, but for now, PDP's Riffmaster is your cheapest route into finding out whether you've still got those virtual guitar skills.

If you want to get more specific, take a look at the best Switch 2 controllers, the best PS5 controllers, and the best Xbox Series X controllers.

One of my earliest memories is playing SuperMario64 and wondering why the controller I held had three grips, but I only had two hands. Ever since I've been in love with video games and their technology. After graduating from Edinburgh Napier University with a degree in Journalism, I contributed to the Scottish Games Network and completed an Editorial Internship at Expert Reviews. Over the last decade, I’ve been managing my own YouTube channel about my love of games too. These days, I'm one of the resident hardware nerds at GamesRadar+, and I take the lead on our coverage of gaming PCs, VR, controllers, gaming chairs, and content creation gear. Now, I better stop myself here before I get talking about my favourite games like HUNT: Showdown, Dishonored, and Towerfall Ascension.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.