It feels like forever ago that CRKD announced it'd be launching a vintage-looking Cherry Sunburst Collector's Edition of its Gibson Les Paul Guitar Controller. CRKD's Fortnite Festival controller has been out for a while now, but there's no doubt this classic rock-inspired edition has a really appealing look, and it'll make you feel like more of a rock god in rhythm games than an average PC controller would.
If you want to feel like Jimmy Page, Slash, or Ace Frehley during your Fortnite Festival and Clone Hero sessions, this Cherry Sunburst Edition was first made available for pre-order back in October, but it's taken until now to officially ship and hit the shelves for folks who didn't manage to catch the initial batch of stock.
I'm only seeing availability at Amazon both in the UK and US right now, as well as from CRKD's own website. The good news is that Amazon says if you order now in either territory, the bundle will arrive in time for Christmas, so if this is the perfect gift for the musical gamer in your life, I'd get jingle-bell-rockin' before stock inevitably gets scarce.
This version of CRKD's guitar controller has multi-platform capabilities, so it'll work with PC, handhelds, Switch and Switch 2, as well as any other Android devices you might be playing on. This gives PDP's Riffmaster controller a run for its money in terms of bringing the nostalgic guitar controller design back from the dead. There was a time in the Guitar Hero days when we'd get plenty of controllers like this, but Fortnite Festival has inspired these two brands to give us more.
CRKD has added various quality of life features compared to those days, with Keyjam mode, which turns the controller into a mouse and keyboard, allowing further compatibility in Fortnite Festival on PC, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation.
Mechanical fret bars will give you an authentic feel, and a modular design will swap out the neck of the guitar for a fancier solo neck that has 5 additional frets further up the board.
In the bundle for this Collector's Edition, you'll get the guitar, a Pro OG Signature fret neck, the Pro solo Signature fret neck, a premium backpack so you can take it on the go, a custom shoulder strap, some collector pins, as well as a sticker pack (the best bonus in any bundle).
Last month, it was teased that CRKD would be adding a new member to its controller band, a drum kit controller. We haven't heard any further news about that since its brief trailer was released in early November, but I'll be keeping up with any and all news we hear.
- CRKD Cherry Sunburst Edition: $199 at Amazon
- CRKD Gibson Les Paul controller: $114.99 at Amazon
- PDP Riffmaster: $109 at Amazon
To get platform-specific, read more about the best PS5 controllers, the best Xbox Series X controllers, and the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers.
