The general consensus is that Rock Band delivers on promises of being the most ambitious music game to date. Those lucky enough to have a Rock Band bundle are able to simulate the feeling of playing in a real quartet, that is, until the included Fender Stratocaster stops working.

Despite Harmonix’s experience in shipping three games bundled with guitar peripherals, early Rock Band adopters quickly found out that the hardware wasn’t up to the same standards as the game.

“As sometimes happens when new products first go into manufacturing, we discovered an imperfection with the strum bar in an early production run of guitars that were shipped at launch,” wrote Harmonix in its forums. “We want to inform you that we have since identified and fixed the issue in all subsequent production runs of the guitars.”

Those with guitar issues were directed to EA, Rock Band’s publisher, for the hardware replacement program.

The developer also wrote, “Harmonix is dedicated to creating 100% customer satisfaction and to those of you who've encountered any hardware issues, we are sorry for the hassle.”

The apology and assurance of satisfaction from Harmonix appears to extend beyond just the developer level. Users who have registered for a replacement guitar are reporting emails from EA telling them that they will be offering a yet unnamed EA game for free as compensation for “unacceptably long delay [of replacement guitars] due to a late shipment from our manufacturer.”

Details on the game and how it will be delivered are to “follow shortly.”