CRKD has introduced its Stage Tour Pro Guitar Collection, a new lineup of officially licensed Gibson guitar controllers designed for modern rhythm games. Revealed alongside Stage Tour during gamescom Opening Night Live, the collection includes Gibson Les Paul, SG and Explorer designs with upgraded frets, Hall Effect strum bars and new connectivity technology.
CRKD Brings Gibson Guitar Designs Back to Rhythm Gaming
The collection was developed through CRKD’s multi-year partnership with Gibson and consists of three primary models: the Gibson Les Paul Oxblood Edition, Gibson SG Midnight Blue Edition and 8K Gibson Explorer: 20th Anniversary Edition.
Each controller incorporates mechanical fret buttons and Hall Effect click strum bars. The Les Paul and SG also feature dynamic LED neck lighting.
CRKD has repositioned system and navigation buttons above the strum bar, matching the control layout of the official Stage Tour Kramer Guitar Controller. The company says the change makes the controls easier to reach while maintaining a cleaner guitar-style appearance.
The controllers support the upcoming Stage Tour as well as legacy and community rhythm games on compatible platforms.
8K Gibson Explorer Celebrates Rhythm Gaming History
The centerpiece is the Stage Tour 8K Gibson Explorer: 20th Anniversary Edition, which revisits a guitar controller design closely associated with the rise of rhythm gaming.
The new model uses a fixed-neck construction inspired by the original 2007 Xplorer controller for Xbox 360 and retains the familiar five-color fret arrangement.
New 8K Chipset Targets Faster Input
Internally, the anniversary Explorer features CRKD’s new 8K high-speed chipset, capable of polling rates of up to 8,000Hz in wired and wireless configurations.
The controller also includes direct wiring to its frets and D-pad, mechanical fret switches and a Hall Effect click strum bar. CRKD describes it as its fastest and most performance-focused guitar controller to date.
The 8K Explorer will be offered as a Multi-Platform Edition supporting PC, Nintendo Switch, mobile devices and tablets, along with legacy games on select older consoles.
It is expected to ship in January 2027 and will cost $129.99 in the United States.
Les Paul Oxblood Edition Adds LED Neck Lighting
The Gibson Les Paul Oxblood Edition takes its visual inspiration from the Gibson Les Paul Oxblood while incorporating CRKD’s newer rhythm-game hardware.
Features include mechanical frets, a Hall Effect click strum bar, LED neck lighting, a tilt sensor and a dedicated CTRL button for activating Stage Power.
On PC, its Legacy Mode supports polling rates of up to 500Hz wirelessly and 1,000Hz through a wired connection. Bluetooth connectivity provides access to additional settings through Stage Tour and CRKD app support.
The controller will be offered in PC/Multi-Platform and Xbox Series X|S/PC versions. The PC/Multi-Platform edition costs $119.99, while the Xbox Series X|S/PC model costs $129.99.
Both are expected to ship in December.
SG Midnight Blue Revives an Unreleased Guitar Hero II Concept
The third model, the Gibson SG Midnight Blue Edition, draws inspiration from a pre-production Guitar Hero II controller concept developed during the PlayStation 2 era but never commercially released.
CRKD has recreated the concept using the Gibson SG silhouette and a Midnight Blue finish.
SG Shares Pro Features With Les Paul Model
The SG includes the same core feature set as the Les Paul Oxblood Edition, including mechanical frets, Hall Effect strum technology, dynamic LED neck lighting, a tilt sensor and CTRL button.
It also supports up to 500Hz wireless and 1,000Hz wired polling through PC Legacy Mode.
The SG Midnight Blue Edition will support PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC, with a U.S. price of $129.99. Shipments are expected to begin in December.
“Rhythm gaming has always been a huge part of CRKD, and this collection represents everything we’ve learned about building Guitar Controllers for today’s players,” said Jack Guinchard, co-creator of CRKD and head of marketing and brand for Stage Tour.
Guinchard said the anniversary Explorer was particularly significant because the original helped define an era of rhythm gaming.
New Controllers Arrive Alongside Stage Tour
The hardware collection is closely tied to Stage Tour, the upcoming rhythm game launching December 10 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
Stage Tour will feature more than 90 licensed songs, support guitar, bass, drums and vocals, and include over 180 in-game guitars from Gibson, Epiphone and Kramer. Up to four people can play locally using combinations of guitar controllers, drums, microphones and gamepads, while cross-platform online co-op and leaderboards are also planned.
The Les Paul Oxblood and SG Midnight Blue controllers are scheduled for December 2026, while the higher-performance 8K Explorer will follow in January 2027.
By combining recognizable Gibson designs with mechanical controls, Hall Effect technology and modern connectivity, CRKD’s new collection aims to bridge the hardware associated with rhythm gaming’s earlier boom with the genre’s latest generation.
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