The Last Rocksmith Guitar and End of My Quest for Non-Functional Eye Candy

I've never had much use for the guitar unlocks that you get for completing Rocksmith events, but I've now collected all 46 of them. On XBox platforms, that qualifies you for the ironically named "Art and Functionality" achievement badge.

My only beef with the whole guitar-collecting effort is that it's not really artistic and it's totally non-functional. The guitars look cool, but it's not like you can really look at them after you earn them. You have to go to Amp Mode and drill down a menu level or two and then you can scroll through your collection. Who's going to do that? And, why? They (Ubisoft dev's/the software) need to add the guitars to the wall of the rehearsal room as you earn them. At least then you can see your accomplishments. You can "equip" yourself with any of the guitars you've earned and the guitar neck will sort of show up while you're playing, but the only reason to do this is if you have a preference for a certain type of fret markers.

Anyway, I've got all 46 guitars now. 46 events played. 46 invisible guitars earned. I might make a list of them one day if I get bored, but I don't think it really matters. I'll still play events because I enjoy the events, not because I got a virtual guitar for playing them.

I have not collected everything there is to collect, however. I still have 19 guitar tones and 34 bass tones to collect. (Not sure about bass guitars. . . I haven't played bass in months.) Some of the DLC songs come with tones, which is cool! (I have a list of Real Tones posted by song title here.)

Event 46 went down as shown. 107% of minimum RSPs, all songs above MQS, and no encore. I rushed into it and failed on my first try. High and Dry (Combo) is what killed it. It was prequalified and I hadn't played that one for ages. I just forgot some of the chords. I ran through it in rehearsal mode once and played the event again.

I had to work on Rebel Rebel a bit to qualify it. That's a very tricky little string-skipping riff, with a couple of mini-chords thrown into the mix. There's also one single spot where there's a one-note variation on the otherwise incredibly repetitive riff. This song makes for a good exercise.

Event Location	Epicenter	Notes
Date Played	3/24/2013	Unlocks:
Song	Score	Guitar	1952 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top
Star Spangled Banner, The	34364		(last guitar!!)
Outshined - Combo 2	98230	Xbox Achievement: Art and Functionality
Rebel Rebel - Combo	92258
High and Dry - Combo	98756
		Failed first attempt	33978, 91735, 93216, and 82315
			total 300244
No Encore
Minimum RSP	302000
Event Score:	323608	Total Score to date:	25,211,793 RSP

The SSB has appeared in my last 3 events. I guess it'll keep showing up until I get the score closer to 70k or 90k. MQS on this one was 32,000. Every time I get this one in an event, I beat the MQS by about 2k and the next time it shows up on a setlist the MQS goes up by about 5k. At the rate I've been progressing on it, it'll take about 12 more events for it to finally go away for a while!

here

Easiest Rocksmith Songs - Updated! With New DLC

[This post was written in March of 2013, prior to the release of Rocksmith 2014, so it only covers songs available up to that date. The songs ranked in this post are still available as DLC or can be downloaded from the original Rocksmith game.

I am working on an updated post on this subject now, but due to some changes in Rocksmith 2014 I'll have to update my "difficulty" calculations.]

About this time last year I posted a highly unscientific ranking of Rocksmith songs from easiest to hardest. Since then Ubisoft has put out a TON of new DLC and I've bought a lot (but not all) of it. My original list seemed to be very popular, so it's time for an update with new DLC included.

Where the original rankings changed since last year, I've noted the original ranking. Chord arrangements are still shown in italics. (** =  Songs that I've Mastered)

Easy: (Easiness Scores of 80 and up, starting with Easiest Songs and Going Up in Difficulty)

Satisfaction - Chords (195.2)
Between the Lines - SN (158.9)
Go with the Flow - Combo (139.2)
Where is my Mind - Chords (125.5)
**Roxanne - SN (120.8)
My Sharona - SN (120.1)
Smoke on the Water - SN (113.7)
Surf Hell - SN (111.8)
House of the Rising Sun - Chords (107.1)
Angela - SN (102.2)
Vaseline - Combo 1 (83.6)  (*Previously Ranked as Medium)
Rebel Rebel - chords
Song 2 - combo
Satisfaction - chords

Medium: (Easiness Scores from 18 to 80)

Boys Don't Cry - Chords
Angela - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Easy)
The Best of You
Walk - Combo
Take Me Out - SN
**Next Girl (*Previously Ranked as Easy)
Freebird - Chords (*Previously Ranked as Easy)
Slow Hands - Combo 2
Panic Switch - Combo
Song 2 - Combo
House of the Rising Sun - Combo 1
Higher Ground - SN
**Use Somebody - Combo (30.4)
In Bloom - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Hard)
Satisfaction - SN (*Previously Ranked as Challenging)
Barracuda - Combo
Breed - SN
Thnks Fr Th Mmrs - Combo 2
Run Back to Your Side - Chords
Roxanne - Combo
I Want Some More - Combo
Slither - Combo
Smoke on the Water - Combo
Surf Hell - Combo
High and Dry - Chords (*Previously Ranked as Easy)
I Can't Hear You - SN
Sugar We're Goin' Down - Combo 2
**Rockstar - Chords
Boys Don't Cry - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Easy)
Barracuda - SN
Breed - Combo
More than a Feeling - combo

Challenging: (Easiness Scores from 10 to 18)

America's Suitehearts - Combo
When I'm With You - Combo
Mean Bitch - Combo 2
Unnatural Selection - Combo
Carol of the Bells - SN
I Don't Care - Combo
My Sharona - Combo
In Bloom - SN
Where is My Mind - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Medium)
Do You Remember - SN (*Previously Ranked as Medium)
Between the Lines - Combo
How You Remind Me - Combo
Tom Sawyer
**Higher Ground - Combo 1 (*Previously Ranked as Hard)
Six AM Salvation
More than a Feeling - Combo 2
Icky Thump - Combo
A More Perfect Union - SN
**God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Hard)
Number Thirteen - Combo
Slither - SN
Limelight -
Me and the Bean - Combo
Step Out of the Car - SN
Sunshine of Your Love - Combo
Do You Remember - Chords (* Previously Ranked as Medium)
Outshined - Combo 2 (*Previously Ranked as Hard)
Use Somebody
Slow Hands - combo

Hard: (Easiness cores up to 11. Remember: ranking is from easy to hard, so the hardest song is at the bottom)

Number Thirteen - SN (*Previously Ranked as Medium)
I Got Mine - Combo
Run Back to Your Side - SN
High and Dry - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Medium)
Plug in Baby - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Easy)
My Hero - Combo
Jessica
Subdivisions
I Miss You - Combo
Step Out of the Car - Combo
Sugar We're Goin' Down - Combo
Thnks Fr Th Mmrs - Combo
House of the Rising Sun - SN
Freebird - Combo
Are You Gonna Go My Way - SN
Born Under a Bad Sign - Combo
Keep Yourself Alive
Mean Bitch - Combo 1
Burnished - Combo
Kryptonite
Chimney - Combo
Carol of the Bells - Combo (previously ranked as Challenging)
We Three Kings
Synchronicity II
Unnatural Selection - SN (*Previously Ranked as Medium)
Message in a Bottle
California Brain - Combo
Spider and the Fly - Combo 2
Rebel Rebel - Combo (previously ranked as Challenging)
We Share the Same Skies - Combo
Play with Fire - Combo
Wheels - Combo
Born Under a Bad Sign - Combo 2
Fat Bottomed Girls
Dance Dance - Combo
Go with the Flow - SN (*Previously Ranked as Challenging) - Slides make this one tricky.
Under Cover of Darkness - Combo
Oye! Como Va?
Jules
Red Barchette
Welcome to the Black Parade
Higher Ground - Combo 2
Chimney - SN
Do You Remember - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Challenging)
When I'm Gone - Combo
Symphony of Destruction - Combo
Ricochet
Sweet Home Alabama - Combo
Bottoms Up
Space Ostrich - SN
Black Magic Woman
California Brain - SN
Killer Queen
Islands - Combo
Bohemian Rhapsody - Combo
Well OK Honey - Combo
Play with Fire - SN
Space Ostrich - Combo
Boss  - SN 2
Gobbledigook - Combo
Star Spangled Banner
Hit Me with Your Best Shot 


OK, obviously there's something missing from my calculation, but I admitted this from the start. There's no way Hit Me with Your Best Shot is the hardest song on RS. It's not even the hardest song for me on RS. The Star Spangled Banner isn't all that difficult (so far), either. I suspect one of the flaws in my calculation is that mastery levels affect a lot. Sometimes it's easier to play some songs when you level them up. Sometimes not. But, I still think as a general relative indicator, this sort of works. Just ignore obvious flukes in the ranking (like Hit Me with Your Best Shot).


How I Did It
Basically, I divided my highest score on each song by the number of times I've played the song. Then I multiplied that result by the my best accuracy percentage. Finally, I multiplied the whole mess by the amount of my longest note streak. To make the numbers more digestable, I divided by 100,000 and rounded to one decimal place. The higher the value, the easier the song.

Score = ((HS/PC) x %max x NSmax)/100,000

I have this formula loaded into a spreadsheet where all my high scores, high note streaks, and max accuracies are summarized from the individual spreadsheets I keep for each song.

Note: I had to restart my journey last Fall, so the Play Count used on this new ranking is not a true indicator. I have played many of these songs many more times than what is reflected in these calculations. You'd expect these songs to rank easier this time around, but they don't. A few songs "appear" easier, but note that five songs which were ranked "easy" last year are now ranked "medium."

Songs That Aren't Included
Like before, I've only ranked the songs I've actually played. (Duh.) There are several songs and alternate arrangements of songs in the original RS song list as well as a bunch of DLC which are not included here because I still haven't played every arrangement of every song. Also, there's a lot of DLC that I just don't like and have never bought.

I also omitted alternate arrangements of some songs when the arrangements are very similar. For example, on songs like Angela and Surf Hell once you learn the combo arrangement you pretty much know the single note arrangement and vice versa. No point ranking both.

Originally I left out a few songs that I have played a lot for fun. Surf Hell and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen fall into this category. Since I had to restart my whole journey last September, the high play counts on those songs aren't high anymore. The rating is still a little skewed because I obviously levelled these songs up easier than before, but I'm including them this time. (See above.)

Chord Arrangements
Chords are generally easy for me, but my equation doesn't take that into account. If you aren't comfortable with chords, just ignore the chord arrangements in this ranking and look at the rest of the list. Chord Arrangements are identified by italics.

Rocksmith Authentic Tones for Your Amp Mode Playing Pleasure

Here's a handy link to the RS Authentic Tones and corresponding RS songs:

http://forums.ubi.com/showthread.php/561049-Complete-Songlist-Matched-with-Authentic-Tones

I have most of this info in my spreadsheets, but I've never bothered to extract it into a list form. This one is ABC by artist/band. Eventually I'll resort the list by song and possibly cross-ref by tone name. Probably will post this as a page for easy reference/access - but don't hold your breath. I've been busy!

For now, here's the original work as posted by Ubisoft user DJdarkness73 (with a little help from his  - and a couple of my - RS friends):
 

ON DISC SONGS

Best Coast – When I’m With You
Sleeping Alone

Blur – Song 2
WOOHOO!

Cream – Sunshine of Your Love
Psychedelic Blues

Dan Auerbach – I Want Some More
Rust Belt Blues

David Bowie – Rebel Rebel
Calamity’s Child

Eric Clapton – Run Back To Your Side
Sunset Blues

Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out
Crosshair

Incubus – I Miss You
Calabasas Phase

Interpol – Slow Hands
Wasteland

Jarvis Crocker – Angela
Valencia Fuzz

Jenny O – Well Ok Honey
Hipster Blues

Kings of Leon – Use Somebody
Regal Delay

Lenny Kravitz – Are you gonna go my way
Britfuzz Aficionado

Little Barrie – Surf Hell
Pin-Pusher

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama
Southern Hospitality

Muse – Unnatural Selection
Resistor

Muse – Plug In Baby
Single Note – Octavius Shred
Combo – Phase Zone

Nirvana – In Bloom
Seattle Flannel

Nirvana – Breed
Dirty Angst

Pixies – Where is My Mind
Coy Koi

Queens of the Stone Age – Go with the Flow
Combo – Cro-Magnon Drive
Single Note – Neanderthal Fuzz

Radiohead – High and Dry
Single Note – High Drive
Chord – Dry Acoustic
Combo – High Drive

Rapscallions – California Brain
Holy Water

Red Fang – Number Thirteen
Golden Throne

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Higher Ground
Single Note – Sangre Saccharine
Combo – Sangre Saccharine
Combo 2 – Amore Voodoo

Sigur Ross – Gobbledi****
Nordic Acoustic

Silversun Pickups – Panic Switch
Blue Shine

Soundgarden – Outshined
Mystified

Spoon – Me and the Bean
City limits

Stone Temple Pilots – Vasoline
Punch Drunk

Stone Temple Pilots – Between the Lines
Lovely Disguise

Taddy Porter – Mean *****
Cold Love

The Animals – House of the Rising Sun
French Quarter

The Black Keys – I Got Mine
Grizzly Tone

The Black Keys – Next Girl
Stomp Box Blues

The Boxer Rebellion – Step Out of the Car
Inner-City Action

The Cribs – We Share the Same Skies
Northern Skies

The Cure – Boys Don’t Cry
Tenor Mascara

The Dead Weather – I Can’t Hear You
Pickup Blues

The Horrors – Do You Remember
Tenor Recall

The Rolling Stones – Play With Fire
Knightsbridge Acoustic

The Rolling Stones – The Spider and the Fly
Machine Operator

The Rolling Stones – Satisfaction
Chord – Acoustic Radio
Single Note – Vintage Fire

The Strokes – Under Cover of Darkness
Adversary

The White Stripes – Icky Thump
Farmhouse Rock

The xx – Islands
Mercury

Titus Andronicus – A More Perfect Union
Garden State Parkway

Tom Petty – Good Enough
Sugarcane

Velvet Revolver – Slither
Holy Water

White Denim – Burnished
Travis County Blues

Yellow Moon Band – Chimney
Crunchy Compression

BONUS SONGS

Chris Lee – Boss
Pleasant Hell

Brian Adam McCune - Ricochet
*Single Note - Spinning Quarter Tone
*Other Arrangements - Guitar Heel

Seth Chapla - Jules
**Chapla Labs

Seth Chapla - Star Spangled Banner
**Chapla Labs

Disonaur - Space Ostrich
**Space Ostrich

Versus Them - Six AM Salvation
**The Full Montgomery

DLC SONGS

Boston – More Than a Feeling
Combo 2 – Mass Lead
Combo – Mass Drive

Deep Purple – Smoke on the Water
Flare Gun

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird
Combo – Bird in Hand
Chord – Baritone Flight

Radiohead – Bodysnatchers
Single Note – Greenland
Combo - Yorkville

The Black Keys - Tighten Up
***Grizzly Blues

Three Days Grace - I Hate Everything About You
Total Disregard

The Allman Brothers - Jessica
****Motor Music

T-Rex - 20th Century Boy
****Tyrant Lizard Tone

Vampire Weekend - Cousins
****Holiday Twilight

Megadeth - Public Enemy No. 1
X Terminate

Megadeth - Symphony of Destruction
Cacophonic Demolition

Megadeth - Hangar 18
*****Ferric Oxide

Seth Chapla - Carol of the Bells
Tintinabulation

Brian Adam McClune - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Gentle Murray

Vs. Them - We Three Kings
Orient:R

The Black Keys - Just Got to Be
Faberge Falcon

The Black Keys - Mind Eraser
Black Out

The Black Keys - Gold on the Ceiling
Cielito Lindo

Heart - Barracuda
Albacore Crunch

Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
More Cowbell

David Bowie - Space Oddity
*Minor Tom

*Info provided by ZumaRocks
**Info provided by SeattleSuave
***Info provided by RonMax86
****Info provided by Landozelig
*****Info provided by Fecal_Feast

Ubisoft user, RS vet, and friend of mine, Bluezman64 added this list which he sorted by song title:

All The Small Things – blink-182
Windmill

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Opera Knight

Born on the Bayou – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Just a Chooglin

Born to Be Wild - Steppenwolf
Heavy Metal Thunder

Born Under A Bad Sign – Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan
Combo - Prince Albert
Combo 2 – Essarvee

Bottoms Up – Nickelback
I Love the Whiskey

Bright Lights – Gary Clark Jr.
Combo – New Tone City
Combo 2 – Big City

Burnin’ For You – Blue Oyster Cult
Combo – Home on the Highway
Combo 2 – B-sides

Carry On Wayward Son – Kansas
Noise and Confusion

Cliffs of Dover – Eric Johnson
Riffs of Overdrive

Come Out And Play (Keep ‘em Separated) – The Offspring
Bash It Up

Cult of Personality – Living Colour
Nobel Prize

Dammit – blink-182
Growing Up Too

Fat Bottomed Girls – Queen
Git on Yer Bikes!

The Final Countdown – Europe
Combos 1, 2 & 3 – Solid As I Rock
Single Note – Time For My Illusions

Godzilla – Blue Oyster Cult
Monster Island

Gone Away – The Offspring
Hail Mary

Headlong Flight – Rush
Big Steel

Hit Me With Your Best Shot – Pat Benatar
Case Notch

How You Remind Me – Nickelback
Combo – Are We Having Fun Yet
Combo 2 – Bottom of Every Bottle

I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness
Sinus Rhythm

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – Iron Butterfly
How Does Your Garden

Is This Love – Whitesnake
Combo 1 & 2 – Albino Cobra
Combo 3 – King Chorus

Keep Yourself Alive – Queen
Combo – Phase Mister
Single Note 1 & 2– Self Preservation

Killer Queen – Queen
Laser Beam

Limelight – Rush
Fisheye Lens

The Man Who Sold The World – David Bowie
Combo – Plugged
Chord – Unplugged

Message in a Bottle – The Police
S.O.S.

Mississippi Queen – Mountain
Combo – Getting My Kicks
Combo 2 – Know What I Mean

My Girl – The Temptations
Sultenfuss

My Sharona – The Knack
Combo – Up For The Touch
Combo 2 & Single Note – Knick Paddy Whack

Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) – My Chemical Romance
The Knights Who Say Na

No Rain – Blind Melon
Combo - Dry Cheeks
Chord - Tea For Two

Oye Como Va – Santana
Bueno Pa’ Gozar

Paralyzer – Finger Eleven
Stricken

Planetary (Go!) – My Chemical Romance
Get Up and Go

Pumped Up Kicks – Foster The People
Torched

Red Barchetta – Rush
White-Haired Uncle

Rockstar – Nickelback
Chord – Bleach Blond Hair
Combo – I’ll Have the Quesadilla

Roxanne – The Police
Red Light

Self Esteem – The Offspring
Just A Sucker

(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding
Combo – Propper Cropper
Chord – Sausalito Soul Acoustic

Smooth – Santana feat. Rob Thomas
Rhythm on Your Radio

Soul Man – The Blues Brothers
Mission

Stone Cold Crazy – Queen
Thrash 101

Subdivisions – Rush
Backs of Guitars

Synchronicity II – The Police
Meaningful Coincidence

The Thrill is Gone – B.B. King
Blues Boy

Tom Sawyer – Rush
Modern Day Warrior

Welcome to the Black Parade – My Chemical Romance
Sousa Tone

We’re Not Gonna Take It – Twisted Sister
Refusal

What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
Combo – Backbeat Comp
Chord – Soul-Love Acoustic

What’s My Age Again? – blink-182
23

Whipping Post – The Allman Brothers Band
Good Time Buddy

YYZ – Rush
Torontone

 

Rocksmith Songs Review: When I'm With You and Plug In Baby

Now that I've unlocked the last Secret Squirrel song, I've just got two more guitars to earn and playing events will be just for the glory of all those screaming cloned fans. Since I can't piss and moan about not getting second encores any more, I've decided to focus on individual songs. And so I bring you the first of my Rocksmith Song Review posts -

When I'm With You - Best Coast

This song is deceptively difficult. It's very easy to play but very hard to get a great score. Even the combo arrangement is mainly chords, but trying to level this song up can be aggravating. The trick seems to be getting the timing down exactly, especially on the intro. Forcing the mastery level up in Riff Repeater helps. There are several strum strokes missing from the lower mastery levels which makes it difficult to hit things at the right moment. Forcing the mastery up to 100% in Leveler makes it a little easier to get credit.

Moving back and forth from the 3d fret G-chord to the E5 at the 12th fret can be tough if you aren't good with chords. The C5 and D5 aren't so bad, but dropping to a proper G-Maj. at the 3d fret requires some quick movement and accurate fingering.

There is a solo, but it's one of the easiest solos in RS. All on the 3d and 4th string, mainly the 4th, and pretty much all on two frets. No double-stops (or "harmonic intervals"). My kind of solo!

I've played this song 13 times (possibly a handful of times before I restarted my journey but not many) and have it up to the maximum qualifying level - 90k. My high score is 93,368.

Despite having all levels maxed (with a little work in RR), I haven't Mastered this one yet. I believe this is one of those songs that is so easy to play that RS made the scoring really tough.

Plug in Baby - Muse

Another fairly easy song, but there is a fairly tricky riff to it. It's not really hard to learn, but it's hard to get up to speed. It moves fast and it sounds really cool. Learn it and impress your friends!

Most of the song is chords - easy chords: Bm, F#, G, and D barres. And, plenty of rests.

No solo. So, once you get the riff down pat you've pretty well got this song nailed. I really like this song. Fun to play and sounds harder than it is.

I wouldn't classify it as "easy," but maybe "medium" on my ranking of RS songs.

Double Encore! Got the Last Rocksmith Secret Squirrel Song: Star Spangled Banner!

I did it!


Took me 43 events to finally unlock the last Secret Squirrel Song. But, I finally did it. I didn't cheat and I didn't game the game. I just played the events that came to me and did the best I could. I've played several events where I felt like I deserved the encore but didn't get it and it all boiled down to this a fairly ho-hum 2-song event at The Mouse Hole with a Master Mode encore.

Event Location	The Mouse Hole	Notes
Date Played	3/12/2013	Unlocks:
Song	Score	Guitar	Epiphone Dot Royale
Unnatural Selection -  Combo	88777	Pedal
Surf Hell - Combo	94891	Tone	Sugarcane (Good Enough)
		Tone
		Tone
		Song	Star Spangled Banner, The
Angela - Combo   MASTER MODE	185665	calculated
Good Enough - Combo	76198		DOUBLE ENCORE #6!!!
Minimum RSP	165000
Event Score:	445531	Total Score to date:	24,175,609 RSP
111%

The whole event was really just an after-thought. I had just played Event 42 and planned to go to bed. But, with only two songs I figured, "what the heck?"

[Note: I played Events 42 and 43 with my Fender MIM Tele.]

Event 42 - The Event Before the Event

Event 42 was a 6-song set mostly from the original RS song list: I Got Mine, Me and the Bean, Number Thirteen, and Song 2, plus 2 DLC songs - The Best of You and Wheels.

Event Location	Velvet Club	Notes
Date Played	3/12/2013	Unlocks:
Song	Score	Guitar	Gibson Les Paul Florentine
I Got Mine - Combo	89040	Pedal
Me and the Bean - Combo	96609	Tone
Wheels - Combo	31534	Tone
Number Thirteen - Single Note	94422	Tone
Song 2 - Combo	93346
The Best of You	97306		No Encore at 107% with all songs
			> MQS.
No Encore	n/a
Minimum RSP	470800
Event Score:	502257	Total Score to date:	23,720,031 RSP
107%

MQSs for Event 42 were mostly maxed out at 90k, so I didn't expect to get an encore. I'd only played I Got Mine twice before I worked it up for this event - once as an encore and once in Event 7. (Never played it at all in my original journey.) It took 3 plays to qualify it at 80,200, and I unlocked the Grizzlytone tone on my second play. Wheels was new DLC. I just bought it in February and had only played it twice. Oddly, the MQS for Wheels was really low - 30,600. Best of You was already pre-qualified at 90k from a previous event and I didn't even rehearse it for this event.

I actually did alright. I had 107% of the Event Minimum Score and I beat the MQS for every song. But, as expected, no encore. Like I said, I didn't really expect one, but I can't help wondering why I didn't get one. The more I study it, the more random the whole encore thing seems to be. No biggie. I was pretty pleased with my playing and with my progress on these songs.

Since it was still early and things were going so well, and since the next event had only 2 songs, I decided to go ahead with Event 43. 

Event 43 and the Big Double Encore!

Not sure why the RS set-list generator only threw a 2-song event at me. This was the shortest event I've ever played. I've got plenty of songs that are still down in the sub-70k range, and my events have been averaging more like 6 or 7 songs lately, but that's what RS Recommends gave me.

I'm not sure why RS chose these two songs, either. I had Surf Hell up over 90k already and even Unnatural Selection was up to just over 70k before this event. Kind of funny - Surf Hell has always been one of my favorite RS songs and Unnatural Selection has always been one of my least favorite RS songs.

And, while this turned out to be a HUGE event for me in other ways, it took place at the smallest possible venue - The Mouse Hole. So, only a few dozen people witnessed this crowning achievement.

I wouldn't say I exactly kicked ass on the setlist. I had Surf Hell down pat before I had to restart my journey, but I only beat the MQS by 4k. MQS for Unnatural Selection was 75k and I got 88k. That's what pushed me to 111% and got me the first encore.

The icing on the cake is this: my first encore was a Master Mode encore. Fortunately, of the nine songs I have mastered, Angela was the one I got. Sheer luck. By subtracting all the other scores from my final event score I determined that I scored 185,665 on the Master Mode encore - more than I needed for the whole event. Apparently good enough for a second encore.

Ironically, my second encore was Good Enough. The song Good Enough, by Tom Petty. Of course, once the second encore comes up, it doesn't really matter what you do. You could just unplug and go get a beer and you'd still get the Secret Squirrel Song. I had played this song only once before as an encore in Event 19, but I scored a respectable 76,198. Good enough. . .  to unlock the Sugarcane tone.

Until this event, I hadn't unlocked anything except guitars since Event 30.

Event 41 A Disappointment but Still Rocksmith-ing Along

I haven't been practicing much lately. Just too much other stuff going on. But, last night I finally managed to rehearse a few songs for Event 41 and play the event. It did not go very well.

I actually qualified 3 of the songs on this setlist immediately after my last event two weeks ago. Walk was prequalified since I scored over 100,000 on it in the previous event. Last week I managed to qualify the remaining three songs in one evening. I took a reduced qualifying score on America's Suitehearts (from 68,200 down to 64,787 after 5 tries). Then I didn't played my guitar at all for a week.

So, it's not like I had played any of the songs for this event much. In fact, I'll tell you exactly how many times I've played each.

Walk:                              4  (prequalified from previous event and not played since)
Dance, Dance               11  (6 to qualify for this event)
Thnks Fr Th Mmrs         9  (4 with some Riff Repeater work to qualify for this event)
My Hero                       10  (5 to qualify for this event)
Times Like These           7  (3 to qualify for this event)
I Don't Care                    6  (2 to qualify for this event)
America's Suitehearts     9  (5 to qualify for this event, with reduced MQS)

Since I hadn't played any of these songs for at least a week and some of them not for 2 weeks, I ran through them before I started the event last night, even though all the songs were already "qualified."

On Walk, Times Like These, and I Don't Care, my score in "rehearsal" went up. On all the others, my scores were down. On America's Suitehearts, my rehearsal score was below the MQS (minimum qualifying score for the event). But, I decided to go for it. The show went just about like rehearsal:

Event Location	The Low Down	Notes
Date Played	3/10/2013	Unlocks:
Song	Score	Guitar	Gibson Firebird-V w/Maestro Trem
Walk - Combo	105744	Pedal
Dance Dance - Combo	55555	Tone
Thnks Fr Th Mmrs - Combo	81948	Tone
My Hero - Combo	81754	Tone
Times Like These - Combo	77661		Below MQS:
I Don't Care - Combo	93655		Dance Q = 58,600
America's Suitehearts - Combo	65530		My Hero Q = 88,000
No Encore
Minimum RSP	526800
Event Score:	561847	Total Score to date:	23,160,849 RSP
107%

On Walk and I Don't Care, my scores continued to improve. My score on America's Suitehearts actually improved, too, although my score in rehearsal had dropped below the qualifying score. On everything else, my scores went down when I played the event. On two songs, Dance, Dance and My Hero the event scores were below MQS. That's a little weird because those are fairly easy songs.

At any rate, I finished the event "successfully" enough to get the Gibson Firebird-V with Maestro Tremelo. But that's it. No encores. Nothing.

In the past I've gotten encores with as little as 105% of the required minimum points on an event. I got an encore in Event 20 with exactly 107% of the required minimum RSPs, and I got an encore on Event 19 with only 105% of the minimum RSPs. However, I suspect that having two songs below MQS in this event was what stopped me getting even a first encore.

My theory here doesn't prove out completely because on Event 17 I exceeded 90k (the maximum qualifying score) on 3 songs and exceeded the MQS of the 4th song by almost 200%. My total event score was 114% of the minimum required RSP and I still got no encore. However, it seems generally to work out that you've got to get at least the minimum event score and score more than the MQS for each song to get a first encore.

Maybe Rocksmith is secretly processing input from my new Kinect sensor to determine when I'm just not really into an event. . . I have to admit, I went into Event 41 mostly with the attitude of, "Let's get this over with and move on." So, I really didn't deserve an encore.