Looking for any edge you can get over your rivals before Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock comes out in late October? Then in that case, HeroGear.Net should probably be your next port of call.

The maker of custom Guitar Hero skins has just unveiled eight brand new skins for your Guitar Hero III axe, and there’s just a chance that some of the more garish designs - if they flash by the corner of your opponent’s eye at the right moment - could trigger a quick collapse of muddled chords. That, or epilepsy.

They’re not all excessively gaudy, mind - we actually find the Les Paul "Sunburst" skin (for the Xbox 360 axe) to be quite tasteful, while "Rising Sun" (for the PS3 guitar) is also pleasing on the eye. We’ll pass on "Heart" (above) though, while one of the designs for the Wii guitar (entitled "Neon Rebel") could perhaps be construed as, er, a touch politically incorrect. One for the Prussian Blue fans only, we suspect.

See all eight designs below.