Hi UTGF! Please join me in thanking Rob from Hercules Stands for the gracious donation of 2 stands to give away!!!
Ok on to the review!
Hercules Guitar stand model: GS414B which is one of their best sellers!
Packaging: The stand came in a nice slim box with a plastic carry handle and when opened both parts of the stand were wrapped in plastic. They definitely could have packed it in a cheaper box but the carry handle was really nice. I'd venture to say that you could use the box to transport it around if you had to go play somewhere. You could always just carry the two pieces of the stand by itself as well.
Stand appearance: The stand doesn't appear slim or cheap. Before I even get to the heart of the review, I think we all would agree that guitar stands have to appear solid first. We are entrusting any stand with guitars that most of us treasure dearly. This Hercules stand looks very solid and robust. I'll also note that this is the first Hercules stand I've seen in person. I know the Hercules brand is quite popular from what I've seen online. I know it's a super small detail but one that can't be missed is the yellow part on the stand, where the three legs meet. Anyone that's familiar with the Hercules brand can probably pick it out from other stands based simply on the eye catching yellow. That's a great and subtle way for Hercules to make its products stand out from the rest of the pack.
The metal neck, and legs are solid as is the actual tripod. ALL parts that come in contact with guitar have a really nice, soft foam padding. Not so soft that the guitar would be able to "dent" through the foam and hit the metal legs. The top of the neck features a really nice grip (I'll share more about this part later.) The bottom of the three legs have a very thick and textured grip that grips amazingly well on carpet, wood floor and tile. Yes, I tried it on all three surfaces.
Stand Performance: This is the good part. This stand gets a solid 5 stars out of 5 stars in my book. This particular model features what Hercules calls its "Auto Grip System." In short, when you put your guitar in the grip, the weight of the guitar closes the grip, ensuring that the guitar won't fall forward. Most really cheap stands don't have this. If someone were to bump the guitar forward with enough force, the guitar would simply fall forward and get damaged. Other cheap stands have a simple rubber piece that closes the gap so that the guitar can't fall forward, but YOU have to manually attach the rubber link to close the gap. Hercules takes all the work out of the equation. Gravity plus the weight of the guitar is enough to engage the grip to close automatically. When you pick up the guitar and the weight is released, the grip automatically opens. It's simple but absolutely genius.
The neck's height is easily adjustable with a squeeze grip. When squeezed you can adjust the neck up or down and when released it'll lock itself in place. Some guitar stands feature a "U" shaped rack on the bottom that hold the lower bout of the guitar in place. It's not a bad thing, but for many of those stands, that "U" piece actually comes out and the stand can be taken down into 3 pieces. Hercules eliminates that with this model. The guitar isn't held by anything other than it's own weight on the "Auto Grip" and gravity. The stand naturally leans back and the lower bout of the guitar simply rests on the front of the two front facing legs. Once again there is solid foam that protects the finish and wood of the guitar.
I put the Hercules stand through its paces with both my Taylor and Martin. I tried knocking it over (carefully) from all sorts of angles. Can you knock it over? Absolutely, but it would have to be more than a simple knocking into it for it to topple. Let's be honest, most times when a guitar is nudged on any guitar stand the person doing the nudging accidentally nudges it. No one, unless they're the devil, would intentionally try to knock it over. The big, textured rubber grips keep the stand it place as well. This stand isn't going anywhere unless you intentionally want it to.
Stand Quality: This GS414B stand is solid as I described above. There's really nothing on this stand where you think to yourself "Ah here's where Hercules tried to cut corners." It's an amazingly solid, well thought out tool to have. There's a reason why so many love Hercules, and now I'm one of them. Hercules even offers a Full Lifetime Warranty in the USA for defects in workmanship. If you want to find out more you can visit their website below.
If you have been or are in the market for a guitar stand, look no further than Hercules. If this stand isn't what you're looking for check out their website to see what other models they offer! Don't want to have a ton of stands around? No worries, Hercules also makes other stands that hold 3 or more guitars!
Again, a massive Thank You shout out to Rob and Hercules!
http://herculesstands.com/us/The Contest will run from now until the end of January 4th on which I'll randomly choose two numbers and the replies which match the numbers will win!Rules to enter:
1. Reply to this thread
2. No duplicate entries. Duplicate entries will disqualify you from the contest.
I'll mail the packages anywhere. So anyone overseas is welcome to participate. Good Luck everyone!