HILS Headless on the cheap. Seems too good to be true

Eagle said:
These are better than they cost BUT;
Frets are too small for most people who want this kind of instrument.
The hardware is o huge potential problem because it is unique to the brand and nothing else will easily fit.
Pickups and electrics are pretty crappy.
In spite of these things they are still good for the price compared with most other similar cost instruments.
I would still not buy it though because for me I would have to refret it and fit all new electrics and pickups. Then I would still be at the mercy of whatever the bridge is made of.
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The bridge is made of aluminum. That was one of my concerns as with its long term viability.
 
Why do these companies always get the fretwire size wrong for their key audience??
This should be 6100 or even 6000 ( 57110 - 58118 )
Anything else is just going to make it feel wrong in comparison to the big boys.
Once again hardware that is going to give you serious problems down the road. Why not go with the style that is rapidly becoming standard on this kind of guitar. These things don’t make it a bad instrument but they are unnecessary fundamental mistakes by the company that could have so easily been avoided.
 
Why focus on the negatives when there are many positives to these. For the price the quality is there. Would I/we prefer Jescar SS 57110 fret wire, of course, but it is what it is. I don’t find the quality of the bridge or string clamp auto be an issue on mine. As a matter of fact, I sold my Boden and kept the HILS. If the Boden were $500 I would have been much happier with it. Granted the higher end ones are a lot better but now we are talking about 3 or 4 times the price of the HILS. And frankly the quality is not that much better from what I have personally seen. Anyway, these are great for the money, heck even the pickups sound good, and I am a pretty picky guy.
 
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I was super excited to get one of these (HN3), but my experience was anything but positive. The first one had quite a few uneven frets including one so high that the guitar was unplayable even at just over 2mm action. I took it to my guitar guy who agreed that it was unplayable without a fret-leveling job and agreed I should send it back.

The second I got was even worse. The nut looked like it had been damaged or cut really awkwardly at the low-E string. There was glue and dust stuck to the board and the low-E string sat about .25mm above the other strings at the nut in a really poorly, partially cut groove. Three of the barrel tuners were so hard to turn that my fingers hurt after trying to get the guitar tuned. The first guitar I got did not have this issue. The low-E string simply could not be tuned up to pitch. I was later told by support that this is a common issue related to string length and to use a capo to hold the string in place while moving the ball-end holder secure and moving it forward and then loosening the string clamps at the head(less) end and pulling them through before re-clamping them again. The (plain) strings that came on it were rusted (not a big deal but just disclosing it) and it also had uneven frets (though not quite as bad).

BUT I will say the guitar sound good. And when playing in the areas that weren't affected by fret issues, etc it played and felt nice. It is super light-weight and very ergonomic. The coil-splitting feature was a nice touch and more noticeable than when try the same feature on a pair of Fishman Fluence Moderns. The gig bag is perfect for it and (assuming you get a good one) the overall package is appealing. Quality control is just killing them for me right now. Both of these guitars had a QC sheet that had been signed off by the same person but neither of them should have ever been sent out to customers.

My major concern with these guitars would be the viability of the bridge long-term (as mentioned by others). It feels like a very low-cost aluminum. This was a brand new guitar and there were already grooves that were worn into the string saddles. The plastic ends of the barrel tuners also didn't feel sturdy and I have doubts as to whether they will be able to handle all of the torque put on them over time. I would honestly prefer to pay more for one of these guitars if they had better hardware, specifically a more heavy-duty bridge.
 
It's a bummer when there are setup issues out of the box but a trip to your tech should take care of that. If your tech can't take care of adjusting a nut and taking care of some high frets it may be time to find a new tech.

I have been playing mine a lot and haven't had any issues with the hardware.
 
RandomGuy said:
I was super excited to get one of these (HN3), but my experience was anything but positive. The first one had quite a few uneven frets including one so high that the guitar was unplayable even at just over 2mm action. I took it to my guitar guy who agreed that it was unplayable without a fret-leveling job and agreed I should send it back.

The second I got was even worse. The nut looked like it had been damaged or cut really awkwardly at the low-E string. There was glue and dust stuck to the board and the low-E string sat about .25mm above the other strings at the nut in a really poorly, partially cut groove. Three of the barrel tuners were so hard to turn that my fingers hurt after trying to get the guitar tuned. The first guitar I got did not have this issue. The low-E string simply could not be tuned up to pitch. I was later told by support that this is a common issue related to string length and to use a capo to hold the string in place while moving the ball-end holder secure and moving it forward and then loosening the string clamps at the head(less) end and pulling them through before re-clamping them again. The (plain) strings that came on it were rusted (not a big deal but just disclosing it) and it also had uneven frets (though not quite as bad).

BUT I will say the guitar sound good. And when playing in the areas that weren't affected by fret issues, etc it played and felt nice. It is super light-weight and very ergonomic. The coil-splitting feature was a nice touch and more noticeable than when try the same feature on a pair of Fishman Fluence Moderns. The gig bag is perfect for it and (assuming you get a good one) the overall package is appealing. Quality control is just killing them for me right now. Both of these guitars had a QC sheet that had been signed off by the same person but neither of them should have ever been sent out to customers.

My major concern with these guitars would be the viability of the bridge long-term (as mentioned by others). It feels like a very low-cost aluminum. This was a brand new guitar and there were already grooves that were worn into the string saddles. The plastic ends of the barrel tuners also didn't feel sturdy and I have doubts as to whether they will be able to handle all of the torque put on them over time. I would honestly prefer to pay more for one of these guitars if they had better hardware, specifically a more heavy-duty bridge.
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My sentiments on cheap guitars in general. You may find a good one but that’s the exception not the rule. I feel a lot happier with something I want to play. I buy instruments for life and if I do get rid I often get more money back than I paid. That’s the real definition of cheap. That and I smile every time I play them.
 
With all due respect I think you're defending poor QC a bit too aggressively because you like your guitar. My tech isn't the problem. He was looking out for my interests. Sure, he could have just encouraged me to keep the guitar and have him work on it so he could make some money. But he advised me to do what he would do himself if he were in my shoes. The work these guitars needed to have done was not cheap. The fret-level would have been 150 bucks. And the nut on top of that (didn't even bother to ask how much that would've been but I'm assuming around 50 bucks). At that point I'm putting 750 bucks into this thing and its starting to not be so cheap anymore. I'd rather just pay a few hundred more for something with better features and QC.
 
Everyone's tolerance is different. I am not defending bad QC, I just see a lot of guitars since I have a repair business, and the general consensus is that almost every guitar needs a good setup out of the box. Some are much better than others of course. Do what makes you happy brother. If you are not happy with the quality then send it back. It's your money and time. 😎
 
If you want a cheap.. we'll, let's say inexpensive, headless guitar I'm telling you, get a GOC.

I can't get over how good this guitar is after over a week. The neck is beautiful. Near perfect. Great, level fretwork. Not a buzz or dead note in sight.

Had my first recording session with it today and the pickups, which I was sure I'd be swapping, cut through the mix wonderfully. I'm keeping them.
 
That said, I am still saving for an Aristides. If the last couple of months has taught me anything; the fact that I was so quick to swap and flip my guitars for headless means I have no prize possession guitars.
 
Jynx said:
If you want a cheap.. we'll, let's say inexpensive, headless guitar I'm telling you, get a GOC.

I can't get over how good this guitar is after over a week. The neck is beautiful. Near perfect. Great, level fretwork. Not a buzz or dead note in sight.

Had my first recording session with it today and the pickups, which I was sure I'd be swapping, cut through the mix wonderfully. I'm keeping them.
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Only problem is they are almost NEVER in stock.

EDIT: just looked, they have some stock. But $1200 for a guitar you gotta buy off Ali Express? Man that's a tough pill to swallow. They raised the hell out of their prices, no?
 
Jkist7 said:
Only problem is they are almost NEVER in stock.

EDIT: just looked, they have some stock. But $1200 for a guitar you gotta buy off Ali Express? Man that's a tough pill to swallow. They raised the hell out of their prices, no?
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Only 870 for me. They have some fancy wood ones for over 1000. Is that what you're looking at?

Got my guitar in 5 working days with no fuss.
 
Gotta commend GOC for how fast they react to things. Some people who got the 7 and 8 strings of the new bridge ones last month complained that the saddles don't take extra heavy gauges on the low end, so they've had bigger ones made and are sending them out to people with those guitars at no extra cost. And the guitars going forward will have these saddles.
 
Lol. Did this site just change my words.

Can't even say the word that rhymes with Omar Sharif.
 
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