Really cool that the factory didn't argue with Phol about pickup tolerance, but instead came up with a solution and thanked Phil for constructive aevice!!
Yeah, and it seems they have fixed several issues with other headless guitars too. The headstock, the foot pegs, the string locking mechanism, etc. Strandberg owners have complained about these for years
It is quite impressive that the company took the constructive advice. They looked at facts and made corrections. That is a company I want to support. My Hils guitar will be here on the 22nd.
Very happy owner of a limited Deep Purple Hils guitar here. I'm disabled and have been looking for the past years for a guitar that I can play while in my wheelchair and is easy to handle & carry around. I've tried a lot of small (even kids) guitars, an Ibanez headless model (hated the neck) and couldn't really go for a Strandberg because my thumb is kind of weirdly attached to my hand which makes the endure neck a no go. I had to pinch myselff twice when I saw the Hils: a first time for the specs, the other for the price. I ordered one and couldn't be happier! It's just perfect for me. I'm an offset guy so I was very unsure about the tone & high output pickups...but I actually like them: they have a compressed sound that goes well with the ambient soundscapes that I make. The rubber feet are super useful and the lightweight and the backpack-like straps of the gigbag allow me to put it on the back of my wheelchair & carry it everywhere. Highly recommended!
I had bought a Erlewine Lazer years ago and deeply regret selling it. The wheel on my wheelchair did not contact the body of the Lazer and that was fantastic; with other guitars I had to hold them at an odd angle to clear the wheel which put too much stress on my left wrist. I assume that the body on your Deep Purple Hills guitar doesn't contact the wheel.
@@Ezlivin I totally know what you mean about the stress on your left wrist. Right now, I have those plastic sheets between the wheels & seat that are supposed to prevent your clothes from getting dirty, and the guitar is touching those. It's still playable, and I do if I want to quickly demo or record something, but I still sit on a chair for proper playing sessions. I think it the guitar body wouldn't touch the wheels if those "sheets" weren't there. (I'm considering removing them). I didn't know about the Erlewine Lazer & had to check: the body is very small ! I had a Markbass mini guitar that had a similar size body. The problem was, it's so small, that it doesn't rest on anything & made it too unstable. I much prefer having something like the Hills because it doesn't move around while playing.
Just the fact that the manufacturer listened to your feedback and went and made changes like you suggested, makes me consider buying a guitar from this company! I’ve never considered trying one of these headless neck type of guitars. But at this price and the fact that the company listens to their customers makes me want one of these!
Looks like I found my next around the house guitar, no headstock to catch on a corner when walking into a room, rubber feet , and lightweight. Sold. 13:45 now I feel the need to listen to Blitzkrieg
I have this guitar and can say it has the characteristics of a 1000 dollar plus guitar. Stainless frets, roasted maple neck, mahogany body, great pickups and sounds great. You can practice twice as long sitting back in a chair or you can pack it and take it anywhere you travel. It is dynamite in a smaller package!
The radius looks like a 14" ??- There is not many guitars out there for 500.00-In the event this is a good axe, it may be valuable some day. I guess it depends on how many are being made. I used to own a Gibson Marauder, which was only made for about 2 years. They went for about 400-450 in the 70`s. I have seen a few being sold for about 1,200 or so. It may be a good investment someday in the event you want to sell. I doubt the Kiesel guitars will have strong re-sale. Then, I would have bought Beenie Babys if I knew they would have the potential of making a small fortune. Good luck. -God bless.
@ShawnShipstad Good point. One thing is for sure. Best buy for the money I have made and my son has several high end guitars over 2k. This one gets played more because it is so easy to carry around even unplugged.
I got mine earlier this year. I got even lucky and mine's got beautiful Birdseye all over the roasted-maple neck. What an awesome guitar this model is!
@ShawnShipstad my friend bought a Gibson Marauder back around 1972. Looked a bit SGish with that plastic looking pickup but hey, it was a Gibson and we were all envious of him. Thanks for mentioning that guitar. I haven't thought about my mate and his Gibson in a long while.
I live in South Korea, and I purchased one of these under their native brand HEX avout 2 months ago. It is phenomenal. I've gigged it several times and never had an issue. Pickups are good, but I will put in new pickups later or at least modify that the coil split only effects the neck pickup. I'm thinking of grabbing a bass from them.
Hils is the American-European brand name for a Korean company, originally named HEX. I don't know why they had to change their brand name for sure, but it is the exact same company with the same products. In Korea, Hex has a huge reputation for making great bang for buck guitars at very attainable price points, and as far as I'm concerned they own a proprietary factory in Indonesia. The headless models have been very popular among Korean TH-camrs and they are even cheaper here in Korea(at about only 300$ for this same model). I got my headless HEX soon after the hype and I've been enjoying this guitar ever since. I swapped both of my pickups to Gibsons without too much hassle, and am looking forward to changing the output jack soon. I don't know if mine's faulty or it's just the design, but the barrel-style output jack cuts out when I put pressure on the cable or the wireless sideways. Outside of that, it is a wonderful piece of equipment. Thank you Phil for introducing another Korean brand to the world.
A hex is a spell to cast for bad fortune on someone, but I'm sure you guys knew that. I think it was an inauspicious name, like calling a car the Citation.
WOW!!!!!!! THANK YOU, VERY MUCH, PHIL, FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK, AND DILIGENCE, IN REVIEWING, AND CRITIQUING THIS AMAZING, AFFORDABLE GUITAR!!! GOOD TO KNOW!!!
Love the rubber feet feature. I have a GW-2 Eart, which I like very much, but it doesn't sit comfortably on a wood floor - rubber feet would help. This might be a step up from the GW-2, and still reasonably priced.
Not sure why i got served your video, and I don't even play guitar anymore, but I gave you a sub because you did a great job reviewing. Very thorough, and checking things i didn't even know should be checked. Keep up the good work!
Almost identical to my ibanez Q54, which I paid a 1000 bucks for and absolutely love. I have about 25+ guitars and I find myself only playing this one nowadays. Wish I would've known about this one.
I got one of these a couple of days ago, and thought I would leave a brief review. Overall I am very happy with the guitar at the $499 price. There were some very minor issues all of which were corrected with a basic setup. I was initially unable to completely intonate the third (G) string. As I got close to getting it intonated, the tuning peg got loose. I made a comment about this in a review on Hils website, and shortly afterwards I was contacted by one of the co-owners of Hils. After a brief discussion of the problem, he explained that I just need to loosen the string on both ends, pull a bit more string through the clamp at the nut end, and retighten everything back down. This worked perfectly. The only other issue I have is, as Phil mentions in the video, the pickup cavity route is too tight. But the person from Hils said this was being corrected, so probably by the time you read this it won't be an issue anymore. The fret ends on my guitar were not as nice as on Phil's. But you know for $499, it's expected that the guitar might need a little TLC in the form of a set-up and some fret dressing. The guitar is so light! I'm an older guy, and an hour standing up with my other guitars often leaves me with a sore back. That won't be an issue here. The guitar in its case is so compact that I think it might even fit in an overhead compartment on a plane. The pickups are acceptable, and pretty hot. I do find the bridge pickup a bit too nasally (mids are too strong). I checked out the wiring and it's just lovely. The wiring cavity is shielded and even the cover plate has shielding on it. The frets are more level than most low end guitars, which is great news for anyone that likes a low action. The nut was cut reasonably well. I love the thin neck (small hands) but if you like a chunky neck, you might not like this. This has immediately become one of my favorite guitars.
Saw a Guitar Summit video on these guitars...I was intrigued and am really glad to see an overall positive review and that the company responded really well to feedback and actually made a change in manufacturing! I definitely am considering purchasing one of their new models that has a trem and some active pickups.
Great goodness....thus just my Xmas list. Even the color is just bomb. Thanks for displaying this piece. Love ur work phil and as allways...know ur gear.
That tiniest bit kf headstock is such a clever addition, to be able to hang it, bit akso jist that feel of home behind the fretting hand at first position
I'd pretty much already decided that I was going to get one of these, but this confirms it. It's going to have to wait, though, because a G&L is next up on my list. But after that will be a Hils.
I have one of these ordered, coming in two days on Wednesday. I'm glad I saw this review of it, Phillip. Answered some questions I didn't know I'd want to ask and reinforced my decision on ordering it. I have plenty of Majesties (6) a few JP's as well, and a PRS SE Holcomb and an American Strat Ultra from 2008. I'm excited to have my first "perfect" headless guitar. The past two I had (EART, and another unnamed brand) were cool, but nothing to write home about. I'm VERY excited.
Their response to the routing issue you pointed out sold me. I absolutely love to support companies that actually care what their customers think. Instant +200000 to their rep imo.
I got this guitar shortly before this video came out. My one and only nitpick is that the fret ends are a bit sharp, as Phillip showed in the video. Other than than, it's damn near perfect and an absolute steal at under $500 (I actually got mine for $450 with free shipping as a promotional event for breaking into the North American market).
Thank you Phill. This headless guitar appears to have all the modern features and none of the modern problems. Not to mention the super competitive price point. If I had to choose one today I would have to seriously consider this as an option. Thank you again!
Phil thank you for your service to our country and the guitar community. too good to be true. This puppy delivers for 500 bucks. I needed a travel guitar worry about it getting destroyed stolen. Quality control off the charts! It does the job have no fear it’s not a toy it’s an axe!
First time watching any of your videos. Obviously knowledgeable. That being said. I’m looking for something that doesn’t brake the bank but I can shred and dive bomb on. Love your tool setup
It looks and sounds great, especially for the price. I'm surprised that we're already seeing Strandberg copies, but I'm glad that they're getting some affordable competition.
When I read the title of this video, I thought it meant that this guitar was very expensive and a POS and that it gives high end guitars a bad reputation. Like "hey, this is very expensive and is not worth it. It makes all high end guitars look bad" lol Now I feel stupid. But also impressed. I travel a lot and that looks like it would fit in my suitcase. With my little Roland MicroCube I can have a very nice travel rig. At that weight I would hardly notice it. Great review as always.
Great job on this Philip! I love seeing this relatively low price gear that is just phenomenal to play. I mean, I have a couple of several thousand dollar guitars and a whole bunch of $500-$1200 Guitars I play them all so is it really worth it to spend all that extra money? I guess if you got it. Great job buddy.
Anyone curious to try out a headless guitar I highly recommend Hils. I have a green Next and it rules. Not just a good guitar for the price, but a generally great guitar.
Hey, Phillip… love the channel! This video inspired me to check out what Hils has to offer. I ended up picking up the tele style guitar, ‘the talent’, and was totally blown away by the quality of guitar I received, and for only $349!!! And of course, that nice gig bag was part of the deal, too. Have you ever thought about reviewing any other models from this brand?
why wouldnt you be able to screw down the ground wire onto the shielding tape the way you did with the paint? it just needs contact right? I dont understand the difference
You can! I do it on all my strats: groundwire from tremclaw screwed down on the copper tape shielding, holding the groundwire from the vol. pot aswell. Quickconnecters for the jack wires so i can take out the pickguard without soldering! Do what you want, it's your guitar...🎸🤘🏼🎸
Interesting, this could be my first headless guitar to try out, after playing for 30+ years. I wish it had a tremolo though since I'm a Floyd Rose kinda guy. Thanks for sharing Philip.
Thanks for a great video! Nd thanks for the nod to AZ. I’m somewhere near you as we have shopped at the same Guitar Center. when I get my Strats together I’d love to get your opinion on them and maybe help with the set up.
Even a compound radius fretboard. Fender should offer that option on all their models. After playing with a compound radius I can never go back to a fixed radius fretboard.
Great review, thank you. Been a long time since anything on the market has made me want to take a serious look at buying a new guitar. This is four pounds of really different, really cool.
Yea, great video Phil........ With the specs and the price, and the quality gig bag,and the light weight it's certainly a bargain winner! All my EVH guitars are too heavy for me now as I've aged towards 70 and lost 60 lbs since visiting McKnight guitar store going back to 2008......... Yea I prefer the tone of the maple capped body's.......( not the weight) My PV Wolfgang weighs 8 pounds 2 oz, Peavy evh special 7.5 lbs, both evh Japanese specials at approximately 7 lbs........and the quilt top 1st run 2008 model evh from fender custom shop weighs 8.61 lbs!
Thanks for sharing this phil. I've had one for a while but looking forward to the N500 which has a tremolo and active pickups. Best wishes from the UK 👍👍🎶🎶🎶🎶😎😎
I just put a preorder in for the version they’re sending to America the hils hn5 with a trem and active pickups they claim delivery around January hope you’ll do a deep dive into it as well hopefully it has all those great hidden features like the paint shielding and trimmer potentiometer etc I don’t have the tools but love watching you test the pickups Waiting to see how the hils active pickups stand up against Emgs and fishmans Last thing I’ll mention is price I got a discount with the preorder coming to 500 usd however in Japan they’re 3-350 usd not a deal breaker but just shows the market doesn’t offer many budget options for headless guitars with trems but when they do they can raise it hundreds
Any news on that? Tremolos are a PITA, I'd like to have one, but the cheapest guitar with a good trem seems to be around a $1000 (I'm thinking of Ibanez RG550) Haven't found any reviews for this company's tremolos specifically (they call it Alchemy Tremolo)
@ soo haven’t gotten it yet, but I scour the internet daily for updates and hils news, they sent me an email a couple weeks ago saying orders should start shipping in February so fingers crossed! as far as my recommendation for other cheap options for something with a decent trem without breaking the bank is a Jackson js32 series (I like the warriors) or a schecter which might be slightly more expensive but you get a real fr instead of the special on many of their guitars under a grand
@ oh and there is a video I found in Korean (put on English subtitles) of some guy who competently disassembles it and torture tests the alchemy tremolo you can see in the video where he literally lifts ands dives the bar both directions so far that the block in the rear makes contact with either side and it still stayed in tune try searching for hex videos it’s literally the Korean branding of the same guitar
You can very much screw a ground wire into shielding tape/foil as long as there isn't coating (which you can spot just to make sure) at the location where you screwed it in. Even then, the screw should penetrate and contact the shield enough to work. Very interesting modern instrument.
I had some issues adjusting my humbuckers too. Yes they are a bit tight but with mine the screws bottom at about a 2 mm humbucker height and I can't get them any lower, want about 3mm. And they sort of popped out as I was adjusting them like they were stuck, heard them click. I ended putting some washers under the screw heads and was then able to adjust the neck pickup to 3 mm. It was pulling (magnetically) on the strings too much at 2 mm causing some stratiits. Oh 4 lb 12 oz for mine which is getting sent back due to a blem on the headstock. The company is very easy to deal with and apologized for missing this blemish. Frets are pretty level although action was 0.090" across the board and pretty sharp fret ends (bloom). So when I get the replacement I'll set that one up too like this one with low action. I would not call the neck chunky or ultra thin, just right and comfortable to play. Playing a headless guitar is a bit different and have had some adjusting to do but love the light weight since I have a bad left shoulder from a mtn biking accident years ago. I hear they are working on a lightweight version so that must be hollow or semi-hollow...can't imagine lighter and hope it's not neck heavy.
Damn, the weight alone makes this super attractive to me. I got the Eart a year ago n returned it for a few reasons, with the weight being a large part (not that it was necessarily "heavy", it was just average, when I wanted it to be lighter for my shoulder/back issues).
I just got one of the 1K Strandbergs and its great. I guess I'll snag one of theses as well. Sub 5 lb guitars make Les Pauls super heavy after you get used to headless at 5lbs or less.
Woah... I love my Boden 7 but there's so many things here Strandberg NEEDS to learn from this manufacturer. Especially the features around the headstock.
I've never been a fan of headless guitars, and accordingly I don't like the look of this one. I can however appreciate the various quality of life features present. The rubber feet and the headstock extension make me wonder how no other companies thought of it.
Great comprehensive review. Sure wish more companies - or any company for that matter - would make a model with a wide nut as in 1 7/8". I have three guitars with Warmoth super wide necks but they don't offer a headless variety. I think the wide neck club is bigger than they realize, we're just not very loud. I'd purchase this in a heartbeat if it had a wide neck.
I literally just got that one same color a few days ago. Around $500 on Amazon. It's incredibly light, just like you said. Plays great, sounds great. The rubber feet were a nice surprise.
Just when I start building my own guitars…all these great affordable guitars start coming with roasted maple necks…the ONE thing I can’t casually do myself…dang it!!
I'm a keyboard player not a guitarist but I have always coveted the .strandberg* guitars. Of course not being a guitarist (a novice at best) there's not justification for the pricetag for me. This is a game changer. For five bills I can def see this one in my collection even if it's just gonna hang on the wall for months at a time.
Very good review as usual ! BTW, I bought the ENGL Steve Morse 20 shortly after seeing your review and (of course), tried it at my local store ! greetings from Luxemburg !
Thanks, Phil, for the honest review(as always). If I run into one of these i will consider a purchase. I was not familiar with this brand and style until your review.
I bought a kit that is very much like this guitar for $150 and had a great time building it. I got it set up really well and it plays about as good as any guitar I have owned including my super fancy USA built Custom shop Ibanez Saber which I have played more than any other guitar. The supplied pickups sounded OK but were very microphonic. I replaced those with a humbucker sized P90 in the neck and a hot humbucker in the bridge. I'm into the guitar about $250 and it plays fantastic and has a wide variety of great sounds from vintage P90 to screaming lead and chug. Fun stuff.
You should've worn your orange Sammy Hagar pants for this review 😂 seems like a great value! I love my Vader and Zeus bass but it'd be nice to be able to hang them or use Hercules style stands. There really isn't much not to like about this lil guy
Looks fun. 4 lbs? That vinyl zipper bag is $100?! That neck is pretty narrow. Too narrow for me, and most. Ibanez Prestige, for example is around 43mm and that's great. Great video!
A faraday cage made of thin tape or paint will provide some attenuation of high frequency EM radiation (MHz range) but do next to nothing for low frequency magnetic fields (which is the main cause of mains frequency hum in guitars) To shield agains magetic fields you need to use Mu-metal, this is expensive. I'd like to see some propoer controlled experiments on the effectiveness of shielding in guitar cavities - I suspect that it is mostly ineffective and only put in for marketing reasons.
The shielding keeps EM interference from being “heard” by the pickups. No pickups in the cavity. It just makes it more likely for you to have a short if the metallic shielding tape in the cavity touches a potentiometer or wire. So long as the pickup cavities are shielded, there’s no benefit from the extra shielding in the cavity.
Congratulations Zettel Down!! Thank you all who entered
Really cool that the factory didn't argue with Phol about pickup tolerance, but instead came up with a solution and thanked Phil for constructive aevice!!
this is exactly how you should operate if your goal is to make the best gear, very cool
Speaks volumes. I ordered one lol.
Yeah, and it seems they have fixed several issues with other headless guitars too.
The headstock, the foot pegs, the string locking mechanism, etc. Strandberg owners have complained about these for years
It is quite impressive that the company took the constructive advice. They looked at facts and made corrections. That is a company I want to support. My Hils guitar will be here on the 22nd.
Did someone switch the letters on your keyboard?
Very happy owner of a limited Deep Purple Hils guitar here. I'm disabled and have been looking for the past years for a guitar that I can play while in my wheelchair and is easy to handle & carry around. I've tried a lot of small (even kids) guitars, an Ibanez headless model (hated the neck) and couldn't really go for a Strandberg because my thumb is kind of weirdly attached to my hand which makes the endure neck a no go. I had to pinch myselff twice when I saw the Hils: a first time for the specs, the other for the price. I ordered one and couldn't be happier! It's just perfect for me. I'm an offset guy so I was very unsure about the tone & high output pickups...but I actually like them: they have a compressed sound that goes well with the ambient soundscapes that I make. The rubber feet are super useful and the lightweight and the backpack-like straps of the gigbag allow me to put it on the back of my wheelchair & carry it everywhere. Highly recommended!
Great that you've found such good fit! 😃
I had bought a Erlewine Lazer years ago and deeply regret selling it. The wheel on my wheelchair did not contact the body of the Lazer and that was fantastic; with other guitars I had to hold them at an odd angle to clear the wheel which put too much stress on my left wrist.
I assume that the body on your Deep Purple Hills guitar doesn't contact the wheel.
awesome comment.
@@Ezlivin I totally know what you mean about the stress on your left wrist.
Right now, I have those plastic sheets between the wheels & seat that are supposed to prevent your clothes from getting dirty, and the guitar is touching those. It's still playable, and I do if I want to quickly demo or record something, but I still sit on a chair for proper playing sessions. I think it the guitar body wouldn't touch the wheels if those "sheets" weren't there. (I'm considering removing them).
I didn't know about the Erlewine Lazer & had to check: the body is very small ! I had a Markbass mini guitar that had a similar size body. The problem was, it's so small, that it doesn't rest on anything & made it too unstable. I much prefer having something like the Hills because it doesn't move around while playing.
@@davorbuklijas1777 Thanks ! Yes, it has totally renewed my love for the instrument !
Just the fact that the manufacturer listened to your feedback and went and made changes like you suggested, makes me consider buying a guitar from this company! I’ve never considered trying one of these headless neck type of guitars. But at this price and the fact that the company listens to their customers makes me want one of these!
Them immediately fixing that pickup pocket issue is amazing
Looks like I found my next around the house guitar, no headstock to catch on a corner when walking into a room, rubber feet , and lightweight. Sold. 13:45 now I feel the need to listen to Blitzkrieg
I got mine today. Pretty good. A little setup and it works great.
I have this guitar and can say it has the characteristics of a 1000 dollar plus guitar. Stainless frets, roasted maple neck, mahogany body, great pickups and sounds great. You can practice twice as long sitting back in a chair or you can pack it and take it anywhere you travel. It is dynamite in a smaller package!
The radius looks like a 14" ??- There is not many guitars out there for 500.00-In the event this is a good axe, it may be valuable some day. I guess it depends on how many are being made. I used to own a Gibson Marauder, which was only made for about 2 years. They went for about 400-450 in the 70`s. I have seen a few being sold for about 1,200 or so. It may be a good investment someday in the event you want to sell. I doubt the Kiesel guitars will have strong re-sale. Then, I would have bought Beenie Babys if I knew they would have the potential of making a small fortune. Good luck. -God bless.
@ShawnShipstad Good point. One thing is for sure. Best buy for the money I have made and my son has several high end guitars over 2k. This one gets played more because it is so easy to carry around even unplugged.
These headless guitars are great for random practice. I have an ibanez Q series. I love the headless platform.
I got mine earlier this year. I got even lucky and mine's got beautiful Birdseye all over the roasted-maple neck. What an awesome guitar this model is!
@ShawnShipstad my friend bought a Gibson Marauder back around 1972. Looked a bit SGish with that plastic looking pickup but hey, it was a Gibson and we were all envious of him. Thanks for mentioning that guitar. I haven't thought about my mate and his Gibson in a long while.
I live in South Korea, and I purchased one of these under their native brand HEX avout 2 months ago. It is phenomenal. I've gigged it several times and never had an issue. Pickups are good, but I will put in new pickups later or at least modify that the coil split only effects the neck pickup. I'm thinking of grabbing a bass from them.
Is the body stacked or not cuz i want to know if i can do a natural satin finish im not a fan of bright color and my budget is tight.
@dafook865 what do you mean by stacked?
Hils is the American-European brand name for a Korean company, originally named HEX. I don't know why they had to change their brand name for sure, but it is the exact same company with the same products. In Korea, Hex has a huge reputation for making great bang for buck guitars at very attainable price points, and as far as I'm concerned they own a proprietary factory in Indonesia. The headless models have been very popular among Korean TH-camrs and they are even cheaper here in Korea(at about only 300$ for this same model). I got my headless HEX soon after the hype and I've been enjoying this guitar ever since. I swapped both of my pickups to Gibsons without too much hassle, and am looking forward to changing the output jack soon. I don't know if mine's faulty or it's just the design, but the barrel-style output jack cuts out when I put pressure on the cable or the wireless sideways. Outside of that, it is a wonderful piece of equipment. Thank you Phil for introducing another Korean brand to the world.
I got my eyes on a parlor guitar made by Hex
Hex is someone else's trademark in the west so they had to use a different name
(I think I heard that on the Andertons vid a few weeks back)
@@HILSAmericaGuitars wise choice. The instrument looks very well manufactured and professionally finished. Your factory is doing a great job.
@@HILSAmericaGuitarslove how yall are replying! This is how you start a customer loyalty brand
A hex is a spell to cast for bad fortune on someone, but I'm sure you guys knew that. I think it was an inauspicious name, like calling a car the Citation.
Your deep dives are so good... they often make me want to do a 'deep Dive" in my purse for a credit card.... thanks Phil?
Now there is a travel guitar! Don't care for the orange personally, but their metallic green is cool!
Your consistent attention to detail is amazing! Keep up the good work!!
WOW!!!!!!! THANK YOU, VERY MUCH, PHIL, FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK, AND DILIGENCE, IN REVIEWING, AND CRITIQUING THIS AMAZING, AFFORDABLE GUITAR!!! GOOD TO KNOW!!!
Love the rubber feet feature. I have a GW-2 Eart, which I like very much, but it doesn't sit comfortably on a wood floor - rubber feet would help. This might be a step up from the GW-2, and still reasonably priced.
I have the GW2 also (lefty tho') and trying to get it to sit properly on a guitar rack is a PITA!. Great guitar though, love mine.
Not sure why i got served your video, and I don't even play guitar anymore, but I gave you a sub because you did a great job reviewing. Very thorough, and checking things i didn't even know should be checked. Keep up the good work!
Thank you
Almost identical to my ibanez Q54, which I paid a 1000 bucks for and absolutely love. I have about 25+ guitars and I find myself only playing this one nowadays. Wish I would've known about this one.
I can take your unplayed ones, if they are US made ofc
Now you can sell the Ibanez and get two of these
Bruv you are still the best at product reviews. Thank you for taking the time to make great content that’s informative and helpful!
I got one of these a couple of days ago, and thought I would leave a brief review. Overall I am very happy with the guitar at the $499 price. There were some very minor issues all of which were corrected with a basic setup. I was initially unable to completely intonate the third (G) string. As I got close to getting it intonated, the tuning peg got loose. I made a comment about this in a review on Hils website, and shortly afterwards I was contacted by one of the co-owners of Hils. After a brief discussion of the problem, he explained that I just need to loosen the string on both ends, pull a bit more string through the clamp at the nut end, and retighten everything back down. This worked perfectly. The only other issue I have is, as Phil mentions in the video, the pickup cavity route is too tight. But the person from Hils said this was being corrected, so probably by the time you read this it won't be an issue anymore. The fret ends on my guitar were not as nice as on Phil's. But you know for $499, it's expected that the guitar might need a little TLC in the form of a set-up and some fret dressing. The guitar is so light! I'm an older guy, and an hour standing up with my other guitars often leaves me with a sore back. That won't be an issue here. The guitar in its case is so compact that I think it might even fit in an overhead compartment on a plane. The pickups are acceptable, and pretty hot. I do find the bridge pickup a bit too nasally (mids are too strong). I checked out the wiring and it's just lovely. The wiring cavity is shielded and even the cover plate has shielding on it. The frets are more level than most low end guitars, which is great news for anyone that likes a low action. The nut was cut reasonably well. I love the thin neck (small hands) but if you like a chunky neck, you might not like this. This has immediately become one of my favorite guitars.
Saw a Guitar Summit video on these guitars...I was intrigued and am really glad to see an overall positive review and that the company responded really well to feedback and actually made a change in manufacturing! I definitely am considering purchasing one of their new models that has a trem and some active pickups.
This guitar looks excellent! I love the response from the manufacturer to your feedback - props to them. Look like a serious contender!
It's cool that they took your findings into consideration and used them to improve the product. Wish more companies did that...
I’m impressed! I don’t care for the headless neck and body shape, but their YOLO model looks intriguing.
Great goodness....thus just my Xmas list. Even the color is just bomb. Thanks for displaying this piece. Love ur work phil and as allways...know ur gear.
Super cool that HILs put this video under the "Electric Guitars" section of their website.
I’ve been looking to get a headless the past 4 months. So far the Hils one is my favorite 🙂
As soon as a trem version is offered I’m getting one! If only there was a budget star shaped headless!!
I completely ignore these guitars when Andertons showed them but now you’re really showcasing and tempting me on the first headless
I got one yesterday, and I’m really enjoying it 🎸
That tiniest bit kf headstock is such a clever addition, to be able to hang it, bit akso jist that feel of home behind the fretting hand at first position
I'd pretty much already decided that I was going to get one of these, but this confirms it. It's going to have to wait, though, because a G&L is next up on my list. But after that will be a Hils.
I have one of these ordered, coming in two days on Wednesday. I'm glad I saw this review of it, Phillip. Answered some questions I didn't know I'd want to ask and reinforced my decision on ordering it. I have plenty of Majesties (6) a few JP's as well, and a PRS SE Holcomb and an American Strat Ultra from 2008. I'm excited to have my first "perfect" headless guitar. The past two I had (EART, and another unnamed brand) were cool, but nothing to write home about.
I'm VERY excited.
Their response to the routing issue you pointed out sold me. I absolutely love to support companies that actually care what their customers think. Instant +200000 to their rep imo.
I got this guitar shortly before this video came out. My one and only nitpick is that the fret ends are a bit sharp, as Phillip showed in the video. Other than than, it's damn near perfect and an absolute steal at under $500 (I actually got mine for $450 with free shipping as a promotional event for breaking into the North American market).
Excellent review as always! Might need one of these for the collection.
Thank you Phill. This headless guitar appears to have all the modern features and none of the modern problems. Not to mention the super competitive price point. If I had to choose one today I would have to seriously consider this as an option. Thank you again!
Phil thank you for your service to our country and the guitar community. too good to be true. This puppy delivers for 500 bucks. I needed a travel guitar worry about it getting destroyed stolen. Quality control off the charts! It does the job have no fear it’s not a toy it’s an axe!
Wow, the fact that they responded and decided to make an adjustment is pretty awesome
First time watching any of your videos. Obviously knowledgeable. That being said. I’m looking for something that doesn’t brake the bank but I can shred and dive bomb on. Love your tool setup
Very nice. Now all they need is 7 and 8 string versions.
It looks and sounds great, especially for the price. I'm surprised that we're already seeing Strandberg copies, but I'm glad that they're getting some affordable competition.
Incredibly thorough review.
Rare to see such detail in reviews.
Very nice work mate. 🙇♂️🍻🎸
When I read the title of this video, I thought it meant that this guitar was very expensive and a POS and that it gives high end guitars a bad reputation. Like "hey, this is very expensive and is not worth it. It makes all high end guitars look bad" lol Now I feel stupid. But also impressed. I travel a lot and that looks like it would fit in my suitcase. With my little Roland MicroCube I can have a very nice travel rig. At that weight I would hardly notice it. Great review as always.
DUDE people getting into guitar are so lucky now-a-days. this is like beginner pricing for a pretty sick guitar.
Here I am trying to figure out what to get myself for Christmas lol thanks!
Great job on this Philip! I love seeing this relatively low price gear that is just phenomenal to play. I mean, I have a couple of several thousand dollar guitars and a whole bunch of $500-$1200 Guitars I play them all so is it really worth it to spend all that extra money? I guess if you got it. Great job buddy.
GREAT VID PHIL!! Thank you so much! You are the best!
Anyone curious to try out a headless guitar I highly recommend Hils. I have a green Next and it rules. Not just a good guitar for the price, but a generally great guitar.
Hey, Phillip… love the channel! This video inspired me to check out what Hils has to offer. I ended up picking up the tele style guitar, ‘the talent’, and was totally blown away by the quality of guitar I received, and for only $349!!! And of course, that nice gig bag was part of the deal, too. Have you ever thought about reviewing any other models from this brand?
Am I the only person who's noticed that Phil's playing has also gotten a lot better in the past year or two? Some of those licks were killing it, man.
why wouldnt you be able to screw down the ground wire onto the shielding tape the way you did with the paint? it just needs contact right? I dont understand the difference
You can! I do it on all my strats: groundwire from tremclaw screwed down on the copper tape shielding, holding the groundwire from the vol. pot aswell. Quickconnecters for the jack wires so i can take out the pickguard without soldering! Do what you want, it's your guitar...🎸🤘🏼🎸
Imagine if they added a small rubberised strip to the back of the 'headstock', then it would lean totally on its own without ANY damage to the guitar!
Interesting, this could be my first headless guitar to try out, after playing for 30+ years. I wish it had a tremolo though since I'm a Floyd Rose kinda guy. Thanks for sharing Philip.
Thanks for a great video! Nd thanks for the nod to AZ. I’m somewhere near you as we have shopped at the same Guitar Center. when I get my Strats together I’d love to get your opinion on them and maybe help with the set up.
Not available in Europe at the time of my typing. Andertons UK has 'em but that's .. the UK. I hope we'll be able to get them on mainland Europe.
man its the golden age for new guitarists so many good gear for cheap. gen z is so lucky on that regard
Even a compound radius fretboard. Fender should offer that option on all their models. After playing with a compound radius I can never go back to a fixed radius fretboard.
Great review, thank you. Been a long time since anything on the market has made me want to take a serious look at buying a new guitar. This is four pounds of really different, really cool.
Hi Guitar 🎸 Guy nice video 📹 and workmanship i liked the headed type nice background of the Guitar 🎸 last videos 📹 also or also again
Yea, great video Phil........ With the specs and the price, and the quality gig bag,and the light weight it's certainly a bargain winner! All my EVH guitars are too heavy for me now as I've aged towards 70 and lost 60 lbs since visiting McKnight guitar store going back to 2008.........
Yea I prefer the tone of the maple capped body's.......( not the weight)
My PV Wolfgang weighs 8 pounds 2 oz, Peavy evh special 7.5 lbs, both evh Japanese specials at approximately 7 lbs........and the quilt top 1st run 2008 model evh from fender custom shop weighs 8.61 lbs!
Thanks for sharing this phil. I've had one for a while but looking forward to the N500 which has a tremolo and active pickups. Best wishes from the UK 👍👍🎶🎶🎶🎶😎😎
I just put a preorder in for the version they’re sending to America the hils hn5 with a trem and active pickups they claim delivery around January hope you’ll do a deep dive into it as well hopefully it has all those great hidden features like the paint shielding and trimmer potentiometer etc
I don’t have the tools but love watching you test the pickups
Waiting to see how the hils active pickups stand up against Emgs and fishmans
Last thing I’ll mention is price I got a discount with the preorder coming to 500 usd however in Japan they’re 3-350 usd not a deal breaker but just shows the market doesn’t offer many budget options for headless guitars with trems but when they do they can raise it hundreds
Any news on that? Tremolos are a PITA, I'd like to have one, but the cheapest guitar with a good trem seems to be around a $1000 (I'm thinking of Ibanez RG550)
Haven't found any reviews for this company's tremolos specifically (they call it Alchemy Tremolo)
@ soo haven’t gotten it yet, but I scour the internet daily for updates and hils news, they sent me an email a couple weeks ago saying orders should start shipping in February so fingers crossed! as far as my recommendation for other cheap options for something with a decent trem without breaking the bank is a Jackson js32 series (I like the warriors) or a schecter which might be slightly more expensive but you get a real fr instead of the special on many of their guitars under a grand
@ oh and there is a video I found in Korean (put on English subtitles) of some guy who competently disassembles it and torture tests the alchemy tremolo you can see in the video where he literally lifts ands dives the bar both directions so far that the block in the rear makes contact with either side and it still stayed in tune try searching for hex videos it’s literally the Korean branding of the same guitar
You can very much screw a ground wire into shielding tape/foil as long as there isn't coating (which you can spot just to make sure) at the location where you screwed it in. Even then, the screw should penetrate and contact the shield enough to work. Very interesting modern instrument.
I had some issues adjusting my humbuckers too. Yes they are a bit tight but with mine the screws bottom at about a 2 mm humbucker height and I can't get them any lower, want about 3mm. And they sort of popped out as I was adjusting them like they were stuck, heard them click. I ended putting some washers under the screw heads and was then able to adjust the neck pickup to 3 mm. It was pulling (magnetically) on the strings too much at 2 mm causing some stratiits. Oh 4 lb 12 oz for mine which is getting sent back due to a blem on the headstock. The company is very easy to deal with and apologized for missing this blemish. Frets are pretty level although action was 0.090" across the board and pretty sharp fret ends (bloom). So when I get the replacement I'll set that one up too like this one with low action. I would not call the neck chunky or ultra thin, just right and comfortable to play. Playing a headless guitar is a bit different and have had some adjusting to do but love the light weight since I have a bad left shoulder from a mtn biking accident years ago. I hear they are working on a lightweight version so that must be hollow or semi-hollow...can't imagine lighter and hope it's not neck heavy.
Great travel guitar with that short an overall length.
Thanks! The price went up by $50 on Amazon overnight to the MSRP. Should have pulled the trigger yesterday!
Can't wait to get mine I'm so excited!
Damn, the weight alone makes this super attractive to me. I got the Eart a year ago n returned it for a few reasons, with the weight being a large part (not that it was necessarily "heavy", it was just average, when I wanted it to be lighter for my shoulder/back issues).
Nice powerful sounding pickups. Coil split and they sound great, also. Very articulate as well. Good job on your review, as always.
I just got one of the 1K Strandbergs and its great. I guess I'll snag one of theses as well. Sub 5 lb guitars make Les Pauls super heavy after you get used to headless at 5lbs or less.
Woah... I love my Boden 7 but there's so many things here Strandberg NEEDS to learn from this manufacturer. Especially the features around the headstock.
Great gtr and your playing here was awesome!
I've never been a fan of headless guitars, and accordingly I don't like the look of this one. I can however appreciate the various quality of life features present. The rubber feet and the headstock extension make me wonder how no other companies thought of it.
Great comprehensive review. Sure wish more companies - or any company for that matter - would make a model with a wide nut as in 1 7/8". I have three guitars with Warmoth super wide necks but they don't offer a headless variety. I think the wide neck club is bigger than they realize, we're just not very loud. I'd purchase this in a heartbeat if it had a wide neck.
I literally just got that one same color a few days ago. Around $500 on Amazon. It's incredibly light, just like you said. Plays great, sounds great. The rubber feet were a nice surprise.
Sounds great with OD!
Very nice. I wish that would have been available as my first electric guitar. Thank
Just when I start building my own guitars…all these great affordable guitars start coming with roasted maple necks…the ONE thing I can’t casually do myself…dang it!!
i have a few highend headless guitars and a few cheapos, the only major difference in quality that i can notice on them is always the bridge.
I'm a keyboard player not a guitarist but I have always coveted the .strandberg* guitars. Of course not being a guitarist (a novice at best) there's not justification for the pricetag for me. This is a game changer. For five bills I can def see this one in my collection even if it's just gonna hang on the wall for months at a time.
Very good review as usual ! BTW, I bought the ENGL Steve Morse 20 shortly after seeing your review and (of course), tried it at my local store ! greetings from Luxemburg !
Thanks, Phil, for the honest review(as always). If I run into one of these i will consider a purchase. I was not familiar with this brand and style until your review.
I bought a kit that is very much like this guitar for $150 and had a great time building it. I got it set up really well and it plays about as good as any guitar I have owned including my super fancy USA built Custom shop Ibanez Saber which I have played more than any other guitar. The supplied pickups sounded OK but were very microphonic. I replaced those with a humbucker sized P90 in the neck and a hot humbucker in the bridge. I'm into the guitar about $250 and it plays fantastic and has a wide variety of great sounds from vintage P90 to screaming lead and chug. Fun stuff.
I just pre-ordered one. Can't wait till next month!
The overdrive sound at min 13:35 is cool. Any ideas what pedals he used?
i really liked the sound on that overdriven neck pickup...
Good idea Phil to put the QR codes in the video !!
Thanks for such a great review.I was looking for something close to the strandberg essential at a better price and this is it!! ❤
As usual great info, thanks for all you do for us guitar hobbies !
Looks like the Thomann Donahan ... I have got to get one !
I've been Strandberg obsessed for a while, but this might just overtake it. I desperately want one
Maaaaine, that Engle sounds good. That tone is killer! I replayed it about five times and am going to try reproducing it, thanks.👍
You should've worn your orange Sammy Hagar pants for this review 😂 seems like a great value! I love my Vader and Zeus bass but it'd be nice to be able to hang them or use Hercules style stands. There really isn't much not to like about this lil guy
Definitely getting one of these!
I don't use grounds at all in my faraday cages. Everything is already grounded once installed. Never had an issue.
Looks fun. 4 lbs? That vinyl zipper bag is $100?! That neck is pretty narrow. Too narrow for me, and most. Ibanez Prestige, for example is around 43mm and that's great. Great video!
Never owned a headless but this is making me consider one
A faraday cage made of thin tape or paint will provide some attenuation of high frequency EM radiation (MHz range) but do next to nothing for low frequency magnetic fields (which is the main cause of mains frequency hum in guitars) To shield agains magetic fields you need to use Mu-metal, this is expensive. I'd like to see some propoer controlled experiments on the effectiveness of shielding in guitar cavities - I suspect that it is mostly ineffective and only put in for marketing reasons.
The shielding keeps EM interference from being “heard” by the pickups. No pickups in the cavity. It just makes it more likely for you to have a short if the metallic shielding tape in the cavity touches a potentiometer or wire. So long as the pickup cavities are shielded, there’s no benefit from the extra shielding in the cavity.
@@Ten2More I'd like to see formal controlled test evidence that shielding the control cavity makes any difference whatsoever.
Thanks for the video. I just bought one!!
Nice guitar, I have been looking for a headless guitar, just need to decide the color!!😊
@Phil - Hills' acoustic offerings look great as well, $500 solid top and bodies with beveled arm rest? Can you do a review?
Looks wicked! Shame they don't do 7 strings though.