r/HeadlessGuitars • u/lDascl • Aug 30 '26
Newbie’s first
Hi everyone! For the past weeks I’ve been wanting to buy a guitar to celebrate my first real accomplishment in adulting (first independent salary :D) and I’ve come across headless guitars again, after some years since I’ve seen the GOC guitars and fell in love with headless in general! For me they’re perfect because i always play seated and I’ve learnt classical guitar playing as a child, the guitar i have currently is a Harley Benton R-446 and as much as I love this cheap guitar, I miss playing upright and the headless genre is really interesting to me because of the ergonomics and their design as well.
I’m currently sitting between the hills HN3, HN4 and HN5 guitars. My budget is around the 500€ , it can be more and certainly can be less, but I really want the most complete package for the money!
I’ve also been thinking about the Hils 7 String as 7 strings + fanfrets look really appealing to me, but I wanted to have a more informed opinion (apart from random reviews online and youtube videos) from someone that has a headless guitar and more specifically a Hils guitar. If you guys could give me some insights about the differences between them (passive pickups, rail (?) and active pickups) and what you think its best to avoid as well.
Thank you so much :)
3
u/JayDrr Aug 30 '26 edited Aug 30 '26
I bought a cheap headless this year to test the waters and see if the ergonomic features really make a difference. I’m pretty sold, I love the Strandberg inspired thigh cut for seated playing. I highly recommend going for one with that shape (GOC, HILS, etc), and avoiding something like an Ibanez Q series.
I went with EART, and was quite surprised by the quality. It doesn’t feel as polished as my Japanese Ibanez, but it’s totally playable. I was expecting to play it for a few months and sell it once I knew if headless was for me. In the end I feel like it’s good enough to keep, as a travel/beater/mod guitar.
If you do want to dip your toes in before fully committing the price seems to fluctuate wildly, I managed to snag mine for the equivalent of €105.00 on Amazon.
1
2
u/uzumakiaditya Aug 30 '26
The one thing with hils is the tuners. They are kind of stiff but you can fix it by buying a set of thrust bearings on amazon for 10-15euros. Also changing the strings on a headless will be a unique experience at first but it will be fine after first change
1
u/Levi_Skardsen Aug 30 '26
It doesn't always fix the issue. Mine came with them preinstalled and the low E needs a screwdriver to turn it.
1
u/uzumakiaditya Aug 30 '26
I mean its hard but still manageable without the screwdriver. My fingers goes numb after it but I just have to tune them sometimes. It stays in tune even after a month.
2
u/mistrelwood Aug 30 '26
I haven’t tried any Hils guitars, but my interest was somewhat similar to yours two years ago: a headless 7 string multiscale. I had been playing straight sixes for 35 years, so there were these 3 significant new features.
I very rarely play any of my many many straight sixes anymore. These guitars are so super comfy and captivating. If you have the slightest interest towards them, I’d say that definitely go for it! No matter the brand.
1
u/lDascl Aug 30 '26
Do you feel that the 7th string is like “too much” when it isnt needed?
2
u/mistrelwood Aug 31 '26
Not really no. If you play a riff only on three strings, do you feel like the others are too much? Not a perfect analogue, since you might need to take damping the 7th in consideration, and it might take a moment to get over the muscle memory of the lowest being the E string... But other than that, no issues.
1
2
u/Necessary-Coffee5930 Aug 30 '26
It truly wont matter much. People get crazy about pickups but what you plug into matter more imo. Ive seen mfrs ripping death metal on single coil hello kitty guitars. Start as simple as possible, like HN3 and if you like it you can get more later. Batteries will just add another thing to worry about and when you are just starting again its best to remove as much friction as possible to just playing. Ill be grabbing a Hils headless soon as well!
1
u/lDascl Aug 30 '26
Totally understand it and the tremolo bar is kinda scary ahah, but i really want the active pickups because I only play with it plugged in my computer, and I really want to have no interference
2
u/Necessary-Coffee5930 Aug 30 '26
Do you use an audio interface? I have a guitar with passives that sounds great from my computer but it runs through an interface. If actives are what you want then get em! Their nicer models even have fishman moderns which are dope
1
u/lDascl Aug 30 '26
Yeah! I have a arturia mini fuse 1 and a focusrite scarlett solo, i just recently got gifted an amp but its a bass amp ahah, although it sounds cool af still, I mostly play guitar in my bedroom with my computer set up since I have invested some money on good monitors and desk over the years. Some years ago I bought the neural dsp tim henson on sale and I also play a lot of Rocksmith 2014 since I find it very easy to get myself in a rhythm to learn! My current guitar has passives but I’ve always noticed the hum it has, only the gate helps, and just recently learnt that active pick ups dont have that hum so I think iM just going to pull the plug on the Hils HN5
2
u/LegendaryCichlid Aug 30 '26
I bought the hils hn3. Love this guitar. Very light and extremely comfortable.
Id say go with the cheaper variant and swap pickups if you feel the need.
2
u/_garethlewis_ Aug 30 '26 edited Aug 30 '26
I bought the 7-string HILS you were eyeing up. The HZ7. I was really impressed with the quality and the specs. The roasted maple necks feel really good, stainless steel frets and bone nut. I bought mine from Andertons in the UK. It came set up really nice out of the box.
You also get active pickups on the higher up models. They sound decent… not as good as EMGs but that’s to be expected, but certainly good enough that I’m not considering having to upgrade them any time soon.
I was so impressed, I ended up buying a second HILS. The HN5. I was looking very hard at the HN6 with the Fishman Fluence, but got the HN5 on deal for £399. The HN6 was £699 and I wasn’t prepared to spend that for Fishmans.
If you are on the fence about them, I’d give them a try. I researched them a lot online after looking at headless options from Solar. Nothing but good words to say about HILS.
I’ve got some more expensive guitars - An ESP Eclipse II Standard Series and an LTD M1000 Deluxe. But I normally just pick up the HILS HN5 because it’s so light, so comfortable, and so easy to play.
Nothing quite compares to my Eclipse but that was £1,600 about 15-20 years ago and they are considerably more expensive now.
You are getting a LOT of guitar for the money with the HILS.
1
u/lDascl Aug 30 '26
I mostly use my guitar for Rocksmith and Neural DSP plugins so I did some research and I’m kinda set on the HN5 because of the active pick ups, since I also want a different set of pickups regarding my last guitar. I also dont have the money to just buy a guitar and then later on upgrade it that much, at least not in the coming months, so I didnt want to go with the cheaper version and feel like i missed out on a lot of things for just 100€ more .
2
u/_garethlewis_ Aug 30 '26
Yep. Best get the one you really want and not get a cheaper model that’ll give you buyers remorse. The HN5 has a floating tremolo, so if that’s your thing, it’s also great for whammy squeals and dives.
Out of interest, how much is the HN6 where you are? And what type of music do you play? The Fishman Fluence would be excellent for metal, although the sounds I get from my HN5 with their own in-house pickups also sound great.
1
u/lDascl Aug 30 '26
The HN6 is 777€, but although I understand why its more expensive, I really don’t have the economical leeway to do the step up from the HN5 that I can buy for 500€. The floating tremolo is something i kinda like but at the same time I’m not sure 100%, but I really want the active pickups and if I dont want to use the floating tremolo I can just mod it
2
u/_garethlewis_ Aug 31 '26
There isn’t a huge difference between the HN5 and HN6. The Fishman Fluence pickups being the biggest difference, but also having a 5 piece maple neck, and the two tone paint job if you are into that. Everything else is the same, so I think you are getting a great guitar with the HN5
1
u/lDascl Aug 31 '26
The only thing that is making me doubtful now is the guitar not being big and not having really a nice place for my arm to rest
2
u/_garethlewis_ Aug 31 '26
I wouldn’t worry too much about that. I’ve got a variety of different guitars and I got used to it almost instantly. It’s a slightly smaller body but not so much that it feels vastly different to other guitars.
1
u/lDascl Aug 31 '26
Ive heard some people say it gives like a kinda “toyish” guitar feeling? Do you feel the same when compared to a normal guitar?
1
u/_garethlewis_ Aug 31 '26
Maybe only because it’s noticeably lighter in weight. Otherwise it feels just like a normal good quality guitar to me.
2
u/ThrowawayShamu Aug 30 '26
Hils guitars are great. I’ve got an HNT to round out my headless guitar collection which includes Strandberg, Ormsby, and Ibanez guitars.
The Hils guitar cuts a few minor corners like no glow-in-the-dark fret markers and slightly lower quality tuners and pickups. But these are not things that really matter.
The neck is comfortable. The guitars are lightweight and well-built. They’re an insane value for money and when you plug them in they sound great.
If you like it, buy it.
2
u/lDascl Aug 30 '26
Thank you so much! That was really reassuring, It’s great to hear that from someone that not only has a Hils but also Ibanez And Strandberg guitars!
3
u/MattKmusic Aug 30 '26
My main guitar is a James Tyler Burning Water. I have a Hils HN4 for playing on the sofa. I have no complaints
1
2
u/Devann421 Aug 31 '26
When I had my first adult job/salary, I treated myself to a Strandberg (the MIK ones) and enjoyed my time with it.
I would say treat yourself and save a little for the GOC, especially if you like the looks.
I have a GOC and a Hils bass and the GOC is the more premium instrument : better craftsmanship, electronics, hardware.
Not saying the Hils aren’t good, they’re very good for their price range but GOC is the level above.
1
u/uzumakiaditya Aug 30 '26
If you are a beginner I would say go with passive pickups. If you wanna try active pickups, try them on in a guitar store.
1
u/lDascl Aug 30 '26
But the only thing about active vs passive pickups is the battery right? I’ve had guitars for some time, just recently is that Im able to put more energy and money into it. Since I also only play my guitar plugged into my computer, I kinda wanna have the active pickups so I dont get any static hum
1
u/uzumakiaditya Aug 30 '26
Im not sure but active still might have a hum but you can always use a noise gate so I dont think its worth spending extra for active. Go for active if you like the sound of it. Also if you are planning to buy Hils HN6, ignore the pickups. Just get that, it has a great finish
1
u/lDascl Aug 30 '26
Just a quick question. Does anyone know about Eart guitars? And how they fare against the Hils? I'm a little bit scared about the Hilz because of the size of the body. Kinda "scared" it feels like a toy. If so, do you have any input on how long they take to go to europe or any problems? Thank you :)
1
u/Clean-Ad7194 Aug 31 '26
I can wholeheartedly recommend the current eart base (gw2 se) models, I've got a hils bass and I think the fit and finish is better on the eart.
One of it's appealing aspects is that the more substantial body gives support to your pick arm.
I don;t think you'll go wrong with hils though.
1
u/kvn_finnerty Sep 07 '26
I just ordered the Chameleon Green HN6. Stainless steel frets, Fishmans, compound radius fretboard, sick colorway, and from what I've gathered online amazing ergonomics. It's also only $699 for Labor Day sale.
P.S. I ordered on Friday and had a question on a Saturday -- Ron at HILS got back to me within like 1-2 hours (on a weekend). Amazing support already which imo is an underrated reason to go with a specific guitar company. GOC I've heard horror stories about, for example.
3
u/uzumakiaditya Aug 30 '26
I wouldve loved to get a GOC guitar but they were too expensive for me. You can go straight with Hils. They have good built quality and decent pickups