H&S Guitars

[thedarxide]

[quote name='tauzero' post='172223' date='Apr 8 2008, 01:57 PM']You'll be pleased to find out that the twin-neck is identical to the Artecs twin-neck I got for £70 (except that I have a fretted 4-string neck, but that means I have MORE BATS!!!)[/quote]

I think I've seen one of those on eBay, but I didn't see the point unless you use altered tunings. For me, being able to switch between fretted and fretless will be really handy in the jazz group I play with, I'll only have to take one bass! In the 10 seconds I noodled, the action seemed fine and there was no buzz, although the strings were slack for shipping but I don't expect any problems once they're tuned. They were a bit cold and condensationy [sic] so once they've aclimatised to my house there might be some issues....

[tauzero]

[quote name='thedarxide' post='172261' date='Apr 8 2008, 02:37 PM'][quote name='tauzero' post='172223' date='Apr 8 2008, 01:57 PM']
You'll be pleased to find out that the twin-neck is identical to the Artecs twin-neck I got for £70 (except that I have a fretted 4-string neck, but that means I have MORE BATS!!!)[/quote]
I think I've seen one of those on eBay, but I didn't see the point unless you use altered tunings.[/quote]
I've got some pincers, and I'm gonna use 'em...

If it turns out to be a good player when I've got it set up, I shall be looking at an Artec active circuit to replace the dual VT setup.

[thedarxide]

[quote name='tauzero' post='172298' date='Apr 8 2008, 03:03 PM']I think I've seen one of those on eBay, but I didn't see the point unless you use altered tunings.
I've got some pincers, and I'm gonna use 'em...

If it turns out to be a good player when I've got it set up, I shall be looking at an Artec active circuit to replace the dual VT setup.[/quote]


What does the selector do on yours? I assume it's for the outputs, rather than a neck/bridge pickup selector?

[tauzero]

[quote name='thedarxide' post='172311' date='Apr 8 2008, 03:16 PM']What does the selector do on yours? I assume it's for the outputs, rather than a neck/bridge pickup selector?[/quote]
Swaps between the necks. Centre position is both necks on, which I suspect I will not find a use for...

[Brodie]

Greetings Fellow H&S Anxiety Sufferers !, I ordered (and paid for) a 5 string fretless in November last year. Come the end of January after no comms from H&S, my sister threatened them with legal action (she's always up for a fight ..) . Their reply was that the bass had been returned damaged to them - not by me as I've yet to clap eyes on the beast - and that another would be available at the beginning of March. Ok, I thought ,just another few weeks of waiting. Come the end of March and still no bass, my emails go unanswered.

From what I've read in the other posts it seems there's more than a random chance of non-delivery and my suspicions re Far East origination are no longer suspicions. I'll join anyone who's planning a trip to Hanover - this company need instruction in honesty and customer service.

Brodie

[thedarxide]

[quote name='Brodie' post='175248' date='Apr 12 2008, 04:01 PM']Greetings Fellow H&S Anxiety Sufferers !, I ordered (and paid for) a 5 string fretless in November last year. Come the end of January after no comms from H&S, my sister threatened them with legal action (she's always up for a fight ..) . Their reply was that the bass had been returned damaged to them - not by me as I've yet to clap eyes on the beast - and that another would be available at the beginning of March. Ok, I thought ,just another few weeks of waiting. Come the end of March and still no bass, my emails go unanswered.

From what I've read in the other posts it seems there's more than a random chance of non-delivery and my suspicions re Far East origination are no longer suspicions. I'll join anyone who's planning a trip to Hanover - this company need instruction in honesty and customer service.

Brodie[/quote]

That's unfortunate to hear. I'd be suprised if German's would put up with this. Is there an equivelant of Trading Standards or something?

Not wishing to rub noses, but I took the rest of the week off work and I haven't put the 7 string down, hence my lack of an update. I'll post full reviews later next week.

[SteveH47]

Hi,

I'm another bassist who has not been impressed with H&S guitars. I ordered a 5-string sequoia bass back in January, paid in full (£140) and awaited delivery in 21 days. Nothing, and nothing since.

I have tried to contact them via email on countless occasions - they have never replied. I have tried phoning but none of the numbers work. I have also tried to get Paypal to help but by the time I contacted them, the 45-day period had expired.

It seems to me, looking at this thread that they are ripping off a lot of people. Is there anything we can do by joining force and bring a legal proceeding?

[thedarxide]

[quote name='SteveH47' post='184488' date='Apr 24 2008, 01:18 PM']Hi,

I'm another bassist who has not been impressed with H&S guitars. I ordered a 5-string sequoia bass back in January, paid in full (£140) and awaited delivery in 21 days. Nothing, and nothing since.

I have tried to contact them via email on countless occasions - they have never replied. I have tried phoning but none of the numbers work. I have also tried to get Paypal to help but by the time I contacted them, the 45-day period had expired.

It seems to me, looking at this thread that they are ripping off a lot of people. Is there anything we can do by joining force and bring a legal proceeding?[/quote]

Send a PM to thisnameistaken, he may be able to pass your details to the Police in Hannover. He sold his on ebay recently, and was contacted by another person as well!! Just like to reiterate how lucky I feel....

[Splashproof]

[quote name='SteveH47' post='184488' date='Apr 24 2008, 01:18 PM']Hi,

I'm another bassist who has not been impressed with H&S guitars. I ordered a 5-string sequoia bass back in January, paid in full (£140) and awaited delivery in 21 days. Nothing, and nothing since.

I have tried to contact them via email on countless occasions - they have never replied. I have tried phoning but none of the numbers work. I have also tried to get Paypal to help but by the time I contacted them, the 45-day period had expired.

It seems to me, looking at this thread that they are ripping off a lot of people. Is there anything we can do by joining force and bring a legal proceeding?[/quote]

If you funded your Paypal payment with your credit card, then you file a chargeback with your Credit Card provider direct. This should be a straightforward issue.

If on the other hand you funded your paypal payment with your bank account then you are stuffed.

H&S are aware of the 45 day Paypal rule and the 90 day feedback rule, hence why they took so long to deliver. Germany has stronger trading laws then the UK by the way.

Edited April 24, 2008 by Splashproof

[ead]

There's a double neck bass on e-bay at the moment from Leicestershire by these guys. I am quite interested in it for various sad GAS related reasons and was thinking of bidding. The seller says he received it a couple of weeks ago and didn't like the 5 string fretted part and has ordered a 4string/4string double.

It all sounded reasonably plausible until I read this post. The seller is quite happy about cash on collection to be fair though.

Should I be worried/cautious?

Thanks, Alain

[thedarxide]

[quote name='ead' post='185316' date='Apr 25 2008, 02:26 PM']There's a double neck bass on e-bay at the moment from Leicestershire by these guys. I am quite interested in it for various sad GAS related reasons and was thinking of bidding. The seller says he received it a couple of weeks ago and didn't like the 5 string fretted part and has ordered a 4string/4string double.

It all sounded reasonably plausible until I read this post. The seller is quite happy about cash on collection to be fair though.

Should I be worried/cautious?

Thanks, Alain[/quote]

I'd say it's fine from the feedback and cash on collection angle. It's a private sale, so don't let the H&S business problems put you off. It's the same as mine, and I can vouch for the bass, assuming he's had no problems with it. I paid £190 for mine in the sale, usually getting on for £300 as he says. Let's just hope he receives his 4x4!!

[ead]

OK thanks for the reassurance. Just out of interest how heavy are these instruments to dangle around you neck? I've a nice broad padded Overwater strap (only thing I could afford of theirs) so I hope that will even out the pressure a bit.

Cheers
Alain

[thedarxide]

[quote name='ead' post='185444' date='Apr 25 2008, 05:14 PM']OK thanks for the reassurance. Just out of interest how heavy are these instruments to dangle around you neck? I've a nice broad padded Overwater strap (only thing I could afford of theirs) so I hope that will even out the pressure a bit.

Cheers
Alain[/quote]

*Very* It's a one-two song instrument. Personally would have preferred the fretless on top, as it takes more pressure to fret and it can be uncomfortable reaching round the lower neck. The sound across the necks is very consitent however, alkthough there is a noticable volume drop with both necks on, so you have to be quick with the switch. depends what you're playing I guess.

[ead]

[quote name='thedarxide' post='185567' date='Apr 25 2008, 08:42 PM']*Very* It's a one-two song instrument. Personally would have preferred the fretless on top, as it takes more pressure to fret and it can be uncomfortable reaching round the lower neck. The sound across the necks is very consitent however, alkthough there is a noticable volume drop with both necks on, so you have to be quick with the switch. depends what you're playing I guess.[/quote]


Umm..food for thought. I have tended to use either my fretted (Spector Legend 4) or fretless (RBX270F) bass in gigs and we (the band) have tried to arrange sets to minimise guitar swapping by any of us so this bass looked like a good solution - plus having a low B.

However what you describe is rather cooling off the GAS fervour even though the finance committee has reluctantly Okayed it! Any other pros and cons that I should take into consideration bearing in mind I'm not an expert bassist (intermediate I think is about right). I've only been playing about 3 years but before was a violinist so not scared of unlined fretless instruments, in fact I think playing a fretted bass has actually made me a bit lazy about listening to my intonation if anything.

I suppose my concerns, in no particular order, are weight/comfort, playability, instrument quality and looking like a prat! Any advice you could offer based on your experience would be most welcome. Thanks very much for your guidance so far too!.

Cheers
Alain

[thedarxide]

[quote name='ead' post='185894' date='Apr 26 2008, 01:12 PM']I suppose my concerns, in no particular order, are weight/comfort, playability, instrument quality and looking like a prat! Any advice you could offer based on your experience would be most welcome. Thanks very much for your guidance so far too!.

Cheers
Alain[/quote]

Well I've mentioned the weight but I'd say it's actually quite comfortable. It's less uncomfortable than playing a thunderbird, it's nicely balanced. It's very playable, the necks are very chunky which i like, a good D sized profile. The low B is very nice, I've had some 5 strings where it hasn't felt like part of the rest of the guitar, tension feel and tone have all been off but this is consistent. The instrument quality on mine is fine, but I know they have been hit and miss. Common account is a the jack socket hole, which could have been sanded better but then I tend not to look down it Looking like a prat..... well, I play mine with a leopard print strap. If the bass was bright pink I'd be set

Mine was well worth the £200 ish I paid, not seen anything similar. There is another German company offering similar guitars but they do different configurations of neck.

[ead]

[quote name='thedarxide' post='185902' date='Apr 26 2008, 01:26 PM']Well I've mentioned the weight but I'd say it's actually quite comfortable. It's less uncomfortable than playing a thunderbird, it's nicely balanced. It's very playable, the necks are very chunky which i like, a good D sized profile. The low B is very nice, I've had some 5 strings where it hasn't felt like part of the rest of the guitar, tension feel and tone have all been off but this is consistent. The instrument quality on mine is fine, but I know they have been hit and miss. Common account is a the jack socket hole, which could have been sanded better but then I tend not to look down it Looking like a prat..... well, I play mine with a leopard print strap. If the bass was bright pink I'd be set

Mine was well worth the £200 ish I paid, not seen anything similar. There is another German company offering similar guitars but they do different configurations of neck.[/quote]


You could set that look off nicely with some luminous green trousers I think!

Final question if I'm not bugging you too much. I notice there was some talk earlier about buying similar bases in Lancaster, and you mention another German alternative...do you know which companies/websites and are they all manufactured in the same place in the far east do you think?

Found an intersting clip on youtube of some dude playing both necks at once - I think I'd get beaten up if I tried that at rehersals!! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW-EsrNl7yk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW-EsrNl7yk[/url]

Thanks again for all your help
Alain

[thedarxide]

[quote name='ead' post='186030' date='Apr 26 2008, 05:23 PM']You could set that look off nicely with some luminous green trousers I think!

Final question if I'm not bugging you too much. I notice there was some talk earlier about buying similar bases in Lancaster, and you mention another German alternative...do you know which companies/websites and are they all manufactured in the same place in the far east do you think?

Found an intersting clip on youtube of some dude playing both necks at once - I think I'd get beaten up if I tried that at rehersals!! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW-EsrNl7yk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW-EsrNl7yk[/url]

Thanks again for all your help
Alain[/quote]

I think the Lancs was linked... as for ebay, just do a search for doublenecks with BINs, that should find them. You can spot them easily due to the bat inlays; the headstocks tend to vary though. Def. from some random chinese place - there was chinese branded silica gel in the box.....

[Roffa]

[quote name='ead' post='186030' date='Apr 26 2008, 06:23 PM']Final question if I'm not bugging you too much. I notice there was some talk earlier about buying similar bases in Lancaster, and you mention another German alternative...do you know which companies/websites and are they all manufactured in the same place in the far east do you think?[/quote]

The German alternative might be this? [url="http://www.hs-guitars.com/"]http://www.hs-guitars.com/[/url]

[thedarxide]

[quote name='Roffa' post='186176' date='Apr 26 2008, 09:22 PM']The German alternative might be this? [url="http://www.hs-guitars.com/"]http://www.hs-guitars.com/[/url][/quote]

Nope, that's H&S!

[tauzero]

[quote name='ead' post='186030' date='Apr 26 2008, 05:23 PM']Final question if I'm not bugging you too much. I notice there was some talk earlier about buying similar bases in Lancaster, and you mention another German alternative...do you know which companies/websites and are they all manufactured in the same place in the far east do you think?[/quote]
I got mine from gigimusic100. It's branded Atrics and is from China via Germany. Must get round to doing a defret and proper set-up on the Jerry Atrics sometime, I took all the tension off the strings and truss-rods for a while as the necks were a little iffy.