Hils bass, my impressions so far

[BaggyMan]

On another post i mentioned my journey though owning the the Cort Space 5 and all things headless.

 

Well, the madness continues. 

Meeting up to buy a sub 4hh from a felow basschatter in Guildford yesterday..meeting outside Andertons...oh dear.

I saw  the very briefest of discussion on youtube about Hils guitars and basses being available at Andertons, and intrigued, i thought i'd take a look at one.

The one  I was intended to looks at was a metallic blue with a rather plain white 'plate.   Instead is tried this model in white with a tort plate.

 

First impressions is that visually the scale and fanning on the frets looks very Dingwall like.  As I own a Dingwall combustion 5, this is a very good start.  Build quality is good (see gripe section below) , no blemishes or point and stare horrible finish issues but at £599 (dropped by £50 recently i later found out) list, there shouldn't be.

Controls are from top to bottom, Sweep , Volume and the pre are Bass (nearest the bridge), Mid and treble.  Jack socket is on the side back from the G string.

Balance is excellent, but tbh is you cant get a headless to balance, get out of the guitars game.

 

A quick peep under the covers reveals tidy wiring and a pot on the pre amp to control the output level.

 

So the playing experience is very much like my Combustion, similar neck profile.  Almost identical fan scaling, so i took to it quickly.

 

On the front pickup the bass gives a p bass zone sound, with a hint of zing. Centered on the sweep the mid starts to feature as part of the character of this bass. Bass control is good, not to overdriven at maximum and gives a good footing for what is obviously the bass' bread and butter, the mids control. Wound high it gives a really mid range honk, and top that with the treble its sharp an poppy without hiss or hint of electronics noise.

 

So impressed enough i bought the damn thing. And my wife was even in the room! result!

 

Confident i could gig it straightway, i played a full gig last night with my comfort assesment of its Dingwall like qualities and balance/weight and playability being born out,  I had a fine time and very happy with my purchase.

 

At £599 i'd say the market position is about right, although the soon to arrive Sire headless series may give the folk at Hils something to think about. 

 

Gripes? two:  1. I would (and in fact will) have had the volume and the sweep round the other way with the volume uppermost. 2: A couple of fret ends need a tweak.  Not much but this should n't be the case these days, look what the Sire people are doing with the rolled edge design at the same price point.  I didnt notice them whilst playing live, just checking it over later on so not a deal breaker just one to be aware of. (probably a little bit of board shrink)

 

Summary

Great bass, good sound range with a wider working range than the Cort, that said if thats what you are looking for (in the Cort) then thats the one for you.  This has a broader appeal and kicks some butt.  If you've played a Dingwall combustion you'll get this straightaway.  A dingwall like experience for a quarter of the list price, worth a try i'd say.

 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by BaggyMan

[ezbass]

Top review and a marvellous inability to resist GAS . 
 

Did you also acquire the Sub4 HH?

[Beedster]

18 minutes ago, ezbass said:

….a marvellous inability to resist GAS . 

A credit to the forum 👍

[BaggyMan]

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

Top review and a marvellous inability to resist GAS . 
 

Did you also acquire the Sub4 HH?

Oh yes.  Bought a nice blue sparkle number, c/w a john east pre amp from @AaronLuke91 and a thoroughly nice chap too.  Spent a relaxing few hours modding it to my taste (dropped in the john East pre amp..obvs.. and swapped the bridge, wrapped the scratchplate..)

[BaggyMan]

1 hour ago, Beedster said:

A credit to the forum 👍

Lol...why thankyou.  I have been playing since 1980 and have owned around 300 basses in that time. Everything from Columbus, Hondo through to Washburn , Yamaha, Fender ACG and Zemaitis and so many more.  No destination...just the journey..

[ezbass]

A quality day!

[Owen]

1 hour ago, BaggyMan said:

No destination...just the journey..

Truth bomb. Right there!

[JoeEvans]

2 hours ago, BaggyMan said:

Lol...why thankyou.  I have been playing since 1980 and have owned around 300 basses in that time. Everything from Columbus, Hondo through to Washburn , Yamaha, Fender ACG and Zemaitis and so many more.  No destination...just the journey..

Which basses have you liked the most of the ones you've owned? Top three?

[BaggyMan]

14 hours ago, JoeEvans said:

Which basses have you liked the most of the ones you've owned? Top three?

Wow, thats an ask. 

**ponders over second coffee of the morning**

 

1. 1989 Zemaitis fretless.   I own probably the only solid bodied Zemaitis fretless bass ever made.  Not a Greco licensed version, the original real deal, built by the man himself for me. Its alive and i love it to bits...and still own it

2. Dingwall Combustion 5.  Didnt get the vibe the first time around, got a second a couple of years later and its one of my goto basses becuase i know it gonna be good, so nice to play.

3. Series 1 Yamaha TRB, Jazz pickups version with he 'slap cut'.  Japanese built, just a wonderful thing to play and be around.  Had it for over 10 years, gigged the heck out of it, but sold it thinking it 'lost something' after buying a new amp.   It was the amp.  D'oh! Only ever seen one other in the 20 years or so since

 

Honorable mentions

Geddy Lee (Japanese built) Jazz.  regret selling this one.

Any of the x series from Yamaha (424x, 1025x) I have had 3 or 4. I currently have a 424x and its the best budget 2nd hand buy out there.  My precisions will go before this one.

Billy Sheehan Signature  (i have has 2 of the full fat and 2 of the ltd wannabe versions)  monster pure and simple

Warwick corvette standard excellent bit of kit despite the top horn design.  Still not sure why i sold this one.

Maruszyck Elwood 5 Lovely instrument. 

Ibanez neck through single cut SRSC805.  Lovely thing, but didnt get onto 'take to gigs' short list.  Probably would now.

 

Finally the ones that i didnt gel with  (please dont hate me, most people's wives are other mens ex girlfriends and vice versa..)

ACG Graft 5.  I bought this after the bass guitar show in london.  Its the show bass, the actual one reviewed on youtube.  The build was second to none, the symmetric carve on the neck a real pleasure to play. Its was the dual filter pre amp that felled me.  Its a Marmite pre amp for sure and for some the best thing since sliced bread.  For me i just couldn't get on top of it, especially in live situations.  Shame, such a beautiful bass otherwise but i wasnt prepared to mod it (which in other cases..i have done a lot!!)

Ibanez BTB6  holy crap batman what a wide neck..my only dipped toe into 6 stringers world and whilst i love the btb vibe (i've had 5  or 6) two songs in and i'd get previously un-named ligaments in my left arm screeming for mercy. 

Ibanez Ergodyne EDA 900 fantastically mad design, made of luthite, Piezo bridge went in pretty much every direction design wise that none else had.  One of the few that  over the year that looks ridulously small one me and as such only got gigged once...

Warwick thumb BO 5 didnt like the balance on the strap, also see above comment re size.

Tokai LP bass.  Just didnt get on with it.  Looked great though

 

As you can tell i am not scared to try something new, or buy without playing and hope for the best, that i guess is the GAS powered collector in me. I had one of the earliest Lakland Syklines  (in fact one of the first 30), one of the first Sires (of which i have had quite a few since) its been fun so far if a little confusing to the outside onlooker. Theres an expression in my trade 'Cattle not pets'  and most of my basses have been try, play then move on, cattle if you will.  Musicman stingrays have been a constant, as have Yamaha products.

 

I guess i have realised a general rule of thumb is a jazz neck profile and a control set i can live with. 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by BaggyMan

[BaggyMan]

Foot note to the Hils bass

 

Went over it last night and found three fret that needed brief touch of the file to be 100% and only on the bottom side of the neck.  I'd put that down to a litle neck shrinkage so no biggy.