That gut churning thud.........

[fireglo67]

.........of a brand new Rickenbacker guitar hitting the floor.

This is a sound we heard at band rehearsal last Friday night.

The lead guitarist in our band put his brand new 360/6 amber fireglo onto this stand....
http://www.herculesstands.com/guitars/GS513B.html
He then picked up my 360/12 and we started to play. Halfway through the song we heard a loud thud, everyone stopped playing, turned around and saw his Ric lying on the floor next to the stand.
Close examintion showed a small chip in the binding on the top edge and a larger chip through to the wood on the bottom edge just below the 5th knob.
We scoured the floor and luckily managed to find the paint flake that had chipped off the guitar.
A local luthier is going to have a go at dropping the paint flake into the gap and then restoring as best he can from there.
luckily the headstock doesn't appear to be damaged and the neck seems fine too.

We bought the Hercules stand on recommendation and because we thought they were decent quality, how wrong we were.
All unused Rics will be going back into their cases from now on.......

A hard lesson to learn.

[godber]

Nasty surprise. Was it the vibration or did the stand just fail?

[fireglo67]

Nasty surprise. Was it the vibration or did the stand just fail?

The stand itself never actually moved, it must have been the vibrations that made the guitar slip off the support arm.

But saying that, in rehearsals we don't play particularly loudly. but you would think the stand would have been designed with vibrations in mind, considering it's main use!

[egosheep]

I don't have any specific experience with this stand, but I would prefer using something that holds the neck in place. I'm notoriously clumsy.

[kiramdear]

Oof! Sorry about that. Thanks for the warning; I'll stick with the traditional design, thanks. Bummer! I've got a few of the old style ones that have never dropped a guitar, even living on my boat. Well, I do lash the upper "U" to the necks. 'Course I don't store them in stands.

[wmthor]

Rob, it even hurts to read what happened to your bandmate's 360.

[jimk]

Yeah, painful indeed.
(Note to self....don't do that.)
JimK

[kiramdear]

Going back to look more closely at the company's site, my first guess is that all their racks and mini-stands look like an accident waiting to happen.

[zrob]

I agree with Tom in that restraint is needed at the top end of the instrument. The rack system looks cool and it's easy to pick up the guitar, but as for safety...?
I have two of these GS414B Floor Stand and I can't imagine needing a stronger design or more protection (unless you're sharing the stage with juggling clowns on unicycles). Also, I've read that JH uses Hercules endorsement. The auto-grip system secures the neck while requiring a single hand to release the guitar. But hey, a nice rack is fun to look at, but when things start to fall...

[wj350]

Sorry for your bud's accident, and glad it wasn't worse...but I'm having a hard time figuring out how a guitar could vibrate itself out of the neck clamp on a Hercules stand? Was it one of the mini stands?

Bill

[johneek]

...Was it one of the mini stands?

Yup....it was this http://www.herculesstands.com/guitars/GS513B.html

I'm a big fan of Hercules stands but I've got the floor model with the neck clamp as mentioned above. I actually stayed away from the stand indicted above precisely because I could easily picture the scenario described here....sorry to hear about this. I hope the Luthier can make a good repair....

[wj350]

Ah, well, that would do it. I've got a couple of similar mini stands by Fender, but rarely use them--good for a momentary rest (for example, better than leaning a guitar against an amp), but no real security.

[fireglo67]

Thanks for all the kind comments.

I got the triple rack mainly to save space on stage, as a lot of our gigs now are in smaller pubs and clubs, and as mentioned by ZROB, you can change guitars very quickly on this one. (even more quicky when you're picking it up off the floor )

It's a real shame this has happened because they are a super build quality, and as mentioned by JH, the rubber is less likely to damage the finish on the guitar than some cheaper stands.

I'm not a fan of the neck clamp type either, the 3 legs just don't seem to have enough of a base ratio to stop them from toppling over after being knocked by an over exhuberant lead singer!

When the guitar is 'restored' I'll post some before/after pics on here.

Cheers.

Rob.

[jingle_jangle]

I agree with Tom in that restraint is needed at the top end of the instrument. The rack system looks cool and it's easy to pick up the guitar, but as for safety...?
I have two of these GS414B Floor Stand and I can't imagine needing a stronger design or more protection (unless you're sharing the stage with juggling clowns on unicycles). Also, I've read that JH uses Hercules endorsement. The auto-grip system secures the neck while requiring a single hand to release the guitar. But hey, a nice rack is fun to look at, but when things start to fall...

I'd never use that halfastand.

I second the GS414B; I've got several and they are totally stable. My Jazz-Bo is on one right now.

[collin]

Damn, that sucks! I thought Rickenbackers split into six pieces when they fall off a stand?