Best Stand: Hercules Shoksafe (GS405B) v US Genesis200

[Rich44]

My original bass stand (just a cheap generic folding A-Frame stand) broke nearly damaging my bass (one of the arms snpped clean off).

I'm looking for a good quality stand (preferably under £35) that won't break anytime soon, I'd like one that supports from the bottom (I don't like hanging all the weight of the bass by the headstock) BUT has some form of neck support/holder to stop it from toppling (which was another problem i had with A-frames). I was going to go with the Herc 402B but like my old stand, theres nothing to stop the bass falling over.

I've narrowed it down to these two, anyone had any experience or opinions?

Hercules Shoksafe:

[url="http://www.herculesstands.co.uk/product/85317/GS405B/Floor_Stands/ShokSafe_guitar_stand"]http://www.herculess...fe_guitar_stand[/url]

US Genesis 200:

[url="http://www.ultimatesupport.com/product/GS-200"]http://www.ultimates.../product/GS-200[/url]

The Hercules is cheaper, and I like the flexibility to prevent from knocks etc, but the Genesis is much more portable (on saying that I don't travel with it often). Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Edited December 4, 2011 by Rich44

[TRBboy]

Hercules and Ultimate are both great stands. I would say that Hercules are more heavy duty and sturdy, and the Ultimate folds down smaller and is lighter but still very well engineered

Personally, I wouldn't be at all worried about hanging from the headstock, after all this is how most guitar shops store their instruments, and if they were going to have any detrimental effect, I'm sure the manufacturers wouldn't make them. In the shop I used to work in, we used to sell Hercules GS414B stands by the bucketload; they are brilliant! I've had a Hercules Mic stand for years and it is absolutely rock solid and still feels like new many, many gigs later.

Hope this helps somehow!

[Rich44]

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1323040151' post='1458667']
Hercules and Ultimate are both great stands. I would say that Hercules are more heavy duty and sturdy, and the Ultimate folds down smaller and is lighter but still very well engineered

Personally, I wouldn't be at all worried about hanging from the headstock, after all this is how most guitar shops store their instruments, and if they were going to have any detrimental effect, I'm sure the manufacturers wouldn't make them. In the shop I used to work in, we used to sell Hercules GS414B stands by the bucketload; they are brilliant! I've had a Hercules Mic stand for years and it is absolutely rock solid and still feels like new many, many gigs later.

Hope this helps somehow!
[/quote]

Thanks, I looked into the GS414B, some people said the height adjustment has broke after a while. I'm guessing this is a one off, from your experience is this likely to happen? I do like that one though and its cheap enough to replace if it did ever break which is a plus.

Also how does it compare to the GS412B? They seem identical with the only difference being the bottom padding (on the tripod legs vs a seperate t-bar), is it just that the 412B is more suited to asymmetrics? It does look more sturdy.

Sorry, a lot of questions I know!

Edited December 5, 2011 by Rich44

[BigRedX]

What bass are you going to use the stand with?

IME you have to pick the right stand to properly support the bass. The US stand that I have which looks similar to the one you linked to isn't very good with instruments that have an asymetrical bottom of the body, and while the photo on the Hercules web site shows their stand supporting a J-style bass, I've been told by the UK distributor that since the bottom support doesn't swivel (like some stands) anything more extreme won't be properly supported.

I've not had any problem with the Hercules Stands that grab the headstock so long as the instruments you want them to hold have a suitably shaped headstock to grab - some of mine don't.

[Rich44]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1323103374' post='1459321']
What bass are you going to use the stand with?

IME you have to pick the right stand to properly support the bass. The US stand that I have which looks similar to the one you linked to isn't very good with instruments that have an asymetrical bottom of the body, and while the photo on the Hercules web site shows their stand supporting a J-style bass, I've been told by the UK distributor that since the bottom support doesn't swivel (like some stands) anything more extreme won't be properly supported.

I've not had any problem with the Hercules Stands that grab the headstock so long as the instruments you want them to hold have a suitably shaped headstock to grab - some of mine don't.
[/quote]

Thanks, I think its broad as its long really. Current bass has slightly asymmetric headstock, and basses I'm looking at having soon have slightly asymmetric bottoms. The thing I like with the designs like the shoksafe is its supported a bit at both ends, so even if it looks a bit wonky/askew, it'll still stay upright. And I guess if I end up with a jazz bass I could just wrap one of the arms up thickly to balance things no?

[TRBboy]

[quote name='Rich44' timestamp='1323087130' post='1459005']


Thanks, I looked into the GS414B, some people said the height adjustment has broke after a while. I'm guessing this is a one off, from your experience is this likely to happen? I do like that one though and its cheap enough to replace if it did ever break which is a plus.

Also how does it compare to the GS412B? They seem identical with the only difference being the bottom padding (on the tripod legs vs a seperate t-bar), is it just that the 412B is more suited to asymmetrics? It does look more sturdy.

Sorry, a lot of questions I know!
[/quote]

Never experienced any breakages with Hercules stuff, so I would say it's unlikely. In my experience the GS414B is more sturdy, and supports the instrument better at the bottom because if you adjust the height right, the bottom kind of rests between the two legs (which have padding on them) even if the body is an unusual shape. I found that the GS412B felt a little more unstable, and the back of the guitar slides very easily across the T-bar part.

Edited December 5, 2011 by TRBboy

[Rich44]

Thanks for all your advice guys. Just went with the Shoksafe in the end and I'm sure it will do me fine, it'll at least be better than my bass resting on a pouffe as it is now! And for what I need it for (just holding bass safe in my room between daily practice) I'm sure it will suffice. Cheers again.