Hercules Stands 5 Space Guitar Rack Black GS525B

I’ve had this stand about a week or so. It’s a good, solid stand. It comes assembled right out of the box, so all you have to do is unfold it. I have an acoustic and electric and they sit well on it. My tenor ukulele just barely fits on it, but only in its case. It’s lightweight and looks cool. My only real complaint is the padding. It seems pretty cheap – think the type of padding on a floating barbell you use in a pool. There are also some gaps between paddings, so you have to be careful that they stay together. Moving them seems like an easy way to rip them, although they can be moved.

I also wish it had some bands to secure the necks the way some traditional guitar stands do. Am currently using rubber bands for that purpose since I live in a place with earthquakes, so want to be super careful. Another nice to have would be a bag, pouch or compartment for pics, strings, etc. The stand is way overpriced imho, but a decent stand nonetheless.

Holds all of my guitars well – my standard fender Strat, 5-string bass and my headless multi-scale strandberg. Can be moved around when needed, and is very flexible. Comes practically fully assembled. Great deal and highly recommended if you want a high-quality stand for multiple guitars.

This is an outstanding piece of design and manufacturing. I have had other cheaper guitar racks and without a lot of modifications, they are pretty much useless. As you can see from the illustrations, from the side, the Hercules rack is shaped like the capital letter “A”. Most cheaper guitar racks from the side are shaped like the capital letter “L”. This is an important point because the “A” shape is much more secure and will not accidentally fold up on you dumping your guitars on the floor in the process. The lower padded portion which the guitars rest upon attaches to both legs of the “A” frame. The cheap “L” frame racks have base attaching only at one point where the vertical and the horizontal legs of the “L” join…less parts and metal but not very strong. With the “L” frame rack, I finally had to go to the hardware store and buy a small right-angle brace and bend it and using sheet metal screws to secure to stabilize my “L” rack. Lesson learned, I should have purchased this Hercules stand from the beginning. I use their other two and three auto grip hanging guitar stands already.

The Hercules stand shows five positions for five guitars, the package arrived with a bonus add-on for another guitar. Not realizing this at the time of ordering, I ordered two more add-on kits. Now I have a total of eight positions available and guess what? Eight electric guitars fit just fine. I have Les Pauls, Gibson SG’s, Fender Strats, Dan Electros and Yamaha Silent guitars on there comfortably and they don’t bump into each other in any way. The key design element of the Hercules rack are the “doughnut shaped” foam spacers that you can move around on the padded base portion where the guitar’s lower bout rests. These moveable “doughnuts” keep the guitars from moving left or right and therefore, one guitar can’t bang the one next to it because the “doughnuts” restrict its movement. On my older cheap “L” style rack, I used large bubble-padded mailing envelopes between the guitars because they were banging against each other. Looks awful but it worked.

Bottom line, if you have many guitars, this is the ideal rack. It folds up and no assembly is required. It’s made in China but these days, what isn’t? The parts are sturdy, the paint was applied nicely, padded feet, the padding that the guitar rests on are non-reactive to a guitar’s finish. The cheap guitar racks use a neoprene thin rubber foam like on old water pipe insulation. That I guarantee will react to a lacquer guitar finish. Last comment on the cheap “L” racks, I had to go to the fabric store and get a roll of 2″ black cotton material and wrap it around any rubber foam surface that may touch my guitars. I’ve restored guitars and refinishing a guitar is a lot of work. Many rubber/foam products will break down over time due to exposure to sunlight, heat, ozone, etc. and become soft and sticky. When this happens and your guitar is in contact with this, the foam/rubber can actually melt into the finish of your guitar. Save yourself a mountain of potential trouble, bite the bullet and don’t be cheap, pay a little more and get the Hercules Guitar rack, you won’t regret it. If you have a collection of acoustics, you may want to stick with the 5-guitar configuration. If you have a collection of Strats or Teles you can get at least 8 if not 10 on this rack.

When it says one piece, this thing really comes as ONE PIECE. You take it out of the box and unfold it. SUPER easy SUPER well built and SUPER sturdy. Doesn’t tip or rattle and the angle makes guitars sit really snug. Worth the blind buy.