Hercules stand foam deteriorating??
- Thread starter chazmo
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One of my Hercules stands had the handle (?) that you use to raise or lower the shaft deteriorate, became very sticky to touch. Used a solvent, don't remember what, to remove it.
Usually after that happens, they get brittle and break. I had that happen to two of my older ones, and Hercules replaced both of them for me with their newer design for the adjuster, which is much better.
Nice to know, mine doesn't seem brittle, though.
GGJaguar
Reverential Member
Yes, this happened on two of my Herc stands! I was lucky that they broke when I placed the guitar in the stand so I still had a firm grip on the guitar neck. I have read of instances where they suddenly broke while a guitar was in the stand which damaged the guitar. Unfortunately, it happened to me within the past 18 months and Hercules would only replace them if I had a copy of the sales receipts (I did not).
May have just been a bad batch
Herculeaks
Herculeaks
I have three of those exact GS405B Hucules stands and don't have that issue, but the foam on my stands does in fact react with the nitrocellulose finish on my guitars, so I need to cover the foam with old cotton socks to prevent that.
Other issues I have come up against with this stand are a loose vertical shaft to base connection, non-adjustable supports to allow the guitar to rest squarely on the bottom supports; some of my guitars rest on the outer edge of the binding (ouch!), etc. On one of my stands, one of the formed plastic shims at the base of the vertical shaft cracked and fell out. So I inquired if I could purchase a new set. Hercules said NO! All in all, I don't recommend this guitar stand to my friends.
On the bright side, my friend has a garage that has a welder, a 13# sledge hammer, a refrigerator full of beer, a couple of big-screen TVs, etc. and he is fully confident that he can modify these stands to my complete satisfaction.
He has already cut off the wrap-around at the neck rest as it just got in the way for me. It defeats the safety purpose of the wrap-around, but like I said it just got in the way. You can see the modified neck rest in the attached photo (from an old LTG thread); it now looks like any other neck rest. Because this was a quick photo session, I do not have the cotton socks placed over the foam.
Tommy
I have a Hercules music stand, no problems but there is no foam on it, it is a sturdy stand that will hold my heavy music book. I have a big 3-ring binder with about 200 pages of songs, so a wimpy music stand is out of the question.
chazmo
Super Moderator
Wow, Tommy. I have three of them and they've all been perfect. I wonder if you have different foam then, as mine has never reacted with my guitars at all. Weird. I've always found these to be the best protection for my axes and I've surely recommended them many times over the years. Anyway, I'll keep you guys posted as to how this turns out. I'm hoping I can replace the foam. I think it's removable. Maybe messy, but we'll see.I have three of those exact GS405B Hucules stands and don't have that issue, but the foam on my stands does in fact react with the nitrocellulose finish on my guitars, so I need to cover the foam with old cotton socks to prevent that.
Other issues I have come up against with this stand are a loose vertical shaft to base connection, non-adjustable supports to allow the guitar to rest squarely on the bottom supports; some of my guitars rest on the outer edge of the binding (ouch!), etc. On one of my stands, one of the formed plastic shims at the base of the vertical shaft cracked and fell out. So I inquired if I could purchase a new set. Hercules said NO! All in all, I don't recommend this guitar stand to my friends.
On the bright side, my friend has a garage that has a welder, a 13# sledge hammer, a refrigerator full of beer, a couple of big-screen TVs, etc. and he is fully confident that he can modify these stands to my complete satisfaction.
He has already cut off the wrap-around at the neck rest as it just got in the way for me. It defeats the safety purpose of the wrap-around, but like I said it just got in the way. You can see the modified neck rest in the attached photo (from an old LTG thread); it now looks like any other neck rest. Because this was a quick photo session, I do not have the cotton socks placed over the foam.
Tommy
bluesypicky
Enlightened Member
I quickly went to rub my hands on the foam parts of my my triple Herc, and to my satisfaction, my hands did not get any color added to them.