If you're using Hercules wall hanging guitar stands, you might want to rethink it!

  • Thread starter Thread starter War_in_D
  • Start date Start date
War_in_D
War_in_D
Well-known member
I had just put a PRS custom 22 back on this wall hanger a little bit ago after playing it a bit, and sat down at my computer when I heard a weird noise and noticed the guitar drop a little bit out of the corner of my eye. I thought that maybe I'd put it up the hanger a little wonky and it just settled, but nope!! The guitar hanger broke!!

Thankfully the screw in the back behind the wood piece that goes into the main shaft that the guitar hangs on held together, so it didn't go to the ground. Needless to say all of my guitars are back in their cases right now.

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Damn.. Glad you were there to catch it..
Cast metal looks weak after the fact..
 
JackBootedThug said:
fuck......I ordered some cheap chinese ones off amazon and they are all metal and sturdy. after having a neck break on my first les paul-I'm paranoid about guitars getting dropped.
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That’s what I use. I have like a dozen of them and no problems at all.

I seem to remember a thread in the gear page a while back about Hercules hangers. There was a bad batch or something that went out with identical failures.
Forum posts are often one sided but from what I remember, Hercules knows about the problem but didn’t do Jack shit about it
 
JackBootedThug said:
fuck......I ordered some cheap chinese ones off amazon and they are all metal and sturdy. after having a neck break on my first les paul-I'm paranoid about guitars getting dropped.
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same. metal and plastic. so far so good, over a year. Got 6 for the price of one "name brand" wall hanger.

that said, the only guitars that go on the wall hangers are my cheap guitars (under $500).
 
I have tons of these hangers. That metal collar breaking is pretty much just cosmetic thing. It happens after a few years of use. It’s a cheap pot metal piece that should be made with stronger steel. The screw will still hold the hanger in place if it breaks.

I still use mine. I remove that collar, put a washer between the hanger and the screw and they hold up fine. The metal insert the collar breaks off from is still firmly seated in the wood.

It works even better for my acoustics with the broken collar. With the collar, it angles the hanger upwards which makes acoustics look stupid and angled away from the wall. Without it, the acoustics sit flat in relation to the wall. So I repurposed my broken/repaired ones to acoustic hanging duties.

These are all collar-less:

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I use a multi guitar, suitcase type stand. Holds 8 guitars or so and they’re easily accessible and little to no risk of one falling over or down. Would never trust a wall hanger with my guitars. I hang cables and things like that on the wall.
 
String Swing for life. So sorry to see that! How long had it been up?
 
I've always made my own wall hangers using those heavy duty took hook from home depot screwed into an oak board. Those tool hooks are rated to hold 50 lbs. They also have an slight upturn at the end and vinyl coating so nothing slides off. I used oak since it's strong/dense enough that I knew the screws wouldn't pull out from any weight on them. I had my guitars hanging on those for a decade with no problems before switching to the double decker rack I made. I don't know if they'd react with nitro, but haven't reacted with any other lacquer or poly finish my guitars had.
Have a length of oak long enough to span and screw into the wall studs. Then another oak block screwed into that with 2 screws plus the tool hook. Basically you want the wall board + block(s) to be thick enough so the tool hook only screws into the oak and doesn't poke into the drywall. 1-1/2" to 2" total thickness is enough. Additionally it makes it sit far enough away so a tilt-back headstock or the body won't bump the wall.

Additional Edit... At $2 each they're a shit tone cheaper than anything else and in my opinion much stronger.

These are the tool hooks I used:
Home Depot Tool Hook

Not the best, but here's a couple of pics

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One more edit: I found a better picture that shows how the hooks are mounted with multiple guitars. The 2nd row shows the blocks mounted, but without the tool hook screwed in.

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GearGasms said:
String Swing for life. So sorry to see that! How long had it been up?
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About three years or so.

RedPlated said:
I have tons of these hangers. That metal collar breaking is pretty much just cosmetic thing. It happens after a few years of use. It’s a cheap pot metal piece that should be made with stronger steel. The screw will still hold the hanger in place if it breaks.

I still use mine. I remove that collar, put a washer between the hanger and the screw and they hold up fine. The metal insert the collar breaks off from is still firmly seated in the wood.

It works even better for my acoustics with the broken collar. With the collar, it angles the hanger upwards which makes acoustics look stupid and angled away from the wall. Without it, the acoustics sit flat in relation to the wall. So I repurposed my broken/repaired ones to acoustic hanging duties.

These are all collar-less:

View attachment 255194
Click to expand...

I'm thinking of doing the same thing to the remaining hangers before they break too. I think removing the spring, and putting some washers between the screw and the back of the metal "cup" that's inset into the wood base will solidify the hanger and take a lot of the stress off of that point where it broke. It'll lose the ability to tilt/rotate a bit depending on the headstock but I think I can live with that.
 
I've had some of these things for more than a decade. How old were these that snapped?
 
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