H&S Dark Heaven II

Features - 4

7 strings :P, 24 frets, Licensed Floyd Rose Trem, H-S-H Pickup Configuration, 5-way Pickup selector Switch, Master Volume and Master Tone knobs. Pretty much all I could ask for.


Sound - 4

I got mine with a Dimarzio Air Norton 7 Neck, Stock Single coil, and Dimarzio Blaze Bridge, It sounds Absolutely perfect to me (Going through an EHX Metal Muff, a vintage Roland Cube 60, and a 30 watt Laney Linebacker). It did take quite a while to dial in the sound though, And just through the laney it sounds absolutely terrible. Natural harmonics come through easily in almost any position, And pinches sound pretty well pretty much throughout. The neck pickup doesn't really give enough power for playing Metal rhythm lines though, And the bridge sounds too harsh on lead lines, So it's a definite switch between parts.


Action, Fit and Finish - 4

Action was set up perfectly, The tremolo was set up perfectly, so no complaints there at all. The only whine I have about the set up was that the intonation was slightly out on the top 3 strings, but that was easily and quickly fixed.

The guitar itself looks beautiful, With the reversed headstock and super-strat shape. The front is slightly rounded at the edges, and the cutaways are also rounded. The cutaway seemed ridiculously big once I got round to playing it, and it gives me enough room to get the fret-30 sound with a thimble (Symphony X solo) without much trouble. The glossy finish shows grease marks amazingly, so I'd advise a wash of hands before this guitar is played.

The neck joint was something I wasn't happy with, As I've mentioned several times in various places on SS.org, But that's something to do with what I like and don't like rather than the guitar Itself. the neck joint is Square and sticks out a little too far, Which limits access to the upper frets a bit, especially on the lower strings.


Reliability (3)

I've only had it 3 days now, So I can't comment much on reliability, But looking at the price and the standard of everything else, I'm assuming long term reliability is a little compromised. This may be a little harsh, but There are a few little whinges so far -

The tremolo seems to put the string out of tune a little. I haven't needed to take the lock off after the original tune, but I've had to adjust the fine tuners a fair amount.

The input jack moved a bit when I received it, But that has now been tightened and is no longer an issue.

The first thing that happened to the guitar when I picked it up was that the plastic cover on the end of the pickup selector fell off. That has also since been seen to.


Customer support - 3

I have to say, the H&S customer communications during the making of the guitar was not very good. I asked a couple of questions that got no answer at all, and other were slow to receive replies for.

The guitar also took quite a while to receive. It was somewhere between 5 and 6 weeks between me handing over the cash, to it arriving on my doorstep.

Thankfully they pull themselves up a bit on this front by giving the Item a very reasonable 2 year guarantee for no extra cost.


Overall Rating - 4

Overall, Despite the little itches with reliability, and the company's communication, The guitar is unbelievable for the price. I'd definitely recommend it above anything else I've seen so far to anyone on a budget who wanted a 7 string.