HILS HZ8 Multiscale 8-String Electric Guitar - Satin Black

The HILS HZ8 is a precision-built multiscale 8-string designed for players who demand more from their instrument — more range, more stability, and more control. From the fanned-fret geometry to the headless architecture, every decision in this guitar's construction serves a single purpose: giving serious players a tool that keeps up with their most demanding musical ideas.

Built for Extended Range. Refined for Serious Play.
The HZ8 opens with a 26.5" to 28" multiscale configuration — a fan spread that delivers focused, articulate low-end response on the seventh and eighth strings without sacrificing playability on the high register. Paired with a flat 16" fretboard radius and 24 medium jumbo stainless steel frets, the HZ8 is as comfortable executing sweeping leads as it is grinding through low-tuned riffs.

The five-piece Roasted Maple and Walnut neck is the backbone of the instrument. Roasting stabilizes the maple against humidity and temperature fluctuation, while the alternating walnut laminates add rigidity and long-term resistance to warping — critical on an extended-scale neck under the tension of eight strings. The result is a neck that plays consistently night after night, gig after gig.

An Indonesian Mahogany body in satin black keeps the voice warm and focused, while the headless design eliminates neck dive and improves overall balance — a practical engineering choice that players who've gigged an 8-string for any length of time will immediately appreciate.

Electronics Built for Clarity at Every Register
Two Custom Passive Rail Humbuckers deliver tight, defined output across the full range of the instrument. Rail-style humbuckers maintain consistent string-to-string response across the wider string spacing of an 8-string — a detail that matters when your lowest string is producing fundamentals that conventional pickups were never designed to track accurately.

A 500K volume control keeps high-frequency detail intact, while the push-pull 500K tone control adds coil-splitting versatility for players who need to move between full humbucking output and a leaner single-coil character. A 3-way selector rounds out a straightforward, player-focused control layout with no unnecessary complexity.

Hardware That Holds Its Ground
The 8-string locking headpiece and lightweight aluminum alloy hardtail bridge work together to keep the HZ8 in tune under heavy playing. At 10.5mm saddle spacing, string-to-string separation is comfortable for both picking and legato work. An oiled bone nut and double-action truss rod with spoke nut access at the neck heel complete a hardware package built for players who adjust and play, not adjust and wait.

The HZ8 ships with D'Addario EXL120-8 strings (.009"–.065") and includes the HGB-Z deluxe gigbag — ready for the stage or the studio out of the box.

Specifications
BODY

- SHAPE : HILS® Z
- MATERIAL : Indonesian Mahogany 
- TOP : -
- TYPE : Solid
- COLOR : Black
- FINISH : Satin
- PICKGUARD : -

NECK

- NECK MATERIAL : Roasted Maple + Walnut (5pc)
- NECK PROFILE : D
- NECK WIDTH : 56.9mm at Nut
- NECK FINISH : Satin (Natural)
- HEAD SHAPE : Headless
- HEAD FINISH : Same as Neck
- FRETBOARD MATERIAL : Indian Rosewood
- FRETBOARD RADIUS : 16" (406mm)
- SCALE : 26.5" - 28" (673mm - 711mm)
- FRETS : 24, 2.7 x 1.1, Medium Jumbo Stainless Steel
- FRETBOARD INLAY : White Pearloid Dots, 4mm
- SIDEDOTS : White
- ASSEMBLY : Bolt-On

ELECTRONICS

- NECK PICKUP : Custom Passive Rail Humbucker (uncovered)
- MIDDLE PICKUP : -
- BRIDGE PICKUP : Custom Passive Rail Humbucker (uncovered) 
- PREAMP : -
- CONTROLS : 1-Volume, 1-Tone
- POTENTIOMETER : B500K Volume, A500K Push-Pull Tone
- CAPACITOR : Film 473J
- SWITCH : 3-Way Pickup Selector
- OUTPUT JACK : Barrel Type Mono 1/4" Jack (BK)

HARDWARE

- TUNERS : -
- HEADPIECE : 8-String Locking
- NUT : Oiled Bone, 59.6mm
- TRUSSROD : Double Action Spoke Nut Type, at Neck Heel 
- BRIDGE : Lightweight Aluminum Alloy 8-String Hardtail
- SADDLE SPACING : 10.5mm
- STRING TREE : -
- KNOB : Round Metal Dome w/ O-rings (BK)

EXTRAS

- STRINGS : D'Addario® EXL120-8 (.009" - .065")
- CASE : HGB-Z (Deluxe Gigbag)
- ACCESSORIES : Hex Wrench (1.5mm, 2.5mm, 4mm)