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H.I.T. Wall Studios
Rating Details »
Category: Recording & Rehearsal Studios
120 S. Linden AvenueSouth San Francisco, CA 94080
(650) 588-8448
7 reviews for H.I.T. Wall Studios
Affordable, spacious, and secure? Ding ding ding ding!!!!!!
My bandmate has had a space here on and off for years-- since I joined the fray a year ago, I have to say that this is one of the better studio spaces I have had the pleasure of calling my own. We share a room that is probably about 500 sq. ft. with another band, and it's more than ample space to keep all of our equipment, a mini fridge full of beer, and still have plenty of space to rock out.
We pay $450 total-- $112 per person, which is not cheap, but I think totally fair for what we've got.
Other awesome amenities:
- Totally secure
- Easy load-in and load-out (we're on the 1st floor, so maybe that's why...)
- Awesome landlords (Mat and Will are really down-to-earth dudes)
- Vending machines
- Ample parking
- 24-hr access
- windows!!!!
- electricity and wiring is up to snuff- no microphone shocks!
Drawbacks:
- It's kinda far from the city...
- not totally sound proof
by far the best rehearsal place in bay area. Super thick walls, cool bands, always parking, and chill. It's my get away from SF. Saw the greenday guy in the lobby- they seem to have the connects. Overall u get ur moneys worth.
I've been at this studio since it first opened. this place is great for me cause I'm just 5 min. away from my house. it's 24 hours and there's a jack n the box next door.. kinda. but great clean place and matt and will who run the place are friendly and easy to talk to.
This is a good studio if you can afford it. They provide DSL, and you have to get a phone line hooked up, which works with the alarm system that they have plugged in to every room. There was always lots of parking too.
The drawbacks to this place are the location and the price. For a shoebox studio way out in South City you shouldn't have to pay so much. Secret Studios is cheaper and, of course, Rocker is too. Plus, loading in and out of Secret is a bitch. You can either park in front and walk your stuff in and up the stairs, or park in back where you have to carry everything up a narrow fire escape staircase.
Personally I liked the location, the vibe and the dinge of Rocker Studios alot better.
It's a little far to drive if you live in SF- but not that far for the price. My band has been there since Feb '06. We came from Rocker (which we only stayed in for a month because we couldn't hear each other talk!!!). Hitwall is sound proofed really well.
the good parts:
**sound proof
no one ever talks about this but it's one of the 2 most important parts of a good practice space!!! there are 4 movable sound proofing baffles. we've never had a problem. we can play pretty loud (as loud as we want, whenever) and don't have to raise our voices to talk over our neighbors. i can sometimes hear/feel the bassline from the room below us but as soon as we start playing, it's drowned out.
**secure
you have a front door key and a room key. it's also out in an industrial district of ssf so you don't have a bunch of crack heads wandering in.
also, our cars have never been broken into in the lot or out front.
**lots of parking
just don't leave it for more than 24 hours, they'll tow it. ie: don't leave your tour van here.
**they let you paint/build shelves
our room is huge but also came with 2 cubbie loft shelf spaces. i can't tell you how handy these are.
**rent
$700/month split 2 ways (that's $350/month) for a 13x22x20 room. i've seen a bunch of studios in sf and the sound proofing/security don't even come close to this for the price. (see: Rocker where the rats ate my cords/a crackhead was trying to open my door for 20 minutes)
**in house recording studio
their house engineer recorded the drums on the rouge wave album Out Of The Shadow here. it's really top quality and $35/hour for bands that rent a space at hitwall. analog and digital!
**vending machines
they've only been out of mountain dew once in a year and a half.
** the bathrooms aren't always dirty
they're pretty clean most of the time and they have a never ending supply of TP- they're also unlocked so you don't have to stop the rest of the band from playing because you have to borrow a key from your guitar player if you have to pee mid-song.
the not so great, but not bad parts:
** load out can be a pain if you're on the 2nd floor
easy fix- have a lot of people in your band/a few extra friends to move all your crap and park right in front of the front or back door and carry things down the stairs. grow a pair.
** allotting time for traffic
if you live in sf and are playing a show in sf or oakland, you have to make sure you'll make your load-in time, just in case there's a ton of traffic on hospital curve. easy fix- google map that shit! find some good back roads off an earlier exit.
**"free alarm system" is not free
they advertise "FREE Individual Alarm Systems. (Each room comes equipped with an illuminated key pad and motion sensor.)" to activate it, you have to set up a phone line in your room which could run you about $20/month. come on!
We had a room with two other bands and it worked out really well for us (it was $300/mo.) There's one room that exits directly to the parking lot, making loading a piece of cake. Don't leave your car parked for more than a day, though.
I don't rent a room here, but I've been to the place many times and worked with the Strickland brothers on recordings. Matt really knows his stuff and if you want a top quality demo produced and recorded he is your man.
I've seen some of the other rehearsal studios in the area, and there's no comparison. If you want low price - and lower quality - sure there are other options. But I've seen the rooms here, and you do get what you pay for, plus a lot more (DSL, good sound proofing..etc). The vibe is good, you have lots of cool folks here and you dont have to fight SF traffic.