Author Topic: Quality Guitar Stands (Read 777 times)

lbpesq · « **Reply #15 on:** October 03, 2015, 09:29:14 AM »

Mine arrives on Monday. Oh the joys of Amazon Prime! I just looked at the video. I love how the locking yolk sides operate independently so that they work with asymmetrical headstocks, like on a Fender. And also how they fold flat. Big improvement on the Hercules design.

Bill, tgo

ed_zeppelin · « **Reply #16 on:** October 03, 2015, 12:10:35 PM »

I'd like to ask my fellow repair artistes (especially Alembic's masters) to weigh in on the topic, because I've spent a lot of time doing "CSI" on mangled instruments, trying to reconstruct the crime scenes. The number one cause is not using a stand, of course, but the few times that I've been able to ask the perps for specifics on "accidents that shouldn't have happened," two themes pop up over and over again. One is so common that we do it fairly frequently without damage, the other is something equally common but nobody would think of it unless it was pointed out. The first is: bumping into an instrument that's in a stand. We've all done it, but as long as you dont move the center of gravity past the tipping point, everything rights itself just dandy. (This is where a yoke that either cradles the neck or that suspends your instrument by the "ears" is much better than ones that cradle the bottom of the instrument only, simply because with those the instrument itself can move within the stand.) If you want to see what I'm talking about for yourself: put your instrument into a stand of any kind and have someone face you on the opposite side, and try to knock it over, in all directions (prepare to be shocked, is all I'll say about that). The other equally common mishap - that you probably haven't considered - is CABLES. The most obvious example would be tripping on a guitar cord that's plugged into the guitar (you haven't known true horror unless you've knocked over a hundred year old German upright bass that way. Ahem.) But even more pernicious are the cables and cords laid out onstage. Until one night when it happened to me and only a lucky catch saved my beloved bass from splintering in a manner that would have impressed Pete Townsend (he preferred Gibsons in the early days because of their iconic "snap-on headstocks")

I used to set up my guitar stands with utterly no thought about whatever cables were lying around. Then one night we hit a break between sets, so I stuck my bass in the stand and was preparing to step down off the stage when the drummer tripped over a speaker cable while stepping off the drum riser. It was only because he barked something that I even turned around to look, just as my bass/stand suddenly veered from the perpendicular and I was able to catch it before it hit the stage. I've never set a guitar stand on anything since. One final part of this topic I'd like to hear from others about (my English more better gets, yes?) is this: the price of convenience. I never found a stand that fits in the guitar or bass case that was secure enough to justify its use. So I've always used an old military duffle bag to carry instrument and speaker stands in. But it's been about two decades since I looked, too. Maybe there's something really terrific that someone invented. Adapt a Segway so that your bass follows you around without ever tipping over? No, that would freak the Foghorn out big time. "I woke up and your Alembic was rolling back and forth by my side of the bed, trying to get to you!" Maybe I shoulda shut up about five paragraphs ago, but with all the "instrument autopsy" mental images flooding my memory, I'm a little freaked out by this topic. There's always this option if you get it wrong, though:

ed_zeppelin · « **Reply #17 on:** October 03, 2015, 02:14:37 PM »

Pfft. I just received two spanky new Hercules stands yesterday that I bought on stupid. (Not to brag, but I'm pretty sure I'm the one their stupid deal of the day was named for. Don't worry, fame won't change me.)

Now I want those German ones. Oh well, the only reason I was able to get these past Scottish wife was because they were two-for-one. I haven't told her about using the neck rest doodad as a snoring remedy because I wanted to give it to her While she was actually snoring.

And do so from across the room, with one hand on the doorknob for a quick getaway.

bigredbass · « **Reply #18 on:** October 03, 2015, 03:14:08 PM »

I wouldn't recommend these to anyone else but they work for me, amazingly well:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/fender-tubular-mini-a-frame-stand/h87768000002000

My local Sam Ash was blowing these out for 10 bucks a few years ago, and I bought a couple.
The strange thing that seems to make this work is that without a neck, all the weight is carried near the floor, and to me they're more stable than the Hamilton 'Hangmans' (as above) that I used for years, and easily fit in the junk bag with the cords, tuner, etc. The BRB sits fine, the green Elan not so much as the body curve along its' rump is assymetrical, so it still goes in the Hamilton.

Joey

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #19 on:** October 03, 2015, 03:29:35 PM »

The other equally common mishap - that you probably haven't considered - is CABLES. The most obvious example would be tripping on a guitar cord that's plugged into the guitar (you haven't known true horror unless you've knocked over a hundred year old German upright bass that way. Ahem.)

I may have told this one before, but what the heck; I'm an old codger, so repeating myself is in the job description. Not a 100-y-o doghouse, but years (and years) ago I'm at practice for a band I was humping gear for (free, as the keyboard player was my GF). Rhythm player's late, as he's at Steed Music making the last lay-away payment on his brand new Les Paul Custom, so they have a band meeting while waiting.
He comes in, opens up the case, takes out his new love, plugs in, tunes up, then - to be extra safe - sets her in a stand up out of the way on a table. Comes to join the meeting, trips on his cord, pulls her over, and the neck snaps clean through - fretboard & all; I mean 2 pieces - right about the 5th fret. Before he'd ever played a chord on her.
We spent the rest of the night on suicide watch.

And on the subject of stands: My predecessor as equipment manager with Vanessa Davis Band went to work for the Evil Empire. In a weekly sales meeting, he was assigned to role-play selling a stand (this is the days when there was only one kind; one bow under the body, another cradling the neck). It went thusly:
Um, you need this.
I already have one.
You need more.
Why?
Because it's not just a stand, (Hooks neck bow behind 'customer's' head & pulls head down), it's also a skull inducer!
Guess what everyone who ever heard that has ever after called guitar stands?

Peter

rustyg61 · « **Reply #20 on:** October 03, 2015, 03:57:32 PM »

Peter, that is exactly why I never leave my cable plugged in when my basses are in the stand!

lbpesq · « **Reply #21 on:** October 03, 2015, 06:01:32 PM »

For a mini stand that can fit in a guitar case, I use one of these:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--COOECCOG?siid=123670&-b2wBRDcrKerwe-S5c4BEiQABprW-Nqw8cdeEmrCk6XOdGeROP3b2c-ZCTI53uUhYjz5vrEaAnFL8P8HAQ=

Bill, tgo

jalevinemd · « **Reply #22 on:** October 04, 2015, 08:06:52 AM »

Bill...I wanted to get one of those for gigs. There's a couple songs that I need to put down my guitar to assume other duties. I didn't think that there was enough clearance to accommodate an Alembic guitar with a point. Is there?

lbpesq · « **Reply #23 on:** October 04, 2015, 09:42:57 AM »

I don't know. I'll try it with my Series I 12 string (the only Alembic I have with a point) today and let you know.

Bill, tgo

serialnumber12 · « **Reply #24 on:** October 04, 2015, 10:23:01 AM »

the best stand is yo hands.

ed_zeppelin · « **Reply #25 on:** October 04, 2015, 10:57:03 AM »

There's that price of convenience ratio I was talking about. In this case, an Alembic Series II guitar.

I don't mean to give the wrong impression here. No repairman in their right mind would caution anyone about putting a $10,000+ instrument on a piece of plastic origami that fits in the guitar case.

richbass939 · « **Reply #26 on:** October 04, 2015, 01:32:37 PM »

I had a Fender stand product that looked just about like this foldable stand. An Epic (or some other guitar with an asymmetrical bottom) doesn't fit on it very well without leaning quite a lot.
I gave it away. Even though it was really handy to carry around, I never could really trust it.
Rich

(Message edited by richbass939 on October 04, 2015)

lbpesq · « **Reply #27 on:** October 04, 2015, 01:53:09 PM »

Ed:

Don't you mean the opposite?

Bill, tgo

lbpesq · « **Reply #28 on:** October 04, 2015, 06:41:16 PM »

Jonathan:

The 12 string point cleared by about 1/4. Of course I can't guarantee that all points are created equal. Some may be bigger than others, but remember, it's not the size of the point, it's what you do with it that counts!

hehehehe

Bill, tgo

jalevinemd · « **Reply #29 on:** October 04, 2015, 07:08:05 PM »

Thanks, Bill. Words to live by.