Addicted to 1 tier stands

[dalpozlead]

After my latest purchases (Montage & Summit) and having played those boards just with a simple 1 tier stand ( x or a models) I"m feeling great joy on playing the synths without having other boards on top, like a mix of having a 'minimalist' approach (even knowing other synths are waiting to be positioned in the 1 tier stand) with a sense of cleanness while having to edit knobs and touchscreens....

If only I had a big room to adjust other synths....but I don"t have... so I"m struggling to keep one or two synths with a single tier stand, sacrificing others with multiple tier stands...

This is a derivation of a GAS problem LoL

[KeyboardEric]

Slippery slope! Next step - 0 tier stand.

[AnotherScott]

Here's my one-tier stand of choice: Knox accordion style stand - Kind of similar in design to the K&M 18880 except no options for upper tiers, and not quite as light. But under $50! Easily sets up/knocks down/moves in one piece like the K&M, with actually much, much better height adjustment, so also well suited for someone who wants something that can easily accomodate either sitting or standing. Height can actually go so high that I'm currently using it to support a third board above a two-tier Invisible stand. But it also can go lower than the minimum height of the Invisible. Really nice design.

[stoken6]

I've got the Stagg equivalent of the Knox stand Scott linked to (the double-braced version). Slight wobble, but adequate. And yeah, impulse buy, I paid £40! I've actually jerry-rigged a couple of Quik-Lok 2nd-tier adapters (just the uprights, not the horizontal tiers themselves) onto the stand to enable me to support a two-board rig.

 

I've been looking at the K&M 18880/18881 for many years now, never quite went for it (always a fraction too pricey). I'll take another look when gigs are a thing again.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Noah DC]

Here's my one-tier stand of choice: Knox accordion style stand - Kind of similar in design to the K&M 18880 except no options for upper tiers, and not quite as light. But under $50! Easily sets up/knocks down/moves in one piece like the K&M, with actually much, much better height adjustment, so also well suited for someone who wants something that can easily accommodate either sitting or standing. Height can actually go so high that I'm currently using it to support a third board above a two-tier Invisible stand. But it also can go lower than the minimum height of the Invisible. Really nice design.

 

Scott, what are a few of the heights for the notches in that stand? I ask because I've been trying to figure the best way to hold up my Mojo 61 from the back so the front rests on my CP4, which would sit on my 18880. I can't seem to get something that is the right height, but this stand would be a cheap solution, assuming one of the notches was in the right place. Yes, I could drill holes in my 18881, but I was hoping to avoid that.

[AnotherScott]

I've got the Stagg equivalent of the Knox stand Scott linked to (the double-braced version)....I've actually jerry-rigged a couple of Quik-Lok 2nd-tier adapters (just the uprights, not the horizontal tiers themselves) onto the stand to enable me to support a two-board rig.

I'd never seen that Stagg stand, it does look like another nice possibility. I have had the thought, though, that there are probably second-tier brackets that would work on it. Though some of those brackets, themselves, can add a surprising amount of additional weight as well. Interesting idea to just use "pieces" of them. I'd like to see a photo of your setup there, if you'd care to post.

 

It's a good topic for a thread... more of the stand threads seem to be about multi-tier, and there are definitely people who either gig/rehearse with just one board, or perhaps as I mentioned, could use a single-board stand to add a third board. (There are few three tier stands, and they often have significant limitations on the relative placements of some of the boards.) So many of the single-board stands I've checked into in the past are either quite heavy or have limited adjustability, which is another problem with even the best X-stands... you can't change height without changing width.

 

Scott, what are a few of the heights for the notches in that stand?

Mine is currently set for 38" high, which may be it's highest. The holes are about 1.75" apart, so figure the top could be 1.75" lower, 3.5" lower, and so on. There are probably six possibly heights from its lowest to its highest.

[cphollis]

I've had the same experience. I was doing a duo gig with a vocalist (pre-Covid obviously) and brought along my Nord Piano 2 on a svelte Stay one-tier stand. The board was the right height, very stable -- and it was a joy to sit there and play it.

 

You can find them here: STAY STAND DEAL

[Morrissey]

Here's my one-tier stand of choice: Knox accordion style stand - Kind of similar in design to the K&M 18880 except no options for upper tiers, and not quite as light. But under $50! Easily sets up/knocks down/moves in one piece like the K&M, with actually much, much better height adjustment, so also well suited for someone who wants something that can easily accomodate either sitting or standing. Height can actually go so high that I'm currently using it to support a third board above a two-tier Invisible stand. But it also can go lower than the minimum height of the Invisible. Really nice design.

 

 

Didn't know about this stand. Looks like great value!

[Jwave]

I"m a single-tier fan and I usually Velcro a mini-keyboard on top of my main board. Thanks Scott, that Knox stand is exactly what I"ve been looking for to replace my, ahem, traditional-style stand. Minimum height according to Amazon is 27' which is a couple of inches higher than I currently use when seated, so I"ll have to experiment with bench height.

[Marzzz]

Slippery slope! Next step - 0 tier stand.

 

http://thingsthataretotallyawesome.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/keytar.jpg

[ChiefDanG]

Is the guy in green giving us the finger?

 

'FU! I don"t need no stinkin" stand!'

[BigJPatton]

The only way to roll, I hate stacked boards, it looks messy, hides the player, confines the boards, I know stage space was often an issue back in the day when people gathered for live music, but I would always try to setup with single tiers in an L or U shape if possible, much better.

[AnotherScott]

The only way to roll, I hate stacked boards, it looks messy

The right pair of boards on the right stand does not have to look messy. But that would be one more concern to deal with, also complicating your choice of boards if this is important to you.

[Dr Mike Metlay]

I wish I had enough room in my studio to even THINK about 1-tier keyboard stands.

[RABid]

I like using a one tier stand, topped with a two tier stand. Much more stable and adjustable than most current 3 tier stands. ... ... ... Just saying, you can have your cake and eat it too.

[stoken6]

The only way to roll, I hate stacked boards, it looks messy, hides the player, confines the boards, I know stage space was often an issue back in the day when people gathered for live music, but I would always try to setup with single tiers in an L or U shape if possible, much better.

The trick is to find a lower board that "likes to be confined" - with access to controls not required. Stack the front of the upper board on the lower board's panel, stack the back of the board on the stand. I've posted this pic before, but I think it's a slick look and it doesn't hide me.

Cheers, Mike.

[Noah DC]

Scott, what are a few of the heights for the notches in that stand?

Mine is currently set for 38" high, which may be it's highest. The holes are about 1.75" apart, so figure the top could be 1.75" lower, 3.5" lower, and so on. There are probably six possibly heights from its lowest to its highest.

 

Don't want to derail this thread into another on how to keep two boards tiered closely, but with the CP4 resting on a KM 18880, the back panel is 30 inches high. So with those 1.75" drops in the Knox stand, I could in theory keep my Mojo 61 on the Knox at 31" and rest the Mojo's front on the CP4 backpanel I grabbed a Knox stand just now (only 40-ish dollars lightly used) and will scope out that setup.

[Stokely]

Stage space is most definitely still an issue for my band. Ironically as our gigs have gotten better (paying, and more "prestigious" in a relative way!) they've also tended to feature smaller stages and are lower volume. That last bit is fine, for one thing I use in-ears so it's trivial for me to turn up or down, none of us use amps.

 

I could not set up in an L at some places, heck I couldn't bring an 88-note keyboard at a couple of them (unless I wanted to lift it off the stand to get off stage). At some of these, a cymbal is literally hanging over a keyboard (again, thanks to in-ears I'm protected). I have two relatively-light 61s so I can pivot and place the stand easily. Those gigs are sitting gigs (on a pedestal barber chair) simply because I wouldn't be able to take a step if I was standing.

 

My buddy has a stand that is very similar to the Stay stands and I like it--can go from 1 tier to 3 tiers easily, it's very lightweight and seems very sturdy. Like my spider pro, it has room under the legs for pedals, unlike the apex/deltex stands (which tend to tip also, or at least my deltex did).

 

I don't particularly like the stacked look, but unless I go to a one-keyboard rig it's a necessary evil. It's easier to play than an L that's for sure.

[AnotherScott]

The trick is to find a lower board that "likes to be confined" - with access to controls not required. Stack the front of the upper board on the lower board's panel, stack the back of the board on the stand. I've posted this pic before, but I think it's a slick look and it doesn't hide me.

That looks good. I posted pics of four similar options that may not always look quite that perfect together, but still provide a compact and uncluttered look based on the same idea, at post 3078467 in the Vox Continental thread.

 

I could not set up in an L at some places, heck I couldn't bring an 88-note keyboard at a couple of them (unless I wanted to lift it off the stand to get off stage)...I have two relatively-light 61s so I can pivot and place the stand easily...

 

I don't particularly like the stacked look, but unless I go to a one-keyboard rig it's a necessary evil. It's easier to play than an L that's for sure.

I don't like the L just because it precludes the ability to use either hand on either keyboard at any time.

 

I only remember doing one gig with a 61-key bottom, and I found it irritating for piano. But if the gig didn't call for much piano, it could be do-able. Some 7x-key boards are very compact, though. That was one of the virtues of the Kurzweil SP4-7. Tiny.

 

But if you really must play in the smallest possible space, the earlier reference to a 0-tier stand (keytar) may be best! If you set up a wireless MIDI connrection from the AX-Edge to an iPad, you can use the patch select buttons on the keytar to call up sounds from the iPad (in addition to what's in the keyboard, for which you might want to add wireless audio)... that's a lot of capability in a practically "zero footprint" setup. Though I do wish the keytar itself weren't so unnecessarily long.

[AnotherScott]

The trick is to find a lower board that "likes to be confined" - with access to controls not required. Stack the front of the upper board on the lower board's panel, stack the back of the board on the stand.

Also, besides what you showed there and I showed in those Vox pics, instead of concealing a board's controls, another approach is to choose something where there are no controls exteding much beyond the back of the keys. Some of the slab pianos are set up that way (e.g. Casio's sometimes have all their controls within about 2 inches of the back of the keys), or sometimes a board has a more vertical panel, like the Korg SV1 which I think created some pretty nice looking stacks here...

 

 

[stoken6]

But if you really must play in the smallest possible space,

My family and I did a little musical snippet for an advent calendar charity appeal thing. To fit in front of a green screen, I brought out the melodica...

 

(And man, that SV1 is such a pretty looking thing).

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Morrissey]

sometimes a board has a more vertical panel, like the Korg SV1 which I think created some pretty nice looking stacks here...

 

I've never focused on the SV1/SV2 panel as an asset for board stacking. Good point!

[Throbert]

Going to make this from two Plixio stands or from scratch, after many possible designs I think I' ve settled on this.

[Tom Williams]

after many possible designs I think I've settled on this.

That ... looks ... Beautiful! Let us know how the project goes.

[stoken6]

Looks nice. Yours, mine and Scott's examples are kind of "one-and-a-half tier" stands, which is my favourite number of tiers on a stand.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Throbert]

Thanks, it's not to scale and the base needs to be longer in the back plus the rear support needs to come back

more and attach higher at the upper cross bar. Need detailed drawings from Plixio. I use to know a good TIG

welder but no ideal where he is theas days.