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Semi OT-Has it happened to you?


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X-Stands!

 

It has just about happened to me several times. The most unstable stand I ever owned was a Deltex (cheapie version of the Apex). We'd sometimes be on wobbly stages when we played frat houses and at some gigs I had to play one-handed with the other hand holding the top of the thing. It would go over very easily if pushed at certain angles.

 

My current band has had drunks crashing/flying/rolling/dancing into the stage (one time it was a fight rolling across the ground) that did damage, but fortunately I'm in the back and it's harder for the cretins to reach my stuff.

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I had a cheap x-stand that I used with my $100 beginner keyboard, it was flimsy enough that I immediately thought to upgrade when I got my first 88 key adult keyboard. I'm pretty sure I can lay across both my current stands without them collapsing. I would die if my SV-1 collapsed on the ground like that during a gig (or anywhere with a hard floor, really).

Keyboards: Nord Electro 6D 73, Korg SV-1 88, Minilogue XD, Yamaha YPG-625

Bonus: Boss RC-3 Loopstation

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I was stupid enough to put a Rhodes Chroma on the bottom tier of an Ultimate Support A frame stand. Those are really heave and of course, right in the middle of a song it gave out and flipped back. I was hanging onto it for dear life and screaming for help. The bass player had to stop playing and help me get it balanced again.

This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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I have no problem with X-style stands as long as the mechanism is decent. I had one of those gear-teeth with a lever type cheap Bespeco stands once and when I set it up and tightened the lever the gear mechanism snapped in half. Pins might seem less secure, but actually they are more reliable. My favourite is Ultimate Support. And if you can get something with a cross bar, it's belts & suspenders.

____________________________________
Rod

Here for the gear.

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I also lost a keyboard in the middle of a tune to an Ultimate Support A frame. My K1000 flipped back and fell backwards off the stand - and stage - at CBGB's in NYC one night many years ago.

 

Luckily, those things were built like tanks, and didn't get hurt at all. Also luckily - it did this during sound check, not during the set we were doing for the record companies that evening. :eek:

 

dB

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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X-stands are unreliable. I will never use one on stage or in my studio.

 

I really hate the tubular tiers. Years ago I came into my studio to find my Memorymoog laying face down on the floor from a four foot drop when the USS tier rotated and flipped the MM. Fortunately the MM survived without damage (!) but the CD player it landed on did not. You can't tighten USS tiers enough without cracking the plastic mounts. The only way those tubular tiers are secure is if you use a pair of them to form a table style support, where rotation does not pose a risk.

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X-stands are unreliable. I will never use one on stage or in my studio.

 

I really hate the tubular tiers. Years ago I came into my studio to find my Memorymoog laying face down on the floor from a four foot drop when the USS tier rotated and flipped the MM. Fortunately the MM survived without damage (!) but the CD player it landed on did not. You can't tighten USS tiers enough without cracking the plastic mounts. The only way those tubular tiers are secure is if you use a pair of them to form a table style support, where rotation does not pose a risk.

 

I have a double X stand that I like a lot and wasn't too expensive. It permanently sits with a 40ish lb keyboard on it and it's as sturdy as the day I bought it.

Keyboards: Nord Electro 6D 73, Korg SV-1 88, Minilogue XD, Yamaha YPG-625

Bonus: Boss RC-3 Loopstation

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IMO the design of those old USS stands were more prone to user errors. Not busting on anybody, because a good design would account for things like this, but the tube holding these arms was, in effect, a fulcrum; the weight of a keyboard needed to be evenly distributed both in front and in back of it. That's why you could buy different length support arms to accommodate keyboards with more depth. You also had to make sure the knobs securing the tubes â by friction alone, in hindsight not the greatest method â were tight. In short, stuff could go wrong!

 

I had one of those A-frame stands with three tiers of keyboards, the one on top being an OBXa â 45 lbs of steel (and a little real wood too!). I used the longer arms, and really made sure those knobs were tightened. I was lucky - no accidents.

 

The OP's clip, poor kid. I bet some adults probably set that gear up for them, or they did it under the direction of adults. Putting an 88-key slab DP, likely with weighted action, on a small single-x-brace stand - not a smart idea.

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It happened to me in 1998 at a gig that was videoed. I posted a video of the event at KC several years ago. In case some of you didn't see it, here it is again with the x-stand collapse at ~30".

 

[video:youtube]

Gigs: Nord 5D 73, Kurz PC4-7 & SP4-7, Hammond SK1, Yamaha MX88 & P121, Numa Compact 2x, Casio CGP700, QSC K12, Yamaha DBR10, JBL515xt(2). Alto TS310(2)

 

 

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at CBGB's in NYC one night many years ago
Well, I want to hear about your gig at CBGB's! What, who, when, and who else was on the bill that night!?

 

Back to topic: My beloved Reissue is currently sitting on a heavy duty double-braced X-stand, that once held my CS-80. Maybe I better re-think this...?

 

aVc3l1N.jpg

 

Of course, it would be a good excuse to get a sturdier two-tier stand, which would then be an excuse to get another keyboard. And speaking of stands, has anyone seen these? Unfortunately only available in the EU thru Thomann, who can ship- to USA at considerable cost:

 

Black Panther Stands

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I had an experience that was the opposite of HSS's. The bench on which I was planted suddenly went SNAP! and pitched me onto my back. I jumped up and yelled "AW HELL NO!" and kept playing. I got some applause for it, but it doesn't touch his recovery. :laugh::thu:

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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