Keyboard Stand report - K&M Baby Spider Pro

[jeremydouglass]

Very good info. Thanks for the detail. I ended up settling on the Omega (18950) and two sets of the stackers (18953). Reason being, i need the laptop. It's an integral part of the rig, but often I don't have the luxury of such a wide footprint that the laptop rest (18815) would require. With that thing jutting out of the side, even at that angle, I can see that causing problems on tight stages. I did some guesstimating with the math and determined that i could have one set of the stackers set wide and low for the (low profile) m-audio i use as my top board, and another set of the stackers set close and high for the laptop above. There's a full 4" difference between the stacker's lowest setting and it's highest, i think that would be plenty of clearance to fit the m-audio between the bottom board and the laptop.

[Tobias Åslund]

18950 and the Omega (18810) are two different stands, but I guess you mean the 18950 table stand.

I think I understand what you're trying to do with the two sets of stackers, but I am concerned it won't work so good, but maybe you've had a chance to try it at a store? To be able to mount two sets of stackers you need two 18954 adapters - I guess you bought those too? I have two of those mounted on my 18950 to be able to mount a music sheet stand and microphone boom. I guess you could mount two pairs of 18953 2nd tiers with the adapters in place, but my concern is you won't have enough depth to have an 88 key on the bottom, another board on top an then depth enough to have another set of stacker behind the top board. I hope however I'm wrong and your idea will work. Please let us know how it works! Good luck!

[jeremydouglass]

got my part numbers all kinds of wrong. i ordered the omega table stand 18810 and two of the stackers with the part number 18813. didn't try it out at the store, but my guess is that with the stacker support depth at 12" (per k&m's specs) and my m-audio keyboard depth at a hair over 9", there should be just about enough room behind the m-audio to allow room for the second set of stacker vertical arms that will be set higher and closer together, holding the laptop. if you look at the 18813 stackers, the 12" support arm hangs over the back side of the vertical arm a little bit. my gamble is that it doesn't hang over 3 inches. if that's the case and it doesn't, that leaves me with (at least) 9" of useable support arm depth. the m-audio will use up all of that, and the vertical arms of the second set of stackers holding the laptop will touch the back of the m-audio. if it does hang over more than 3" then it won't work. there won't be enough depth for the m-audio. but looking at the picture on k&m's site, i really don't think it hangs over that much. a 4" hang over would be a full third of the support arm length. it doesn't look like a third of the support arm is hanging over the back in the picture online. i hope that makes sense. difficult to describe briefly! anyway, if it doesn't work i'll just send it all back.

[timwat]

Hey Jeremy,

 

Late to the party with work and such. Good to hear you have a solution sorted out.

 

My 0.02 for whatever it's worth:

 

All respect to Mr. Tobbe, my experience with the Baby Spider Pro (here in the US, that's how the product is listed) would seem to be far more positive than his. The unit comes with only one set of arms and I purchased the second pair. I use it on a weekly basis with a 45 pound Kronos 73 and Nord Wave and have found no instability or wobble. I remove the top cap regularly (I only use two screws) and have found no thread strip or looseness. I may have simply had better luck with my unit than Mr. Tobbe.

 

I concur that with two arms installed, the arms don't neatly fold into the pillar. The arms stick up, although it still easily fits into the K&B gig bag. Whether this is inconvenient or not is a matter of opinion. BTW, I regularly gig both boards seated as well as standing. The infinite adjustability of the arm height is useful in that regard.

 

Personally one of my issues with the stand is that the top cap is plastic and makes the mic stand mount screw is unstable. I've tried installing a mic boom and it has too much play in it. Therefore I wouldn't trust the laptop stand (which also appears to screw into the top cap) with my laptop.

 

Personally I very much like the stand. I haven't found a perfect one - they all seem to have strengths and weaknesses - but so far this has served my various needs quite well.

 

I'm sure you'll be happy with the omega and stackers, just thought I'd weigh in since you asked.

 

Tim

 

[Tobias Åslund]

All respect to Mr. Tobbe, my experience with the Baby Spider Pro (here in the US, that's how the product is listed) would seem to be far more positive than his. The unit comes with only one set of arms and I purchased the second pair.

Sorry, you're quite right sir - it's called Baby Spider PRO. I was a bit confused My point was there isn't a Baby Spider with two set of arm, but I guess that part of my post was just confusing.

 

 

I concur that with two arms installed, the arms don't neatly fold into the pillar. The arms stick up, although it still easily fits into the K&B gig bag.

Are you using the Baby Spider bag? I could never get it to fit in that, with two sets of arms. I ordered the larger Spider Pro bag as well, then it would fit, but leaving about 25% of the bags lenghth empty. Also IIRC I still couldn't close the zipper completely because the arms sticking out still made the stand to thick

 

Personally one of my issues with the stand is that the top cap is plastic and makes the mic stand mount screw is unstable. I've tried installing a mic boom and it has too much play in it. Therefore I wouldn't trust the laptop stand (which also appears to screw into the top cap) with my laptop.

When installing the laptop rest you have to remove the top cap and place a metallic plate to go underneath the plastic cap. A longer screw then goes through both plates, which supports the laptop rest. When in place the laptop stand sits solid on top of the Spider.

I have one complain about the laptop stand however - the small "ears" at the end of the arms for keeping the laptop sliding of, are made of thin metal and if they get bent they may break and fall off. This has happened to mine (of course) - maybe I'm not carefull enough with my stand or just unlucky, but either way I do think the Spider are not build for the road.

All in all - I really want the Spider to be a great stand, it looks terrific and there are many clever solutions, but I think a stand in this price range should be built better. I have had a Koenig Meyer 18950 for a couple of years and have had no problems with that. Also I have the feather weight 18880 but with that I have some similar concerns as with the Spider - it is a great stand, but certain parts of it may break eventually, I'm afraid.

 

Jeremy I hope the 18810 Omega works out for you - it would be nice to see some pictures when you have you're rig assembled. Good luck!

[jeremydouglass]

mr Tobbe, when i get it all together i'll upload some photos for everyone. Seems everywhere i looked, the stackers i ordered are out of stock. Sweetwater had one pair available, and those shipped out yesterday with the 18810 Omega, but the second set won't ship out until some time next month when they restock. It was like that everywhere i looked. No one had them in stock until some time next month. So for simplicity's sake, i just kept my order with Sweetwater and i put myself first in line to get a pair when they come back in.

[Tobias Åslund]

Well, you can always change your mind and get a 18953 instead - or a Baby Spider Pro..!

 

Btw have you considered a Z-stand? There are a few quite nice options around where you can have both a 2nd tier and a small laptop shelf.

 

 

http://www.quiklok.it/viewdoc.asp?co_id=80234&pid=84103

 

+

 

http://www.quiklok.it/viewdoc.asp?co_id=80234&pid=87044

 

=

 

Happy days?

[Tobias Åslund]

In case anyone is interested in how my rig looks, with both a 18950 and a Baby Spider - I started a thread on the subject a while ago:

 

https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2491862

[jeremydouglass]

I have a quik lok dual tier X stand now. with the laptop attachment. Honestly I've never felt entirely secure with it. Especially on riser stages, the kind they put up in a hotel ballroom for a corporate event or a wedding. There's always a considerable amount of wobble at the top where the laptop sits. Even after i cut down that Quik Lok laptop attachment. It sat way too high and with such a high center of gravity and one mount point on the back of one of the second tier arms, i was always always keeping an eye on it.

 

My search for a new stand setup began a couple of days ago when a friend of mine had his entire rig crash to the ground from the same model X stand i use. I started looking at that stand critically and realized my whole rig, thousands of dollars worth of gear, was basically riding on one 1/4", spring loaded pin. So nuts to the quik lok X stand. The Z stands are a little odd to me. How is an angled vertical support bar going to be in any way better than a straight up 90 degree vertical support bar like the K&M Omega table stand? I just don't see the benefit of having two high stress points at the top and bottom of that vertical bar. That puts a lot of stress on the weld, wouldn't you guys think? And plus, the Z stands seem to have a lot of pieces when you break them down. A lot of long, cumbersome pieces that convolute my load out. I'm a one bag, one keyboard case, one stand and one bench kind of guy. my load in is one trip with 4 simple articles to bring. I can fit my two keyboards in my soft case. All of my cables, laptop, stand attachments, ipad, pedals, etc, can fit in my very spacious and sturdy UDG producer bag. I look at the way the Z stand breaks down and now i'm looking at having a second bag to keep track of all the pieces of that stand. That's not for me. Right now in the main large compartment of the UDG gig bag i keep the quik lok laptop attachment. But i did some measuring and feel pretty confident i can fit 4 of the K&M Omega stackers in there in it's place. Any way. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[DJkeys]

I know this is an old thread, but I have a Baby Spider and am waiting for the second set of support arms. I am 5'8" and did not want a huge column in front of me. I also have this On Stage stand and it is rock solid but takes way too long to set up and tear down:

 

http://onstagestands.com/products/view/116995

 

I removed the top cap permanently, as the screw mounting is not solid enough and strips and breaks too easily. I use the On-Stage mic boom attachment inserted sideways into the space of the top of the unit and it connects in seconds (no need to turn and turn forever) and is rock solid:

 

http://onstagestands.com/products/view/117489

 

Once the angle of the boom is adjusted, it never moves and you can telescope your mic wherever you need it. It will preclude having the top keyboard hang over the edge, but I don't think that will be a problem.

 

I also put black duct tape over the sharp edges of the top of the stand. This way, I can remove the second set of support arms easily and put them in the bag.

 

I will have a Nord Stage2 SW73 on the bottom tier and my Access Virus Ti2 Polar on top. Both weigh only about 20 lbs, so it should be fine. This stand is great because it sets up in seconds, has few (possibly no)removeable parts, is stable,has perfect space for a pedalboard, and looks good.

[Dave Keys]

I've been gigging an RD700NX and a controller keyboard/Prophet 08 with a Spider PRO here in the UK for about a year now and it is a fantastic stand. Rock solid and stable. I find the arms are more than strong enough to support heavy Keyboards.

 

I used to have an Ultimate AX48 and although I loved the look of it, it was a nightmare onstage due to its 3 legged design. Running a Korg N1 and an XP50 on it I had it topple a few times. The AX90 is a better design but I understand it's no longer available, so that's why I went with the Spider Pro. In fact, I've just ordered the Baby Spider PRO for sit down piano gigs, and also because my music room could benefit from the extra space gained by having the shorter columned version.

One of the main benefits of the Spider PRO stands is the space for pedals.

I've not really used the boom mic in a gig situation and can see how it may be a problem for some - that said, I've never had any problem with it for home recording.

 

[richforman]

I have used the Spider Pro for four or five years now, best keyboard stand I have ever used and I am prone to pontificate whenever I get the chance, about how much better it is in so many ways than the longtime (maybe still) standard AX48. The only drawback was that in several attempts, maybe it was me being clumsy, but I never had luck with the boom mic stand attachment, it always broke after a few gigs, I want that feature but like the stand itself so much that I gave up on that and have just gone with a Hercules boom stand (also a very well-designed smart tool imo).

[sMatt]

for those of you with Spider Pros (or Baby Spiders), how sturdy are they?

 

I play the shit out of my keyboard and don't want any "give."

 

Do either of these - I guess the Spider Pro - give you rock-solid solidness?

 

TIA!

[Dave Keys]

Hi sMatt

 

I can only compare the Spider Pro to X frame stands,the Ultimate AX48, and the QuikLok WS650 'T' stand.

I play everything from Classical to blues brothers type rock n' roll Piano. In this comparison, the Spider Pro wins hands down.

The fact it's on 4 legs instead of 2 stilts (X Frame) or 3 legs (AX48) means that even on a relatively uneven stage, it holds pretty steady. The WS650 can only deal with a perfectly flat floor, so thats out of the question.

The only time I had an issue with stability was when 3 rather large dancers shared the stage right in front of me and the stand did move a fair bit - but then any stand would've!

The locking arms hold the RD 700 rock steady, and the upper tilting arms seem to do the trick too - although admittedly I've never tried anything heavier than a Dave Smith Prophet 08 on those, but they use the same mechanism as the flat arms, and the ends are solid and well made so should hold a heavy board in place as long as the front sits neatly against the stops.

Maybe I'll try the Jupiter 8 on those.

 

Basically, when I stick a £2100 Piano on a Spider Pro, I have total confidence in its stability.

[Dave Keys]

I have used the Spider Pro for four or five years now, best keyboard stand I have ever used and I am prone to pontificate whenever I get the chance, about how much better it is in so many ways than the longtime (maybe still) standard AX48.

 

Hi Rich!

Yes I know, I loved my AX48 - it looked the biz, the adjustability was good, and the fact it could fold into a portable neat unit made it such a neat solution. But, ultimately (!) I found it to be unstable and it made pedal placement difficult.

 

The Spider Pro seems to take the best of the Ultimate and address its' weaknesses, to make a really fine stand.

[Tobias Åslund]

for those of you with Spider Pros (or Baby Spiders), how sturdy are they?

 

I play the shit out of my keyboard and don't want any "give."

 

Do either of these - I guess the Spider Pro - give you rock-solid solidness?

 

TIA!

I have the Baby Spider, which is identical to the Pro, only shorter - if you don't want any "give" this, or any similar stand is not for you. No, the stand will not collapse so your keyboard fall to the floor, but it will surely flex and wobble if you play hard. If you play piano like Jerry Lee, the stand will wear out pretty quickly, I think. There is a design flaw, that I mentioned earlier in this thread - a small piece of semi-soft plastic is the only thing that hold the arms up - and if you play hard it will wear down, sooner or later.

 

For absolute stability - the only thing that will hold up is a Z-stand or a table-stand with four legs, IMHO.

 

I'm sure that if you compare to an Ultimate AX48 column stand, the Spider might seem more sturdy, but it is far from as stable as an example the K&M 18950 table stand that I use for my heavier boards, like the Korg M3-88.

[richforman]

> I loved my AX48 - it looked the biz, the adjustability was good, > and the fact it could fold into a portable neat unit made it

> such a neat solution. But, ultimately (!) I found it to be

> unstable and it made pedal placement difficult.

 

Well not only that but the fact that with the Ultimate, you have to take the arms on and off each time and stow them inside the column - the worst part being that (in my experience anyway), the plastic lid on top inevitably breaks off, and then you have to carry the arms in your accessories bag. With the Spider Pro, it truly is one self-contained piece, the arms fold right onto the column, tighten them up and you're good. The cable holders on the column of the AX48 break off in time too, I haven't had this happen on either of two Spider Pros I've owned over five years. More stable, no problem with pedal placement, and really uniquely cool-looking on stage, the only stand I've ever owned that gets noticed and commented on! True, when I place the two tiers as close together as I like them for playing, I can't really see the bottom keyboard, but happily I have my system for gigs orchestrated such that I don't really need to be able to see it - the program and patch selection buttons I need to press for each song I can find and identify without looking (though then I do sometimes crouch down to look at the screen to verify I pressed the right one).

 

Anyway to not be too much of a fanboi, probably my least favorite thing about the Spider Pro is that although the tier heights are infinitely adjustable, they're not calibrated and it can't "remember" them for you, so it's always an inexact science, it always takes me a moment or two of trial and error to figure out exactly where I want to tighten them down. Of course you can mark your preferred spots on the column with a sharpie but I haven't opted to do that yet.

[timwat]

Rich,

 

I got the black Baby Spider Pro, so have marked my preferred arm height with a little piece of black gaffers tape. Like you, I very much like my stand, and continually get compliments on it.

 

Oh, and Tobbe, if I didn't answer your earlier question above, yeah, I can get the Baby w/ both arms into the K&M gig bag, as long as I make sure the top arms are only an inch or so above the top of the column.

 

I would concur with Tobbe that if sMatt wants to "play the shit" out of his boards and that equates with channelling Jerry Lee Lewis, that no, the Baby Spider won't provide that level of stability. I regularly get pretty vigorous and physical with my Kronos on the Baby Spider, but will only actually use my knees and feet on an acoustic piano, which I'll regularly do on my jazz piano gigs.

 

But as Tobbe also points out, no column stand I've played with "unsupported" arms (Apex, AX48, Baby Spider or V-stand) will provide a "no wobble" Jerry Lee experience. I'm guessing that's just the simple physics of banging on a 45+ lb. board on retractable arms with a single mount point.

 

Only a Z stand or the WS550-style stand will do that, at least in my experience.

[sMatt]

Hi sMatt

 

I can only compare the Spider Pro to X frame stands,the Ultimate AX48, and the QuikLok WS650 'T' stand.

I play everything from Classical to blues brothers type rock n' roll Piano. In this comparison, the Spider Pro wins hands down.

The fact it's on 4 legs instead of 2 stilts (X Frame) or 3 legs (AX48) means that even on a relatively uneven stage, it holds pretty steady. The WS650 can only deal with a perfectly flat floor, so thats out of the question.

The only time I had an issue with stability was when 3 rather large dancers shared the stage right in front of me and the stand did move a fair bit - but then any stand would've!

The locking arms hold the RD 700 rock steady, and the upper tilting arms seem to do the trick too - although admittedly I've never tried anything heavier than a Dave Smith Prophet 08 on those, but they use the same mechanism as the flat arms, and the ends are solid and well made so should hold a heavy board in place as long as the front sits neatly against the stops.

Maybe I'll try the Jupiter 8 on those.

 

Basically, when I stick a £2100 Piano on a Spider Pro, I have total confidence in its stability.

 

thanks for the reply.

 

I recently bought an RD800 along with Roland's matching stand (KS-G8B). The stand is solid, but it's labor intensive to break it down and set it up. it'd be nice to have a solid stand that wasn't so much work.