Twister Stand

[Losendoskeys]

Hi guys

 

Didn't have time to check other threads but thought you would be interested - though the 3 tier looks a bit femmer to me.......

 

http://twisterstand.com/buy-direct-here

 

http://i342.photobucket.com/albums/o430/alanjpearson/twisterstand_zps07b90a1b.jpg

 

[brenner13]

Neat idea. I usually stand for shows because I get pretty excited at times and like to move around a little, but my playing is much more accurate and detailed when seated. This hydraulic lift concept could allow an easy quick change on stage with one rig. Also cool that it swivels. Wonder if it wobbles much? Looks like the builders welcome customization requests.

[ITGITC]

Hi guys

 

Didn't have time to check other threads but thought you would be interested - though the 3 tier looks a bit femmer to me.......

 

I need to visit my friends and relatives in the UK (Cornwall).

 

Maybe I can get an appointment with Doc Martin.

 

Or perhaps I just need to get out more.

 

I had to make a visit to my favorite dictionary for a definition of femmer .

 

Ummm, interesting stand design. Shouldn't it be attached to the floor for stability though?

 

 

 

 

 

[theGman]

I didn't know what femmer meant, but I knew what it meant!

[Losendoskeys]

Lol - my Northern UK roots were showing there!

 

That base looks a bit narrow for my liking and I'd like to see how the tiers can be adjusted.

Not much info on the website.

[opdigits]

So, the lever is used to adjust height, or height and rotation? And if the latter, can it rotate alone or must one pump it up and down to achieve the desired rotational effect?

[Stale]

I have not seen this stand up close, But I have seen it used live before. A band from Minneapolis used one that travels to my area. A couple of their past keyboard players had them. It looked like their boards were pretty close together. One guy never spun it, the other spun it around through out the night. He turned it around on every solo so you could see what he was playing. Other times he would just spin it to spin it.

[Threadslayer]

Why do I get the sense that the first time I trod on the pedal I'd end up with my keyboards in my lap?

[drawback]

I do like the barber chair base but looks to me like there's even less room for pedals than an Ultimate Apex stick.

 

Of course, if you have one of these you probably never use pedals anyway.

 

 

[Stale]

I remember seeing them raise and lower it a bit during the show, I looked like it went down slowly, but I would have that fear as well. You have to think about how many times you spin it in one direction, so cables don't get too tight. I could see pedal cables having the most problems with getting wrapped up them moving on you.

[Stokely]

Looks like a very nice concept...it's telling that the part that excites me most is being able to get off the stage easily between sets by turning the stand! (We play some small stages and are a six-piece). I already use a barber chair (goes way up and is very sturdy) so it would match!

[PinkFloydDudi]

I own the twister stand - 2-tiers.

 

I've very much enjoyed it ever since I bought it. Let me see if I can address some of the things you guys mentioned:

 

1) The foot-pedal is like a barber chair. Do you go flying out of your chair if the barber pushes it? No. Same thing...pumping the lever down raises the keyboard but does not at all put enough forward pressure to have your keyboard fall back on you. If you push and hold the lever down, the keyboard stand slowly goes back down. Exactly like a barber chair (guys, it IS a barber chair base).

 

Also, if you pick the lever all the way up - it locks the rotations. Now if you pull hard enough you can move it, but it puts a lot of friction, so normal movements would not cause the stand to spin when in that locked position.

 

2) The stand base is sufficient for 2 or 3 keyboards and is pretty sturdy. 3 might push it a little bit especially if you are using all 76-88 keyboards. With 1 weighted controller and 2 61-76 key non-weighted on the top 2 tiers, it would be sturdy.

The base has adjustable "feet", allowing you to raise or lower each of the legs of the base as needed. This is very handy because most stages are not completely level.

 

3) I did used to have velcro on my Triton 88, which kept it firmly in place. I didn't do this to my Kronos. The only mishap I have ever had, was playing a show and I went to spin a little bit and didn't realize it, but the keyboard had slid enough that my rotation then caused it to come off the stand. I caught it, but just barely. A little bit of velcro, or even just some rubber padding to increase friction - would prevent that from ever happening though.

 

4) I also received 2 attachements for the stand - a mic stand, and a laptop holder. I have no idea what happened to the mic stand, but that was quite useful when rotating. Never used the laptop holder.

 

5) The stand takes a total of 2 seconds to setup. I don't take all 4 feet off the base, so it is really just 2 parts, the base, and then the top shelf. (I only use 1 tier now). But even if you use 2 tiers, you don't have to take them off if you don't need to. We travel with a trailer, so there is more than enough room to leave it as just 2 pieces.

 

6) We play on all sizes of stages...and being able to turn it while people are setting up is AWESOME! No more people knocking into it while trying to get past me or anything. It gets bumped? It just turns with the person!

 

7) Yes, the room in between the feet is limited. I only have a footswitch and my sustain, and both fit easily within the space provided. I would say there would be room for 1 more pedal (ventilator please!), at which point it would be full. If you use more pedals than that - space would be an issue.

 

8) Opdigits - the lever adjusts the height of the stand, and allows you to "lock" or "unlock" rotation. Pressing the lever does not actually rotate the stand at all, you have to do that with your hands/body. But again, you can lock it so that it doesn't rotate by lifting the pedal up.

 

My only complaint on the stand, is the mechanism used by the barber chair part. the bar within the base that actually puts pressure on the parts that do the lifting of the stand, often falls off in transport (never during a gig). Its when there is no pressure on the base, that it can fall off. All you have to do to fix it is take a phillips head screwdriver, remove the cover to the base, and put the little part back on (1 minute tops) - but its a pain. Honestly, I don't even use the up/down anymore. I have it set to my standing height, and so if that little bar inside the base falls off - I don't care. I have a very early version of the stand though - so maybe he has improved it since.

 

 

For the price, I'd highly recommend it. Aside from a big Z-stand, its the most stable stand I've used. As someone else mentioned, you do have to watch the cables. Too many times in the same direction and they will get very tight. I ended up buying some plastic casing that all my cables run through. I then wrap that a time or 2 around the base on the way up to give me some room to spin.

 

Mind you - I've actually only fully spun the keyboard around 1 time since I've had that stand. This isn't exactly the stand you would spin around in regular circles. But it is an awesome stand for being able to move from side to side - or a very nice added effect when soloing with someone in your band in that it allows you to actually face people you are playing with....or face other people in the crowd.

 

You aren't stuck stationary, which I love. There are other rotating stands out there that are probably better, but for the price, I find this one pretty hard to beat.

 

I've had mine going on about 4 years now - and still use it.

 

Picture in live performance here:

Klonk

 

 

 

[opdigits]

Thanks for that nice review PinkFloydDudi. It answers all the questions I can think of right now.

[PinkFloydDudi]

Thanks for that nice review PinkFloydDudi. It answers all the questions I can think of right now.

 

No problem! Let me know if you come up with any more, or want any closeup pictures or anything! I'd be happy to provide!

[Tonysounds]

How much does it weigh? Any pics of the "broken down" stand?

[Losendoskeys]

Having started this thread I have to say the spinning thing makes no sense to me whatsoever, indeed it could look cheesy IMHO.

But the up and down capability I see the point of.

Thats why I have the Solidstand.

Also I'm not playing spinning round type of music I guess!

 

[Stokely]

Dang seriously considering this...I currently use a z-stand that is not that portable (but is very sturdy) so even if this is not that portable it's no biggie. While I don't see the need to spin around (and around) like the guy from Styx being able to swivel is pretty cool I think...both from a practical standpoint (setting up, getting off-stage) and from a showmanship standpoint.

[Bobadohshe]

I wonder if they'll be at NAMM.

[PinkFloydDudi]

How much does it weigh? Any pics of the "broken down" stand?

 

The base is slightly heavy, maybe 25lbs? The top is pretty light (5lbs?), just slightly bulky.

 

For the single tier, there isn't much to break down. It is 2 pieces. The base, and then the top part.

 

Multi-tiers, you can take apart the 2nd and third tier if you want to, but thats a bit of a pain. If you have the room, I'd just leave them all connected and move it as 1 piece. Each tier adds maybe another 5lbs to the top part.

[PinkFloydDudi]

Having started this thread I have to say the spinning thing makes no sense to me whatsoever, indeed it could look cheesy IMHO.

But the up and down capability I see the point of.

Thats why I have the Solidstand.

Also I'm not playing spinning round type of music I guess!

 

There are 2 ways to look at the motion you can do. One, is the "Journey-esque" spinning of the keyboard around in circles. The other is the Jordan-Rudess-esque style of simply being able to move left and right a little bit. You could make the argument that any movement on stage other than standing perfectly still playing your instrument is "cheesy flair"...but a guitar player leaning back a bit when hitting their solo peak, or a bass player coming up front to take a solo, or a member of the band being able to actually move to look at another member they are doing dueling solos with - all stuff I see as good stage presence.

 

I definitely agree that spinning the keys is cheesy...(I don't do it) - although it does have its place with some 80's cover bands! But being able to turn left and right can add a nice touch to a keyboard stage setup.

 

Its nice to not have to twist your neck 120 degrees just to look at your drummer =)

[PinkFloydDudi]

Dang seriously considering this...I currently use a z-stand that is not that portable (but is very sturdy) so even if this is not that portable it's no biggie. While I don't see the need to spin around (and around) like the guy from Styx being able to swivel is pretty cool I think...both from a practical standpoint (setting up, getting off-stage) and from a showmanship standpoint.

 

Thats where I come from as well. Completely agree.

 

I wonder if they'll be at NAMM.

Very much doubt it. I think this is a guy working out of his basement as a side-job.

 

 

[EscapeRocks]

 

There are 2 ways to look at the motion you can do. One, is the "Journey-esque" spinning of the keyboard around in circles.

 

You mean "Styx-esque" LOL. Just messin' with ya, I knew who you meant.

It's just the thought of Jonathan spinning his 7ft Yamaha (the red Whale) or his 7ft Fazioli is funny

 

I've had my eye on the Twister stand for awhile. Thank you for the detailed information on real world use. Going from sitting to standing is cool. Of course, I look at it more for the "show" part.

 

There is a guy who currently builds to order a stand that behaves like Lawrence Gowan's (Styx) stand. It uses a rotating coupler/slip ring. It's $$$$ though.

 

The Twister stand would satisfy my needs.

[PinkFloydDudi]

You mean "Styx-esque" LOL. Just messin' with ya, I knew who you meant.

It's just the thought of Jonathan spinning his 7ft Yamaha (the red Whale) or his 7ft Fazioli is funny

Fail on my part! lol Yes, what you said!

 

I've had my eye on the Twister stand for awhile. Thank you for the detailed information on real world use. Going from sitting to standing is cool. Of course, I look at it more for the "show" part.

 

There is a guy who currently builds to order a stand that behaves like Lawrence Gowan's (Styx) stand. It uses a rotating coupler/slip ring. It's $$$$ though.

 

The Twister stand would satisfy my needs.

 

I wanted a rotating one for quite some time for all the reasons already discussed. I spoke to the guy who made Jordan Rudess'...and we were looking at around $3,500 (not including shipping from Europe). There are other manufacturers of these...I thought one was called "infinity stands" - but I can't find it with a 5 second google search....but all of them were very expensive. Twister stands are not as nice as some of those more expensive ones - but it was able to satisfy my wants for a stand that rotated.

 

I'd buy another one if this one got stolen.

[Tonysounds]

PFD....do you have any pics of your rig using this stand, especially your footpedals?

 

I've been trying to design something like this for a while, but all drafts were impractical. If I could fit 2 momentary switches and 2 expression pedals in that area, I'd be golden.

[Moonglow]

It's just the thought of Jonathan spinning his 7ft Yamaha (the red Whale) or his 7ft Fazioli is funny

Of course, this guy took the spinning grand thing to another level:

 

[video:youtube]

[Synthoid]

That was quite a performance. Wish I'd seen them live back in the day.

[Tonysounds]

The performance was canned. That piano shell was empty, no harp, strings, mechanical assembly.

[mikecorbett]

The performance was canned. That piano shell was empty, no harp, strings, mechanical assembly.

 

First Santa, now this? Thanks Tony!

[Moonglow]

The performance was canned. That piano shell was empty, no harp, strings, mechanical assembly.

Well sonofabitch T, never new that. Confirmed by Greg Lake, starting at around 2:10 in the video at the URL below. Couldn't seem to embed the video....

 

 

 

 

 

[Sven Golly]

Here you go.

 

[video:youtube]