eric Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 This will be a fairly technical thread. Ive shared over the years in a tangential fashion, but had a few requests for more details about my rolling and tilting keyboard stand. Im currently around v6 of this and still have future improvements in mind. Side note many of you know that I am also a huge advocate of the long-discontinued Invisible stand. I have many of these and used them regularly since 1987, but only when I was in a gigging situation that called for 2+ keyboards. In most all other cases when I was using a single keyboard, my DIY rolling and tilting keyboard stands have been the primary tool. This started by accident in the late 80s when I was playing with a mostly original ska/world beat band and we were on the road. My keyboard stands were left behind for a weekend and I was struggling to figure out what to do with my rig (it was a Roland JX-8P, Yamaha DX-7IIFD, and Juno-106 at the time). I was able to set the DX and Juno up offstage leaned against a wall with the JX as a MIDI controller, but I did not have a good way to stand on stage with the JX. After looking around, we decided that the guitar players flight case for his Mesa Boogie amp was almost tall enough. So I planted my JX on top of the Mesa flight case, which had hefty 3 or 4 wheels. It was a bit narrow, so we secured the JX with some gaffer tape and it was off to the races (literally and figuratively). That gig proved to be lots of fun, as I was able to roll that flight case around and tilt it a bit towards the crowd. This was in the era before cell phones and photographic proof is pretty limited. I used the rolling Anvil case selectively and decided that I would like to further explore this in the future. I used a multi-keyboard rig for a few years until I got my first Hammond XB-2 around 1991-1992. I had a couple of different rolling stands for the XB-2. One was an x-stand bolted down to a furniture dolly and the other was a custom-welded L-iron rig. I have a few pics of these. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l538/e888000008/keyboard%20stands/80C774DB-3514-411C-8403-95C2037E9433.jpg http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l538/e888000008/keyboard%20stands/3315E4C8-A97C-4143-B974-356D4997E640.jpg This pretty much got me totally hooked on rolling around on stage with a 30 snake of audio, MIDI, and power cables. Tons of fun and the audiences loved it. I used a similar version of the x-stand on the dolly cart all the way up through the past few years (aside from the Invisible gigs) and Ive taken a few additional steps over the past 5 years when my live keyboard rig evolved to the NS2 connected to my offstage rack. Here are a few pics of the NS2 rig. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l538/e888000008/keyboard%20stands/1A25A0E2-6F6D-435B-A2BB-234C82A1B216.jpg http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l538/e888000008/keyboard%20stands/B93DBD9E-5503-4AD5-8C3B-15E9151D2412.jpg http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l538/e888000008/keyboard%20stands/3407262A-6070-4248-BED4-E564CB3DFA74.jpg http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l538/e888000008/keyboard%20stands/2893F3D0-AD85-4CE8-9C66-B1035257451C.jpg Most recently, I had some amazing help from fellow forum member Bill aka vonnor, who took my latest rig and wired up some multi-pin goodness for me. What you see here is a base with all my pedals permanently attached and cables all hard wired into a streamlined junction box. I have a multi-pin snake that runs from the box to my keyboard and a second one that runs from the box to my offstage rack. It is very streamlined and easy to set up. My current stand is DIY deal using a solid but cheap stand I bought from Amazon (I have two of these rigs one is black and one is red). I cut the stand down to be the right size for me and I have it bolted down to the pedal base with wheels. The top part of the stand comes off for ease of transport. I mounted a board to the top of the stand with hinges. I can pivot the keyboard up to nearly a 90-degree angle, while also rolling around all over the stage. My next rendition of this stand will hopefully have some kind of gas shock springs built into the tilting board, so I can more gracefully raise and lower it. Most times, my singer will come over and grab the board and tilt it up, holding it while I play it. But I can also do this myself. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l538/e888000008/keyboard%20stands/99C86ECC-30E4-425B-9E51-F89CEA8A9E5A.jpg http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l538/e888000008/keyboard%20stands/EEC4B01C-C542-4D19-BB79-436EE4929646.jpg http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l538/e888000008/keyboard%20stands/E3F480E7-7A98-4A31-B48E-85A076B10B42.jpg This has been a really fun rig for me! Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. Thanks for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 That is CLEAN. Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Dope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxcvbnm098 Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Damn awesome Eric!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Wade Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 That is very very cool. I would have loved to have had a stand like that. Just fyi, auto parts usually carry replacement hood/hatch automotive struts that you could use to assist in lifting the keyboard. They usually have lbs of lift, and extended and retracted lengths listed on the package and also have a few different type of end connectors (ball, clip, ect) And best of all they are usually inexpensive depending on which one you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowboyNQ Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Love it Eric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill W Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Love it! It looks even better in person. Korg Kronos 61 (2); Roland Fantom-06, 2015 Macbook Pro and 2012 Mac Mini (Logic Pro X and Mainstage), GigPerformer 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theGman Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Interesting stand; great workmanship! Memories: I recall seeing a band in Waldorf, Maryland about 20 years ago where the lead guitarist had what looked like a narrow black wall at a 45 angle close behind him, off to one side. What was it? Well, once a set or so while playing a long solo, he would step over onto a small ledge, and then somehow the wall would slowly tilt back about 45 degrees, then return to normal position after playing that lead. Never did understand it; looked like an old Frankenstein or Dracula movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markyboard Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Love it! It looks even better in person. Yup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeyMoe Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Very cool....... Montage 7, Mojo 61, PC-3, XK-3c Pro, Kronos 88, Hammond SK-1, Motif XF- 7, Hammond SK-2, Roland FR-1, FR-18, Hammond B3 - Blond, Hammond BV -Cherry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusker Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 [video:youtube]alnWBQsMAoQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonnor Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 I like it. Gear: Hardware: Nord Stage4, Korg Kronos 2, Novation Summit Software: Cantabile 3, Halion Sonic 3 and assorted VST plug-ins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe P Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Great set up, man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markyboard Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 I like it. [video:youtube] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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