Another question about stands.

[RABid]

Ok. Im fed up with my stand and I need advice. I prefer to sit when I play so the keyboards need to be close together and at natural angles. Here is how I want my keyboards stacked, but I cannot find a stand that will do it.

 

Bottom - Studiologic 88 note controller. Big and heavy, but not deep enough to sit another keyboard on top. The bottom tier of the stand should be a sturdy base to hold this keyboard, and not just some floppy arms.

 

Middle - I eventually want something like a Roland VK-8 for the middle. It should be right on top of the Studiologic, level as it if was actually resting on the big keyboard. As long as it sits towards the right I should be able to access the pitch and mod wheels of the Studiologic. Im not worries about the other controls of the Studiologic. One nice thing about the VK-8, the top is level and barren. I should be able to put another keyboard against the top of it without blocking any controls.

 

Top - A 61 key workstation or VA. This should sit right on top of the organ and back just a bit. It can angle just a bit, but not so much that it is not natural to play.

 

Essentially, I want three keyboards stacked as close together as possible with very little angle. The base should be a table type to hold the 88 note controller, the racks for the other two should be sturdy enough that I can do slides on the organ without it bobbing and weaving under my fingers.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Robert

[tarkus]

Get an Ultimate or a 3-tier adjustable + adjustable throne. My Ultimate kept both boards close together - my only complaint was accessing the data banks on the bottom (Triton pro 76) became awkward since it was obscured by the top board.

 

For the new rig I am considering The Spider stand or an A-Frame 2 tier.

[Reverend Rhythm]

I have an ultimate 3 tier, but I'm thinking of abandoning it because it is unstable for me. It might be the keyboards I have on it or the way I have it set up, but I'm worried about it never-the-less. It hasn't fallen, but it is shaky.

[RABid]

I used to have an Untimate 3 tier stand 20 years ago. The keyboards would bounce when I played them. It is aslo a bit big since I want this for my second tier in a bedroom studio.

[tarkus]

I've considered building a custom stand in the past. I've got a few good friends in the auto-metal working (fabricators) biz. It would be cool to have an aluminum/steel stand built to spec.

 

I might just do this.

[Dave Pierce]

Robert,

 

I think the Standtastic would work well for you. The height is totally adjustable, with no "notches" to limit your adjustability. Same for the depth. The angle adjustments use notches, but they are pretty close together.

 

The only thing that might be a problem for you is that the horizontal position of the "arms" is fixed. In other words, it's designed for the keyboards to be centered on top of each other. You can probably push your stage piano to the left a bit, and your organ to the right a bit, but I don't know if that will give you the offset you need.

 

I have a similar setup, and instead of offsetting the boards, I use the octave switching extensively to give me what I need.

 

I works VERY well for me. YMMV.

 

--Dave

[DaveMcM]

Years ago I used an Ultimate Support "A" frame stand for a similar set-up. For the bottom and middle keyboards I used the "T" fittings on both the front and back legs so there could be cross bars at the front and back of those keyboards. Ultimate made extra long support arms that would span the two cross bars. That made for a very stable platform for the bottom two keyboards. The top keyboard was placed on a crossbar that was attached to the back leg via "T" fittings so the front of it rested on back top of the middle keyboard.

 

Hope that makes sense. It was a lot to carry around but wasn't all that bad to set-up. I can't really think of any newer stand that would allow what you have requested.

 

Good luck in your search.

 

Dave

[MikeT156]

Agreed Dave. Ultimate had/has some great stands. The biggest problem I've run into is the illustrations you see on the web. Not every company that handles stands has every model and often times its difficult to discern the proportions of the stand. I did things the old fashion way and called Ultimate and asked them for a printed catalog, which they promptly sent me. They still make the "A" frame stands and you can get some half bars that yu can put on the side of the main KB bars to hold smaller items. Neat.

 

Mike T.

[Anomaly]

When I used to stack, I had a 3 tier quikloc double X brace stand. I'm not nuts over the X stands, but when you have an 88 key weighted controller on the bottom, it's gotta be a stable stand and the Quikloc did a great job. The 2nd and 3rd tier are adjustable on height and angle.

 

I could angle the 2nd tier flat on top of my SL880, so ther was only the 1 inch thickness of the tubing between my Fatar and my VK7. I stacked the Triton on an angle on top so I could see the touch screen. Since I barely ever played the Triton on its own keyboard, the angle didn't bother me.

 

The new version of that stand is even more adjustable than the one I have.

 

I gotta tell ya, that stand is one tough SOB. It's 8 years old and I still use the 1st and 2nd tier.

[eric]

Look for an Invisible stand on the used market. I had a "triple decker" setup with an Invisible and the keyboards were as close together as I've ever seen. I have a good photos of the stack somewhere. Invisible stands are better for standing, but I can sit easily if I have a stool. I stand for gigs, but usually sit down when playing at home.

 

Regards,

Eric

[keyoctave]

Rabid, I have used 3 keyboards for years. What I finally ended up with is 2 heavy duty X type stands. The bottom one holds my main 88 note keyboard. The other one holds the organ with a 61 note synth stacked on top using a second tier. The top tier sits on the top of the organ bringing them as close together as possible. What I do different is off-set the top stack at a 30 degree angle over the left side of the bottom keyboard. I still have access to all controllers on the bottom keyboard. When I sit, I can face the 88 note keyboard head on. With just a slight turn to the left, I face the double keyboard stack head on. This also allows me to play the 88 note keyboard with the right hand and either of the other two with my left without the 'arms crossing' problem that one can run into when all are stacked on top on one another. This configuration doesn't require much more room than the triple stack but it takes up much less space than an L type setup while still providing some of the advantages of that type of setup.