Microphone stands.

[dgatwood]

and i find that there is no practical difference btween cheap stands and expensive stands. like someone said regardless of stand quality, if the boom is all the way out its going to fall. save yourself some cash and stick with the "cheaper" stands and add some weight to the opposite of the boom.

I disagree. I've used cheap, lightweight boom stands and many of them at full extension won't even hold an SDC without the boom and/or upright sagging/flexing even if you take care of the tipping problem by positioning it over a leg. They also have poor clutch designs that last four or five years before the rubber parts wear out and the boom won't stay at any angle no matter what you do. There's a huge difference between the $20 stands and the $40 stands if you're dealing with booms.

And the really heavy duty ones are tough as tanks. My biggest stand has teeth on the boom clutch so it cannot drop. When putting a mic twenty feet in the air, you really need that level of robustness. Unfortunately, that's the sort of thing you can't tell from a simple photo and a description from a website. It pays to go see these things in stores if you can.

This photo demonstrates the difference between lightweight mic stands and somewhat heavier mic stands:

Notice two things:

1. The cheap mic stand is curved from the weight of an Oktava MK-012 and tends to sag on its own.
2. The Tama mic stand is holding two cymbals and a 10" rack tom. The cymbal gets regular use.

 

[dgatwood]

Well, they don't exist in Britain, as far as I can tell, haha.

http://www.thomann.de/index.html?partner_id=97926&page=gb/superlux_ms_200.htm

Any views on that? Looks like a pretty robust piece of kit for a good price (£/euros, not dollars, remember, haha.)

I think that's probably the same as the one I use on my studio grand. I believe that it is also basically an On Stage Stands SB9600 minus the 90 degree boom extension at the end. Unfortunately, my mic stand has no manufacturer markings on it (probably because we sawed off the center shaft by about six inches to fit under the lid of the piano at short stick) so I'm not completely certain who officially "made" it....

Anyway, it's a rock solid stand with metal teeth in the clutch. Should be a great choice assuming that is the same stand by the same underlying (probably Chinese) manufacturer.

 

[Shadow_7]

I have an on stage music stand and mic stand. They're both hefty looking, but are really quite wimpy. When you turn the tension screws it litereally bends the metal pole of that stand. In the case of my Radio Shack boom arm, I ripped the tension screw out with just finger strength. And it sags no matter how much I crank the clutch. I was mainly using it as a height extension, but with out the tension screw, it's almost useless. Baring the use of tape.

 

[Richard Monroe]

I agree with Dgatwood. Sounds like the same stand, give or take. Square bottom with four flat folding legs?-Richie

 

[dgatwood]

I agree with Dgatwood. Sounds like the same stand, give or take. Square bottom with four flat folding legs?-Richie

No, that's not it. The Superlux in the link above was a three-leg tripod. Super heavy duty---the leg pipes are about 2 inches in diameter. It's basically almost identical to the On Stage Stands speaker stands that my church has, but with a boom arm fastened on top instead of a stump to go into the bottom of the speaker (and maybe one fewer telescoping segments, I forget).

Basically the 9600 (or the 96, not 96+) without the 90 degree L at the end.

 

[mixsit]

I disagree. I've used cheap, lightweight boom stands and many of them at full extension won't even hold an SDC without the boom and/or upright sagging/flexing even if you take care of the tipping problem by positioning it over a leg. They also have poor clutch designs that last four or five years before the rubber parts wear out and the boom won't stay at any angle no matter what you do. There's a huge difference between the $20 stands and the $40 stands if you're dealing with booms.

Yep. Some can be at the verge of stripping the clutch and it's still sagging.
Tama's (and some sand filled shot bags) if you like fold-up/storage.

 

[andydeedpoll]

Wow, thanks for all the help everyone!

T'ink I'm going to buy it, stick a mic on it and not worry about it from here on in

Andrew.

 

[andydeedpoll]

Oh, Dgatwood, I'm likin' the little trombone man on your mantelpiece. Do you play yourself?

Andrew.

 

[dgatwood]

Oh, Dgatwood, I'm likin' the little trombone man on your mantelpiece. Do you play yourself?

Yeah.

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