This isn’t so much a review about a specific product as it is highlighting the practical benefits of the lightweight stand options out there at the moment.
After fifteen years of using the same stands, and hitting 45 as well, it struck me that I might want to look at my cymbal stand options again.
I wasn’t unhappy with my old stands.
They were a bottom of the range single braced disappearing boom Yamaha model but despite that they had lasted for hundreds of gigs. Apart from being scratched up from going in and out of my hardware case, they still are in great condition and would probably have lasted many more years. They weren’t even that heavy either.
However…
As I’ve got older, as I’m sure many others have found too, I’ve grown to notice that the weight of my hardware case is just a bit less fun to lug about now. This led me to look at what lightweight stand options were out there. I wasn’t looking to replace my hi hat or snare stands, just the cymbal stands.
The stands I bought were four Tama Classic stands. Four because that’s the amount I was using already, and because after some research these suited my needs the best. I wasn’t bothered about replacing the disappearing boom option, the stand just needed to be lighter than my current choice and strong enough to mount things off if needed.
First of all, they’re light. Yes, that’s the point obviously, but when was the last time you found you could hold four cymbal stands in one hand? Never. Even my old stands, I could only hold two. So, that was already a plus; I could feel how much lighter my cymbal case was already.
The practical side of the stands is that they are a little over half the weight of my previous stands, they take up less floor space when set up, have a lower profile (which means they fit under the bass drum etc better) but can also still take the weight of any attachments. In my case, these ‘attachments’ are a 14” wood timbale and a pair of small electronic pads mounted via a heavy clamp and two arms. On top of these is usually a 10 or 12” splash. Whilst I haven’t weighed all that, it’s going to be more than the stand itself.
I’ve been using these lightweight stands now for the last couple of months over numerous gigs. They’ve held up just fine. With just the cymbals on, the stands obviously work great. As the base is smaller it’s possible to get the cymbal in near enough without missing the boom I previously had.
When it came to to the stand with the additions, with all of the weight distributed over the legs, the stand wobbles a little near the top, but not to any degree to cause distraction when playing or any concern at all. To be honest, I was pretty amazed at that as I was realistically expecting to have to come up with some type of compromise on this and use one of my old stands to accommodate my needs.
All in all, for not much of an outlay I’ve managed to significantly reduce the weight of my hardware case without really losing any of the usability or positioning of my stands/cymbals.
The particular stands I chose don’t come with the option of a disappearing boom arm, so they might now suit everyone. But, from what I can see, all of the other models listed below seem to have that either installed or are available as straight or boom stands.
Some of the current lightweight cymbal stand options –
http://www.tama.com/product/hardware_data.php?year=2017&area=3&id=197
