Thought on folding music stands?
 

So what's everyone (you know who you are) using for a folding stand?
I'm not talking about the frail, wire stands that fall over if you look at them the wrong way, but one that can easily deal with a Real Book and a stuffed, two inch, three ring binder at the same time.
The On Stage gets good reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002F7IN0/...860_pe_vfe_dt1
Any other thoughts?

This one works good for me: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acces...ty-music-stand

ETA: not flimsy at all.

My guitarist uses that stand. It works great for him, the only complaint would be that it's still pretty big when folded.

I use one of the lightweight, kind of flimsy style stands at gigs. Works ok but is wobbly. The unstable nature of these stands make them high risk if band mates are moving around the stage and not paying attention.

The biggest negative of the flimsy style stand is they're a total pain to use outside when the wind is blowing - especially if I have to turn pages of sheet music back and forth. In this case I'd recommend using a standard music stand for stability (and continuity of the performance!).

I used to use on of the heavier folding stands. Its OK, and worth the hassle of carrying it about. The wire stands are definately an indoor toy, and not meant for large stacks of music.

Lately I've been scanning my music and putting on my iPad via ForScore and holding to a mic stand with a Talent iPad holder. This works best of all. Very portable. You have have ALL you music with you at all times. And... no need for a stand light (always a hassle with an extra power cord or batteries). Yea... a little pricey, but in the end worth it.

Tablet displays are cool but their major problem is they don't work well in bright sunlight. They absolutely don't work if you're wearing Polaroid type sunglasses. Most of my gigs are outside at wineries so this is my bete noire.

If you didn't steal a Manhasset from your alma mater's music department, you're not a real bassist!

:)

Guilty. And +1 I had to spray paint over the white letters.

:hiding:

I rock the folding version of the venerable Manhasset. It may not hold as much weight due to it's hydraulic (?) height adjustment but that's trumped by the ability to use stand extenders. For pure weight bearing ability, nothing beats a clamping/locking adjustment like the On Stage or my old indestructable Hamilton

Hey guys, thanks for the input.

The K&N looks pretty compact with the folding bookplate but pretty pricey. I don't see a way to clip on a stand light, which is a must. Still looks good for an daytime, one book, potable.

I dug out my flimsy, chrome stand to give it a test. To my surprise, it handled a full 2' binder. At sitting down height, it was pretty stable with a bit of side to side twist, but not bad. At standing height, it's usable, but with more twist. With a full 3" binder, at sitting height, it was adequate. A bit more wobble, but the bookplate angle adjustment did hold. At standing height, forget about it. Way to much movement. And don't even think of turning to "A Child Is Born". I can see a couple bags of pennies on the legs helping, but still a light weight, daytime, one book stand. Wouldn't gig it.

The tablet idea is interesting. A singer at an open mic called a tune without bringing charts. The horn player next to me pulled it up on his i-something and I was able to play through it. Very cool. However, considering my eyes, I'm just a few years away from walking into walls; aint gonna happen!
I also wouldn't run the risk of loosing power on a gig.

I think it's probably going to come down to either the On Stage, Hamilton or Manhasset.

This looks cool. Folding bookplate.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acces...le-music-stand

Just had a thought. If I modify the telescoping base of an On Stage mic stand to accommodate my Manhasset bookplate, I'd have everything covered; folding legs, custom length base,
bookplate that I know will handle two books, and accept an extension and a light. Hmmmm!

Also guilty. Three Manhassets and a Wenger. Shameful!

It's an absolutely ingenious idea but unfortunately, I've seen more than one broken one.

I like the folding wire ones on windy gigs. I just push the legs into the ground and use clips to hold down the plexi which is holding the music. It's about the only thing they do better than the Manhasset stands.

I tried out an On Stage folding stand after I accidentally left my old folding music stand at an out of state venue. It lasted me all of ONE gig, simply because it couldn't properly support my sheet music book. I went back to the shop where I bought that On Stage stand, and even THEY told me that it was, in their parlance, "A piece of $**t".

They were actually sorry that I had a bad experience with the On Stage stand, and took into account that I've been doing business with them for 20 years. So what did they do? They credited me the price of that On Stage stand, and put it towards a new folding K&M stand. The new K&M stands are definitely a lot more sturdy.

And the one that I lost at that road gig? It was a K&M, and it had lasted me at least 6 years, if not longer. I like these because they're not huge, and with the stand in the fabric case I can get it into my messenger bag along with my cables, spare strings, etc.

The Manhasset stands are great. But they're not exactly mobile.

This one attaches to a mic stand so you don't have extra stuff on stage.

http://www.amazon.com/Quik-MS-303-Mi...d+music+holder

Wow! That's really surprising to hear about the On Stage. It gets such good reviews on Amazon. Could you have gotten a lemon?
Yeah, I'm trying to get away from the Manhasset for that reason. Particularly the fixed base.

I'm guilty of this haha. I'm currently In the process of painting on it.

Wire stands suck majorly. I played a gig with a guitarist that used one of those larger folding stands and it was really nice. Wasn't very small when folded up, but it was very sturdy.

Honestly, it felt REALLY flimsy. And my sheet music book weighed a good deal more than the stand. As much as I tried to tighten the set screw for the assembly that held the book, it just wouldn't hold tight enough to support my book. I had no such problems with the K&M stands.

That's what I use, but it's not very good for a binder. The "stand" part of it is right in line with the mic stand (or whatever stand you mount it to), so you can't really have the book open and easily turning pages.