Double Bass Upright Bass Stand for Stage

[jmlee]

I use this Hercules stand at home
Double Bass
but I can see how the bass bar would be better on stage. If my end pin was any further out I’d have to put it in to use the Hercules.

My end pin is pretty far out and there's still a couple of inches clearance with the Hercules. I have two of these and also two Ingles stands that I used before I got the Hercules ones. I've used both on stage since I double a lot with big bands. For what it's worth, it seems to me that the Hercules stands would be harder to tip if you really had a mind to do so.

 

[Martin Spure]

@Jason Sypher, I don’t know if you’ve ended your search for a ‘stage worthy’ stand, but I just came across this beautiful looking stand - yet rather expensive; and probably also a wee bit cumbersome to transport, come to think of it...But it certainly looks the part



I couldn’t find any further info on the stand, but I’m sure Jonas Lohse from Kontrabass-Atelier can get you up to speed:

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[DMcNutt]

This photo should have been included in my post earlier today. It shows the 2” piece removed from the tip of the Cradle leg.

 

[Papageno]

This photo should have been included in my post earlier today. It shows the 2” piece removed from the tip of the Cradle leg.View attachment 5344596

Thanks a lot. I shall try this.

 

[Sam Reese]

I have 3 Ingles stands (#1 very old & well gigged, #2 a little old w/ some gigs and #3 brand new for my studio only). The foam rubber gets worn away pretty easily where you set the lower bout. I reinforced my oldest stand with gaffers tape and it works fine. I am a big fan of the security latch that goes around the neck twofold- it offers real world protection from potential catastrophic bumps and you can place your bass while it's in its travel bag on the stand and use the latch to further secure it (like at the end of the night and you drag your bass in the house and just don't feel like taking it out of the case). As for laying it on the floor, if you've ever had the neck get broken because of someone's clumsiness (like happened to me), you'll almost never set it on the floor.

 

[Don Hergert]

The three instruments I routinely play are super prone to neck accidents: Banjos and mandolins, because they are poorly balanced and have round bodies and won't reliably sit anywhere, and the double bass, because of the same reasons plus their size. All can also be neck-broken due to people around them and I've seen it happen. While I and many other participants don't drink, the genre community that I jam with has a tradition of friendly over-drinking, and that of course can also contribute to damaged instruments; I've also seen this happen.

Banjos, mandolins and guitars are small enough to store in their cases whenever we put them down, but double basses tend to be totally exposed.

It's been said here and anywhere necked-instruments are discussed, instrument stands are God's gift to luthiers. Although the Ingles stand seems to be the most reliable of the commonly used double bass stands, I've seen winds upset them with double basses attached. Outside, double basses seem to attract winds -- like they should be attached to wind turbines to improve their electrical generation.

It hasn't really been discussed here, but outside jamming environments are a serious nightmare for double basses. While I have an Ingles and I have a K&M, when I'm camping at a festival my preferred resting spot for my double bass is laying flat on our 8' camping table with a towel underneath for cushion and the pegbox hanging off the table. Winds can come up and it stays there. People can walk around and it's safe; it's a very big combination and people cannot miss it, even with a cup of 'shine in their system. But, we cannot do anything else with that table while the double bass is on it.

 

[Papageno]

This photo should have been included in my post earlier today. It shows the 2” piece removed from the tip of the Cradle leg.View attachment 5344596

I have performed the fix you suggested. That was very fast and easy. And as I had indicated, I come back to report about my observations.

Removing 2 inches of tube length on foot 2 indeed brings the arm C more horizontal, and as expected, this reduces the push of the back of the bass on arm B. Apparently, it seems that this would cure the problem I had mentioned (foot 1 slipping away from the bass on a very smooth hard floor).

Unfortunately, this creates another problem: Now, there is not enough support on the front side of the bass (foot 2 does not extend far enough to the front to provide a wide enough polygon of sustentation). Actually the is stable when placed on the cradle, but the safety margin to prevent a front crash is rather slim, and there is a risk of accident if someone knocks the bass or the cradle. When I perform the maneuver you call "the wagle" to check the proper placement of the bass on the cradle, the feet 1 and and 3 tend to lift themselves from the floor. This is really annoying.

Again, all this is very much dependent on the shape and size of the bass and extension of the endpin. But the geometry of the cradle is too akward to get a good feeling of whether or not the bass is safe.

I think that the various problems I have reported can be cured by performing some changes in the design of the cradle, but in the present version I wouldn't use it, nor recommend it to others.

Thank you again for taking the time to exchange with your customers on the forum.

 

[DMcNutt]

When I perform the Bass Cradle Waggle no feet come up off the floor. Do it as shown in the video:

 

[Papageno]

When I perform the Bass Cradle Waggle no feet come up off the floor. Do it as shown in the video:

Here is a vidéo showing what I reported in my previous post.

After having shorted leg 2, as you recommended, the cradle does not offer enough (in my view) stability on the front side the bass. I first show that it does not require much to bring the cradle off balance on the front side. Then, when placing the bass on the cradle, you can see that the rear feet lift off the floor when I perform the "wagle" move. This because the shortened leg does not extend far enough towards the front of the bass to provide a good polygon of sustentation.

Thank you for your efforts to convince me of the performances of the cradle. Unfortunately they were not successful.

 

[DMcNutt]

Thanks for taking time to provide a video.

It clearly shows what you are doing to raise the leg. I am sorry you didn’t do the Waggle as instructed.

As described in my video above, the Waggle is intended only to show that the bass is properly hooked over the supporting arm. That obviously is why the bass is being supported in two hands. Further, when the bass is on the Cradle, the bass/Cradle combo creates a footprint of which the bass endpin is an essential stabilizing element.

I invite any Cradle users to watch both videos and try the Waggle with their own basses. Let experience be the judge.

After our colloquy, I will stay with the experience of my almost daily use of the Cradle in many venues for more than ten years. I used it on a smooth tile floor two days ago, and on a different smooth floor last evening. No problems at all.

Waggle on!

 

[utzb]

Don't have a photo atm, however I use a wooden box: the long edges at the top are a bit cut out (following the bass' shape), while the short edges are where the bass sits on. (And some slotted holes are cut out to be able to carry the box conveniently).

This is also a great place where you can transport amp, cables, sheets, ... On stage, all of that is not in the box anymore, and the bass rests high enough so that the endpin still doesn't touch the floor of the box.

This setup does not exactly offer the most elegant visuals, but as typically put rather in the back of the stage, it doesn't matter too much.