Heavy duty boom stands

Shellacattack · Post by **Shellacattack** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 10:53 am

I need a heavy duty boom stand with about a 5' boom so I can suspend a rather heavy LDC over my drum kit. Tried counter-weighting one of my normal stands, but it's just too iffy. I've used Atlas stands in the past, and I really like them, but I can't really justify spending $250-$300 on a mic stand. This is just for my basement studio. I've searched around, and it seems like Atlas is the only option... They do offer some booms on their own, but not the length I need.

You guys know of any good heavy duty boom stands that can be had for $150 or below?

Or perhaps you know of a different route I can take, to get that mic safely above the kit?

Thanks for your help!

Post by **TapeOpLarry** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 11:13 am

We have some big, aluminum tubular stands, like speaker stands, with long booms for mics. I can't remember the brand, but it was a common one, and they were around that price.

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 11:57 am

I bought a stage one big boom for $120.00 shipped on ebay. i'm sure it won't last forever, but it seems pretty stout. i think the counterweight is seven pounds.

edit: Doh! I meant the on stage boom...

Matt C. · Post by **Matt C.** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 12:24 pm

I've been looking around for the same thing the last couple days. I'm sick of cheap, droopy stands that break after a year or two. I saw people speaking highly of the On-Stage heavy duty boom stand that sells for $120, but I think I don't trust it. the other one I found is this:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MC125/
it's still a bit above your budget, but it looks like one of the best options i've found without going into the top of the line Atlas/Latch Lake zone. there are two notable features i like about it: the the mini boom at the end can rotate independently of the bigger boom arm, which makes it easier to screw things onto the end, and also i like the style of the knobs used to tighten the boom arm. looks like they're much easier to work with than the usual ones that are just round with ridges.

Shellacattack · Post by **Shellacattack** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 12:50 pm

mattcastore wrote:I saw people speaking highly of the On-Stage heavy duty boom stand that sells for $120, but I think I don't trust it.

This is exactly my thinking as well. I have a couple on-stage stands (standard size), and they are pretty poor quality. That other stand you linked to looks nice, but $200 is still too much; at least for my purposes.

I dunno.... I may just bite the bullet with the on-stage and see what happens.

Maybe I'll start the first HoverStand company. Any backers?

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 1:41 pm

If it's just your studio, and you don't have a bunch of other people in there adjusting your stands, and you're careful and take good care of them, those On Stage stands are fine for what you want to do.

I've had two of them for a couple of years. I typically ask that clients wait for me to adjust stands. And, I've taken good care of them. They're still operating as when they were new.

jgimbel · Post by **jgimbel** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:25 pm

I've got a few On-Stage stands that I've been using a while. They're pretty beat up now but still function fine. I bought a few more when they were on sale a year or less ago, same brand, but they're definitely different. Different knobs, which I like better, I think they're better overall. They might be cheap stands but I've never had any issues with them. However, I've never put LDCs too high over the kit, and I definitely wouldn't trust one of the stands as is. Not because of build quality, just because of the weight/lack of extra weight at the base. I didn't realize that you can get 3 and 6/7 pound counterweights to attach to the boom on Amazon, they're under $20! It's not going to make an On-Stage an Atlas but I wouldn't expect any issues.

Shellacattack · Post by **Shellacattack** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:25 pm

chris harris wrote:I've had two of them for a couple of years. I typically ask that clients wait for me to adjust stands. And, I've taken good care of them. They're still operating as when they were new.

You have two of the weighted on-stage stands, or you have two standard on-stage stands? If the former, how was the quality of the boom arm? Are you able to extend it to the limit without it feeling too flimsy?

jgimbel wrote:I didn't realize that you can get 3 and 6/7 pound counterweights to attach to the boom on Amazon, they're under $20!

Can you post a link to those? All I'm finding on Amazon are sandbags.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:01 pm

We've got two of the On Stage booms that have been in service for 13 years now. They're perfectly fine, although it's kind of annoying that they put four legs with wheels on them instead of three. That's just kind of a bad, unnecessary design with flaws on any kind of uneven surface or in the event that the stand itself is slightly uneven (and one of ours is). But they'll hold a heavy mic like a 4038 or a TS-2 or U47 with no problem at all. Because they're completely hollow, they can get a little "ringy," so you might want to be sure to use a shockmount of some type with the mics you put on it.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

jgimbel · Post by **jgimbel** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:05 pm

Shellacattack wrote:
jgimbel wrote:I didn't realize that you can get 3 and 6/7 pound counterweights to attach to the boom on Amazon, they're under $20!
Can you post a link to those? All I'm finding on Amazon are sandbags.

I searched "mic stand counterweight":

3lb:
http://www.amazon.com/Stage-Boom-Stand- ... 008&sr=8-1

6 lb:
http://www.amazon.com/Stage-CW-6-Stand- ... 008&sr=8-5

These are definitely things I'm going to be picking up.

roygbiv · Post by **roygbiv** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:43 pm

If you get lucky, you can find counterweights real cheap ($2-3) at your local Goodwill/Salvation Army.

The arm-weights can be used as the counter-weight on the cheapo-boom mic, and the barbell-weights slip perfectly over a mic-stand, and add as much weight to the base as you want to add.

Here's what Immatalkinbout:

As detailed in a previous rambling post:
http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopi ... ght#636090

fuzz · Post by **fuzz** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:46 pm

I'd second (or third?) the On-Stage boom stands with counter weights. They're all you're gonna find in your price range. I concur, the 4 leg base (with each leg radius around 3') sux bad and clients love to trip over them, but that's the price of cheap stands. I sold both of mine last year to someone on the TOMB and have since bought a latch lake.

FYI, I also have two Atlas stands I got off CL for $100 total. So if you can sit on it, I'd suggest keeping a lookout. Heck, maybe you could get some starbirds cheap.

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 8:50 pm

I had one of the heavy duty On Stage stands with the four legs. I liked it. But, the two that I've been using for the last couple of years are like this:

These are only $120 at AMS. Great stand. More sturdy than the 4 legged variety. The base is quite heavy and the counter weight is great. I wouldn't hesitate to put heavy mics up in the air on these things.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 9:09 pm

Yeah, I think those would be the way to go.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Shellacattack · Post by **Shellacattack** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:52 am

Cool deal. Thanks for your help guys! I'll be picking one of those up shortly. May grab a couple of the add-on weights as well. They're on ebay for cheaper than amazon at the moment.

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