Short Mic Stand Recommendations

Matt C. · Post by **Matt C.** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 8:28 am

I'm getting sick of dealing with flimsy or broken mic stands, and I'm wondering if anyone knows where to get some sturdy, well built short mic stands. Low profile with solid base is best, for micing amps, kick drum, etc. Are there good options that aren't absurdly expensive? or should I keep just using the onstage stands and replacing them every couple years when they die?

The Scum · Post by **The Scum** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 10:29 am

I've got several shorties, of varying satiscaction.

I've got a couple of regular stands that I hacksawed down to make shorter. But they've got all of the troubles that come along with cheap stands. I think they were originally Onstage, or something similar sold in a 2-for-1 sale.

The next step up is the short Tama stands. For my money, Tama make the best mid priced stand. Everything is solid, but the newer ones have a couple hangups - they are natively mini-threads, with an adapter to 5/8", mine all get a few drops of Loctite on that interface. They're also not very tall at full extension. They don't do double duty as regular stands.

Finally, I've got the nicer K&M shorty with the telescopic boom. Twice the price of the Tama stands. More adjustable, taller at max, bu I find it very hard to get the set screw on the telescoping part of the boom tight enough that it won't twist.

I'd also be curious to know how good the modern Ultimate Support stands are.

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 12:20 pm

A K&M stand - yeah, they're expensive. But they'll last 5-10 times longer than the cheap stands you've been bitching about.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 12:31 pm

Scodiddly wrote:A K&M stand - yeah, they're expensive. But they'll last 5-10 times longer than the cheap stands you've been bitching about.

Totally agree.

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 3:03 pm

What are you guys doing with these stands?

I've got a mess of GC/On-Stage stands that I've had for at least five years, and a handful of older ones (Yams?) that I've had for over 20. Live, they do take a beating (mostly loading in and out of van), but in the studio, it's light duty. Move here, move there, adjust. How often are they breaking, and are you over-tightening?

I've never seen Tama mike stands, but I do have a converted cymbal boom stand that I use for some things. Great, sold stand as vvv said, but with the same mini-adaptor issue (in fact, I never used Loctite and it's frozen "on").

GJ

A.David.MacKinnon · Post by **A.David.MacKinnon** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 4:45 pm

I bought a bunch of these -

and a bunch of these -

.
then put the booms on the kick mic stands and used the left over clamp thingy for mounting two LCDs in XY on a single straight stand.

permanent hearing damage · Post by **permanent hearing damage** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 4:46 pm

Scodiddly wrote:A K&M stand - yeah, they're expensive. But they'll last 5-10 times longer than the cheap stands you've been bitching about.

+1

my K&M stands have served me well since I bought most of them back in 2001. I think one boom arm got stripped and had to be replaced a year ago or so. worth the extra $$

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:31 am

I like the low atlas stands, the tama with built in boom too.

dfuruta · Post by **dfuruta** » Sun Mar 09, 2014 10:42 am

the DR Pro stands are decent.

digitaldrummer · Post by **digitaldrummer** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:29 am

+1 on the DR Pro and the K&M's. Very similar in build and seems to last much longer than the OnStage low end crap.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 10:16 pm

I have a pile of DR stands that I've had for like eight years now and have never had a single problem with one of them. Seems like they've recently had a considerable jump in price at GC, but they're totally great stands.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

ScottEvans · Post by **ScottEvans** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 1:57 pm

A few years ago I bought some Atlas round-base stands, and K&M booms.
http://vintageking.com/atlas-dms7-8-13- ... and-chrome (very short)
http://vintageking.com/atlas-dms10e-14- ... tand-ebony (medium short)
http://vintageking.com/k-m-211-1-boom-arm-black

That comes out to about $75/stand, which isn't terrible. Every time I use them I'm happy, and I'm pretty sure that treated well, they'll last forever.

I also found a couple of used stands with a burly iron "tripod" base - you can see two in this photo between the round bases. They're great, but I don't know where to buy them new.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:29 pm

Cool pic, gives me wood!

That said, every time I read this thread title, I wonder if it's about setting up the stage for, like, these guys:

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Short Mic Stand Recommendations

Short Mic Stand Recommendations

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