Double Bass Upright Bass Stand Problem at gigs

PauFerro

PauFerro

Jun 8, 2008
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#1
At home I use an upright bass stand that works -- an Engles.


https://www.amazon.com/Ingles-Adjus...=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Engles+upright+bass+stand

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It works fine at home, but take it to a gig -- nightmare!

Doesn't collapse, hits things in transit, etcetera.

Other than putting blocks of wood on the side of the upright so I can lay it down, does anyone have suggestions for a good, transportable stand for an upright? One that allows the bass to stand up securely? I am uncomfortable with laying it on its side due to space and other considerations. Suggestions are welcome.
 
#4
Yes i dont own or use a stand. At home the bass sits in a corner, on the gig its layed on the floor. Get some edge protectors to stick on the side as to not damage your top/back edges when laying it on the floor. My bandmates once asked if i was going to get a stand, and the answer was no since pretty much every pro bassist i have seen live doesn't use one.
 
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#6
I don't always take a stand to gigs, but they do come in handy when bandstand floorspace is at a premium. And, they are a necessity (for me, at least) when doubling in the pit.

The redesigned Koenig & Meyers are pretty sturdy, compared to their old chrome versions.

Double bass stand

One modification/hack I found necessary was to put a couple of zip ties on the upper supports to keep them from inadvertently unlocking (which they can do). If you keep the ties loose, you can easily slide them on and off, like so:

On & sturdy

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Off & and ready to fold for transport

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#7
I'm going to go against the prevailing wisdom here to say that I ALWAYS bring a bass stand to the gig. There is seldom an "out-of-the-way" place to lay it down on the gigs I play, nor is there hardly ever room on the bandstand and often there isn't an unused corner to stand it up in. I would maintain that a bass correctly positioned in a stand is more stable than a bass leaning in a corner.

I have had one "incident" in 38 years with the bass in a stand, and it was as much my fault as the guitar player's for not positioning it securely. It's true that a bass in a stand has a lot further to fall than a bass laying on its side; however, its "footprint" on the bandstand is a lot smaller. To my mind, that means less exposure to potential harm. I have heard of several catastrophic accidents visited on basses laying on their sides.
 
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#8
Not sure what you mean by doesn’t collapse. I’ve been using the Engles for years with no problem. The neck part slides out and the legs fold together. I really need it for EUB. Personally, I would never lean a bass against a corner or wall. But that’s just me.
A windy day can be a problem.
 
#9
Recommend the Hercules over the K&M. You can actually play the bass on the stand on a Hercules, which comes in handy for Pit doubling. Herc stand is also sturdier than the K&M. Downside is that there is nothing that stops someone from knocking the bass sideways off the stand.
 
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#10
I started with an Ingles, which is a pretty subpar piece of gear - ok at home, lousy at a gig. I'm now five years with the K&M and I'm loving it. I don't see a reason that the bass couldn't be played while held by the stand, in the unlikely event that one wanted to. One of my bass jam-mates has a Hercules, and it seems fine, but he retired it in favor of a K&M once he saw mine. YMMV
 
#13
I used a stand for a while years ago, but found that the footprint of the bass lying down isn't significantly larger than me holding it in playing position with the empty stand nearby. I think if there's an advantage to the stand it's in the lower likelihood of some fool tripping over it when it's down. To mitigate that risk I'm careful about where I lay it down — preferably out of likely traffic entirely. I'll take a corner when I can get it.
 
#15
Inky13 said:
Not sure what you mean by doesn’t collapse. I’ve been using the Engles for years with no problem. The neck part slides out and the legs fold together. I really need it for EUB. Personally, I would never lean a bass against a corner or wall. But that’s just me.
A windy day can be a problem.
Click to expand...

The front supports on which you set the lower bout don't fold inwards, so they catch on things, and the neck holder doesn't fold back, so it catches on things too. Those two things are always in the way. You want a stand that folds up flat or better yet, folds into something akin to a cylinder where there are no protruding edges.

Someone once posted a stool that doubled as an upright bass stand that I thought was cool, but it was wood and way overpriced. It looked heavy.
 
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#17
I used one for about a year at home when I lived in an apartment that didn’t have a corner to prop the bass into. I used one for about a year when I lived in an apartment that didn’t have a corner to prop the bass in. Never seem super secure and I left it on the curb when I moved out of that place. My
One observation would be that a bunch of my friends who switched over from guitar seem to really like these things, probably because they are used to them on stage.
 
#19
I recently bought the Bass Cradle "Gigger's" Model after reading about it on TB, which replaced my Hercules. I found the Hercules to be too big and annoying to carry while carrying other stuff. The cradle is really light, has a bag with a strap that can also hold a mic stand. Much more efficient. As a stand it’s really good and definitely better on uneven ground outdoors.

I always bring a stand to unfamiliar situations and wind up using it about 30% of all events I’m at overall. Sometimes there just isn’t an accessible corner, which is preferred. If I didn’t have it last week for example, people dancing around it would’ve trampled the bass for sure if it had been on the floor. I wasn’t confident originally leaving it on its own on the stand but after watching everybody move around it because it was visible, rather than trip over it on the floor I’m convinced it’s the right thing for a good number of situations.
 
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#20
I use the Ingles at home and at certain gigs. I do a lot of outdoor festivals and like others have mentioned, I don't like the idea of laying my bass down outside on concrete or dirt, or where there's a lot of foot traffic. I've had to do repairs on my ca. 1930 tuners from people accidentally kicking the bass and would prefer not to go through that again.

I agree that corners are nice because foot traffic doesn't generally go there, but if someone is goofing around near an otherwise unattended bass leaning into a corner it could be upset. While I wouldn't lean my bass with no other support into a corner, I would put it on the stand in a corner, that would be really safe and isolated and outside, generally protected from wind and foot traffic.

I agree that the Ingles is a pain to transport. I generally remove the neck holder and thumb-screw it into it's socket upside-down so it is protected by the legs and arms of the stand and it's a little more out of the way. But it still doesn't fit conveniently anywhere among other instruments in a car and it can get hooked on things. That said, I like the neck holder.

Another inconvenience is that a bass-buggy has to come off before the bass can be put into the Ingles stand, I suspect that's consistent with any other stand too.

There's no perfect answer. All instrument stands pose a risk of getting upset and causing breakage on the instrument in it. Because of that I never use instrument stands for my other smaller instruments, but a bass is so big it gets in the way if it isn't standing.
 
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