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I have been procrastinating on the purchase of a good reliable tuba stand for too long now. Does anyone know of any good, RELIABLE stands that could last a long time? The last one I had broke way too soon. It would be nice to find one where quality and affordability meet. Please let me know which ones are the best and where I can get one. Thanks

I prefer the BBC tuba stand. Durable, portable, and not too expensive.

I also know some tuba players that will take drumset thrones, remove the seat, and add a flat pad for the tuba.

The disadvantage of a pegged drum throne, or anything with a peg, is that it limits the height adjustment, even if it's a matter of fractions of an inch. The BBC work well for me in almost any height of chair, and with both my PT-10 and my Martin.

One big issue with me....my flat backed tubas don't fit so well against my rounded front me. Getting the horns to the right height but being comfortable is nearly impossible for me any more, now that I've gotten used to the stand. Best purchase I made in a long time, as good as the horns, frankly. I have a lot less tension in me overall.

In addition to Joe's list of reasons to use a tuba rest - Gene Pokorny gave a very convincing demonstration (at TUSABTEC, a few years ago) that
playing with a support allowed for better RESONATION than playing with the tuba in your lap.

If Gene thinks it helps him...I'm convinced.

I've played with a support for many years now, and my only comment is that on the times when (for whatever reason) I could NOT
use a stand, it was a royal PITA. The difference in comfort level and relaxation is SIGNIFICANT. But, I can see that it's difficult to appreciate
this at first. Playing with a stand requires a slightly different approach to finding the right position, and that can feel awkward for awhile.
But, once you get used to it, I predict you will never go back.

I keep quite a few tubas in my 'stable'. Several years ago, I just got tired of moving leadpipes and switched to using a stand for all playing of upright tubas. I have not tried a Baltimore Brass stand but understand that the height clutch is superior to all the others. That being said... I use a DEG stand and have never had a problem with it.

Deg stands have come in several varieties, depending on where they are sourcing the parts at any given moment. The one I had used tubular legs with a sliding-collar tripod design, but I have seen other designs, too. All the designs are light, using thin-wall tubing, and work fine for tubas under 20 pounds, but will not last long with tubas over 20 pounds in my experience. My DEG lived many years working fine with a Miraphone 186, but died quickly when I started resting the 28-pound York Master on it. Some designs require the legs to project out along the floor instead of at an angle to it, and when the legs bend the center will rest on the floor instead of one leg, and the stand will wobble and be unstable. The clamp is a split-ring collar with a tangential screw, and that screw is plastic and can strip. Dr. Sloan replaced it with the cam-action quick-release seat-post binder from a bicycle, which is a good solution for that problem. The top is plastic with a foam pad glued on, and mine suffered a separation between the foam and the plastic.

I then used K&M stands, owning a couple of them. They are quite strong and durable. But they have several flaws: 1.) The legs are made of bar stock set on edge, and if you accidentally step on it not wearing shoes (as is my usual practice-room condition), you will ruin your day. The legs have a wide stance, so it's a plausible accident. 2.) They don't go low enough for some tubas. 3.) They cost a bundle. The K&M clamp is a plate collar with a screw that jams it against the center tube, which is a reliable design. The metal parts on the K&M are chrome-plated steel. The top is a steel cradle encased in heavy rubber (think tire rubber), which is durable but my Holton would slide on it.

When Dave came out with the Baltimore Brass stand, I jumped on it. The design using a folding leg that once unfolded slides into place for positive positioning, held there with a spring. The spring rides on a standard steel roll pin that can be found at any hardware store. The legs are steel square tubing of about 1/2" section, and they approach the ground a shallow angle. They are very strong, but maintain a low profile. The center column is extendable, and both sections are made from thick-wall steel. The steel parts have a black oxide finish. The column clamp is a thumbscrew threaded at right angles into a thick steel collar, and the end of the screw bears directly on the steel center column. This is a part of the design I worried about, but I have cranked down on that clamp screw pretty tightly, with no more effect on the center column than a bright scratch. I did not ovalize the center column and jam it, as I feared. The thumbscrew is a hardware-store item--I bought a replacement for mine (to get a bigger handle--now standard on current models) at Tractor Supply. The top is a lightweight molded plastic cradle with foam glued on it, though the foam is attached more durably than the DEG model. The BBC stand folds even more compactly than the DEG, and far moreso than the K&M, and it will fit in the padded cloth case that is made for the DEG. It's priced only a little higher than the DEG, and significantly less than the K&M.

There are those who don't use stands, and even those who think they are dorky. I can live with that. I've played my Holton without a stand, and the only way to make it work was to rest it on a chair, which is much more prone to sliding off than using a stand. And I can confirm that it takes quite a bit of muscle application to hold the instrument in position without a stand. It's not a well-balanced tuba and it takes enough muscle to stabilize even when using a stand. Lots of guys play vastly better than I do without using a stand, but lots of guys who are vastly better than I am recommend them, too. Believe me, if I didn't feel like the stand did good, I wouldn't carry it around.

There are various home-made remedies, too, some of which work fine, but most of which are not as compact as the purpose-built stands. I think some are demonstrations of their owner's pride in making a $25 thing work as well as a $75 thing, which is fine as long as it really does meet all the requirements. If it doesn't, then a $25 thing that doesn't satisfy, replaced by a $75 thing that does, is more expensive.

Rick "who still uses a K&M stand in the practice room" Denney

Rick, as usual, has explained the differences between stands quite well. I, too, have tried them all and the Baltimore Brass stand is the hands-down winner, for all the reasons Rick detailed. I have yet to trip over the BB's splayed legs like I used to do with the huge wingspan of the K&M. And, the adjustment does go lower than K&M [I had to cut off about an inch from the K&M just to get my leadpipe low enough].
BB stand weighs 6 lbs, but well worth carrying in my gear bag. Mine is about 6 years old and used every day: still works as well as the day I bought it!

It is physically impossible to hold any tuba with proper body alignment(for full freedom of movement of the abdominal wall and rib cage necessary for maximum efficiency of the respiratory system) and undue tension(also detrimental to the respiratory system) without using a tuba stand.

The *secret* to proper body alignment is that you MUST sit with your posterior on the front edge of the seat and your knees lower than your pelvis in order for the curve that naturally occurs when you are standing to be present when sitting. When you sit back in a chair you bring your knees up and the pelvis collapses and the curve of your lower back becomes flat. When the lower back is flat it causes the rib cage to become *locked* into position and leads to a predominantly abdominal breath.. essentially reducing your lung capacity in half. IN ADDITION, supporting the tuba with your thighs and holding it up necessitates the initiation of 'stabilizing musculature' in order to hold that hunk of brass up. Besides your thighs the musculature most engaged by supporting the horn is your abdominal muscles... once again reducing your ability to have full range of respiratory function.

I think the aversion to using a stand has a lot to do with people wanting to sit back on the chair which places the tuba too far away and is genuinely weird and uncomfortable.

I encourage everyone to test all of this for themselves... taking deep breaths standing and sitting, back and front of the chair, with and without tuba. You will quickly find a position that works for you and you will quickly realize the only way to achieve that physical position is to use a stand to bring the horn to you rather than contorting your body to fit the tuba.

Once you start sitting on the front edge of the seat two things will happen: 1)Those with bony butts will be sore... but it will pass. I promise. 2) You will become addicted to the tuba stand and become really annoyed when it goes missing.

Yes, you can play tuba GREAT without a tuba stand but the benefits to using one are very significant.

All the best.

joh_tuba wrote: Once you start sitting on the front edge of the seat two things will happen: 1)Those with bony butts will be sore... but it will pass. I promise. 2) You will become addicted to the tuba stand and become really annoyed when it goes missing.

Yes, you can play tuba GREAT without a tuba stand but the benefits to using one are very significant.

All the best.

This cushion rolls into the bell of whichever tuba I'm heading out with, and it solves the bony butt problem nicely.

I use a custom made stand. Made from a standard Yamaha drum thone. The seat was removed, a circular piece of plywood but in its place and that covered with rubberized cork.

I've tried about everything, including the Stewart Stand and have settled on the BBC stand with some modifications.

K&M: doesn't go low enough unless you chop about an inch off the center post and even then would be questionable. Also, as mentioned, the legs are a trip hazard. I tripped over the legs of the K&M while getting up to put my Yorkbrunner back in the case. I didn't fall but the stand suffered some minor damage after being thrown against the wall. The saddle is nice, but hard to hit in a hurry with a big horn. To cut down on resonance depreciation some people use the saddle side ways with the bottom bow resting across the higher edges of the saddle. Still, for me, not optimal.

DEG: Too flimsy. With the Yorkbrunner the legs collapsed and the center peg was the only thing resting on the floor, also mentioned earlier. Also, as mentioned, the pad peeled off relatively soon after purchase, scratching the bottom bow of my horn. It was retired after being thrown against a wall.

Stewart Stand: Great concept and idea, but after spending about 20 minutes putting it on and getting it set up to play, I played three notes and my wife hollered in from another room that it changed the sound. The padded bands that tighten against the bow of the horn tend to steal resonance from the instrument. It was not thrown against a wall. It was returned the next day. For euphonium it works great.

BBC: Great design, modeled after one that was available in Europe quite a number of years ago. Plenty sturdy and holds the largest of horns with ease. I have two and one came with the DEG rest on it and the other with the K&M rest. Both have been replaced with a home built plywood rest which takes very little resonance from the horn as there is only about an inch of contact. 6 1/2 " round 3/4" plywood disc, covered (using contact cement) with a piece of 1/8" plumbers rubber (the brick red stuff), then covered with the no-slip shelf material in black (you can only get the black at Lowe's it appears), well stapled underneath. Go to the hardware store and get a pipe nipple that fits over the center post, cut it down to size and drill the side and tap it to take a 1/4" thumb screw. Get a flange for that size pipe and using 1/2" wood screws, attach it to the center of the underside of the plywood and screw the pipe nipple firmly into it. Then, to keep it from sliding on slick floors (and a huge thank you to LJV for this) 5/8" cane tips on the ends of the legs which keeps it really stable on any surface and doesn't detract from the resonance going into the floor from the stand contact with it.

Why do I use a stand? I used to play my Yorkbrunner with it on my lap, but my knees were so shot that after about 2 hours my knees would start to ache and I would have to stand up and get them working again after a long practice session or rehearsal. Also I noticed that, when the horn is on your lap, gravity is trying to pull the horn through your legs towards the floor - so you have to push your knees together to keep this from happening. This muscle tension in the upper thigh limits the breathing a bit as the tension travels into the lower abdomen and limits, a bit, how far downward the lungs can expand. When I changed to using a stand this tension went away and my knees don't get beat up any more when I'm playing. I even use it on my F.

Just my experiences.

Roger (and yes, a wall usually plays a large part when I'm testing an accessory that can damage my instruments) Lewis

This, from a previous post..............
I put this together in an afternoon, after trying many other commercial tuba stands.

I looked for a specific PEARL drum throne with a small circular metal base plate (where the padded seat section bolts to
the vertical corkscrew). A small base plate translates into a small area for the tuba to sit upon. Most drum thrones use the
"X" shaped base plate which is too large an area to fit comfortably between your legs. I used the older (good quality!) Pearl
brand circular base plate, with four holes close together.
I then cut a very thick piece of plywood into a circle, about six inches in diameter, possibly less, I just eyeballed it. To this
I glued several layers of cork, in the same circular shape. This layer of cork absorbs shock well, and keeps the instrument from
moving about on the relatively small surface area.
So - the tuba sits on a small circular plain of cork, glued to a firm wood base, bolted to the base plate.

I play the Rudolf Meinl 5/4 CC professionally in an orchestra. it has exactly the sound I want, although it is not an easy
instrument to hold for my particular body frame. I looked at many tuba stands. this solution has been the best for me by far.
I can FINE TUNE by degrees the height with a simple turn of the corkscrew base. This is the key, and means that I can play
comfortably, even when I am given a bad chair.

And now, one of the ugliest cars ever made:

http://www.google.ca/imgres?um=1&hl=en& ... s:10,i:113" target="_blank

Those of us of a certain age would say: "That's the Lois Lane car".

Roger

The best all-around stand that I've found is the M&M stand. It's lightweight, inexpensive, and above all, it has a locking pin. There are plenty of holes on the shaft so it's relatively easy to find the right height, or you could carefully drill another to fit your needs. All other stands that I've tried have had parts that strip and fail.

Another good one is the Thomann stand. I like its' design but ironically I couldn't adjust this stand to go low enough for my needs. I think it would be ideal for holding a smaller instrument.

I concede that the most solid design would include the "corkscrew" mentioned in the previous posts, but I find that type of stand (converted drum-throne) to be too heavy for me to carry around. The Thomann uses a thinner corkscrew and I think that's the way to go.

Now a REAL corkscrew (preferably with a bottle opener at the other end) is an indispensable piece of equipment....

The best adjustment mechanism I've seen is, alas, not available as "stock" on any stand.

The DEG stand has a mechanism that many have reported has failed miserably. It looks to me as if their engineers failed to specify the correct material for the bolt that holds everything together; it just does not stand up to its intended use (oops). But...it can be fixed! For about $10, any bicycle shop will sell you a "seat post quick release clamp". These have a lever which applies the final tightening for the DEG friction fit. With this modification, the DEG stand is quite usable.

The Baltimore Brass stand uses a set screw which also depends on friction. It allows for arbitrarily small
adjustments - but requires tightening/untightening a plastic knob; this is slightly less convenient than the
bicycle part's lever. It has the same pluses and minuses as a Sousaphone bell attachment screw.

For me, the perfect stand would combine the Baltimore Brass legs on the bottom with bicycle seat post hardware on the top. For one thing, you get the lever - for another, you would have a standard-size "post", which might provide the opportunity for some interesting experimentation using ordinary bicycle parts. This has the distinct advantage of using parts built for a much larger market. And...if bicycle parts can support Denney, they can support his Holton.

Roger Lewis wrote:
K&M: doesn't go low enough unless you chop about an inch off the center post and even then would be questionable. Also, as mentioned, the legs are a trip hazard. I tripped over the legs of the K&M while getting up to put my Yorkbrunner back in the case. I didn't fall but the stand suffered some minor damage after being thrown against the wall. The saddle is nice, but hard to hit in a hurry with a big horn. To cut down on resonance depreciation some people use the saddle side ways with the bottom bow resting across the higher edges of the saddle. Still, for me, not optimal.

Roger (and yes, a wall usually plays a large part when I'm testing an accessory that can damage my instruments) Lewis

I have found that the K&M stand is unable to easily go low enough without splaying the legs out ridiculously far, which makes for a tripping hazard, plus the clamp seems to lose some of it's grip at that angle.

Your idea of sawing off an inch (or two) at the very bottom would seem to alleviate this problem. Upon examination, it seems I would have to drill out 3 spot welds, saw it down the required amount, and secure the base ring with some sheet metal screws. On the plus side, the K&M has high quality construction, has a lock pin with 4 holes to set it, and the rubber seems perfectly durable, unlike all those foam bases I see shredding after a year of use.
Interestingly, K&M has a longer post available that is amenable to playing while standing up. I insert the regular post into a cymbal stand for stand-up playing.

Just posted in another thread: My son has used both the DEG and the Baltimore Brass stand. The Baltimore Brass is way more sturdy, and survived one school year with no trouble, while the DEG stand required several repairs. The only worrisome part about the Baltimore Brass stand is the small screw that holds the pipe with a friction fit. If that ever turns into a problem, I could drill holes into the pipe, and use the screw just as a pin.

Also: DEG sells a padded bag for their stand. It's not very expensive (I think about $20); my music store was able to special order it (look on the web at dynastyband.com for the part number, then have a local dealer order it). It allows putting the stand into the bell of the tuba, and transport them both together (because otherwise the stand doesn't fit into either a gig bag or a hard case). And best of all: The Baltimore Brass stand fits in the DEG bag!

Hi Ralph.

I wouldn't recommend putting the DEG bag with the BBC tuba stand in the bell of the horn. The BBC stand is much more weighty and sturdier than the DEG and I would be concerned about damage to the bell. I carry my BBC stand in a DEG bag, but separately, in my other hand. It has already worn through the bottom of the DEG bag pretty badly.

Yes, it's a pain, but I don't want to cause any damage to my horns.

All the best to you.

Roger

How about tuba stands for players who play standing up? I have seen a couple of pictures of a telescoping pole holding up a horn, but have never seen them for sale.

Jim