Yamaha Airlift Sousaphone Stand...a trial with a Jumbo

[Dan Schultz]

Still available...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ROCK-SOLID-VINT ... 2276898%26

Not anymore .....this thing better be good Dan.....real good.....

jc

It'll work fine. It will appear that the upper arms are 'on the edge' but it'll work.

[MrBasseyPants]

Another stand? Which one will you be replacing - the Yamaha or Hercules?

I mostly bought it so Dan would shut his yapper

....and realistically having a play stand might work well in some situations, but the airlift makes a great display/storage stand...much better than the Herculese even.

jc

[Dan Schultz]

..... I mostly bought it so Dan would shut his yapper ....

[tofu]

[eupher61]

How heavy is the Airlift? Does it fold up relatively compactly? Is it relatively easy to carry in one hand with the horn in the other?

I'm thinking of it as something to take to jazz band gigs to set my helicon on between sets. I'm always a little nervous about leaving it on the ground in harms way and hanging on to it is a PITA.

the Hercules stand would be a lot easier to haul, and certainly cheaper, for this purpose.

[bigbob]

Do they have anything like that for a large tuba??....BB

[pjv]

What I like about the Hercules is that it doesn't wiggle when I put the sous in it. This is real fine for when I have to make a quick change from sous to another instrument. It also gives a nice secure feeling that the horn won't be in danger whenever careless musicians or technicians are scuttling about. The bad part is that I had to re-weld both the bottom and the top braces because it couldn't deal with the weight of my 40K. Having done that I adjusted the top brace's angle to better accommodate the 40K and the 46K.

The modern K&M stand is useless for anything heavier than a 14K. It not only wiggles all over the place but the bottom screw construction for adjusting the angle of the horn isn't sturdy enough to hold the 40K unless its perfectly balanced. And still, brushing up against the sous is enough to start the stand angle tilting slowly but surely, eventually resulting in it dumping the horn on the ground.

These guys need to use the same technology that they use on drum and cymbal stands. Light, strong, and adjustable.

-Pat

[MrBasseyPants]

What I like about the Hercules is that it doesn't wiggle when I put the sous in it. This is real fine for when I have to make a quick change from sous to another instrument. It also gives a nice secure feeling that the horn won't be in danger whenever careless musicians or technicians are scuttling about. The bad part is that I had to re-weld both the bottom and the top braces because it couldn't deal with the weight of my 40K. Having done that I adjusted the top brace's angle to better accommodate the 40K and the 46K.

The modern K&M stand is useless for anything heavier than a 14K. It not only wiggles all over the place but the bottom screw construction for adjusting the angle of the horn isn't sturdy enough to hold the 40K unless its perfectly balanced. And still, brushing up against the sous is enough to start the stand angle tilting slowly but surely, eventually resulting in it dumping the horn on the ground.

These guys need to use the same technology that they use on drum and cymbal stands. Light, strong, and adjustable.

-Pat

My 40K kind of fits in the Hercules stand. AT least enough to store it in a corner of the room. If I really wanted to makes it better, I'd need to rework it a little. As the 40K seems to be slightly larger than the intended horn this stand was supposed to hold. I tried putting my King Jumbo on the stand, and even without the bell it was obvious that without some serious modification...the Hercules wouldn't cut it.

The airlift is light and easily transportable. It can be configured in many different ways and can be adjusted to get the horn's center of gravity directly over the base of the stand. I've never put my 40K on the stand, but the Jumbo fits very well with all feet on the floor. The Jumbo's tubing is HUGE, so it is a tight fit...with the tubing not fully seated in the branch holder...but it does work very well. It does look unstable, but it isn't. If you were to bump into it, the horn may rotate slightly, but it is rotating about an axis right above the base....which keeps it sturdy.

I'd say it is the best option i have seen for a storage/display/holder type stand. It would make a lousy playing stand, but I don't know how many people would use it as such. It IS expensive....but I think it is worth it.

I bought this vintage stand because Dan swears by them apparently, so I thought I would give it a try.It would be nice to have a playing stand if I ever decided I needed one. .......I'll do a stand "shootout" when I get it and we can compare.


jc

[eupher61]

Those are wonderful stands. All through grade school and HS, that's all I had, fortunately a great old King silver plate and a Conn silver plate at home , with those stands. Never a problem.

[WilliamVance]

I keep my Conn Jumbo in a 1992 vintage Wenger Sousaphone Chair. Very sturdy and ALWAYS ready to practice even if my back is not feeling up to it!

[bigbob]

Do they make anything like that for Big tubas???(just incase I can't hold mine..)either that or I'll have to finish what I'm making...<s>..........................................BB

[Steve Marcus]

I keep my Conn Jumbo in a 1992 vintage Wenger Sousaphone Chair. Very sturdy and ALWAYS ready to practice even if my back is not feeling up to it!

Before I purchased my current Jumbo display stand, I contacted Wenger with particular interest in their sousaphone chair but willing to discuss any device that they offered to hold sousaphones. I talked directly to their representatives and gave them the exact dimensions of my Jumbo. They said that their current product was not large enough to accommodate the Jumbo. Whatever they offered in 1992 must be long discontinued.

[MrBasseyPants]

I just realized that I paid $315 for the Yamaha stand just about a year ago...and now they seem to be $125 everywhere.....grrrr.

Anyway, for that price, I think that the Yamaha Sousaphone stand is a GREAT deal. It is by far the best looking, lightest, and portable of all of the major options. I just put my jumbo back in the Yamaha stand and it fits very well (Ian I owe you a picture)...so I am not sure if they changed the dimensions for the upper branch holder in the last year or maybe my horn is just slightly smaller in that area than Ian's.

This vintage stand better be impressive

I will definitely keep the stands I think work best for display/storage.....and see if this vintage stand works for playing. Heck I don't know....I have sunk so much money into this jumbo....why stop now....

jc

[tokuno]

I just realized that I paid $315 for the Yamaha stand just about a year ago...and now they seem to be $125 everywhere.....grrrr.

Too often, I'm sitting next to the fellow who scored a much cheaper ticket, but every dog has his day, and I received a Musician's Friend 20% discount email this morning, so I ordered my airlift for $99.99+tx = ~$108 shipped.
Prior to this thread I was unacquainted with this stand, so I thank you very much for initiating the discussion.

[MrBasseyPants]

I just realized that I paid $315 for the Yamaha stand just about a year ago...and now they seem to be $125 everywhere.....grrrr.

Too often, I'm sitting next to the fellow who scored a much cheaper ticket, but every dog has his day, and I received a Musician's Friend 20% discount email this morning, so I ordered my airlift for $99.99+tx = ~$108 shipped.
Prior to this thread I was unacquainted with this stand, so I thank you very much for initiating the discussion.

Post a picture with your sousa when it arrives. I'd be interested to see what it looks like with a normal sized sousaphone

I have some time this weekend....I'll post pics of the Airlift with my Jumbo, 40K, and my Holton Collegiate wall-hanger....

[bigbob]

[quote="MrBasseyPants"][quote="KiltieTuba"]Sweet!

How much was the stand?

The stand is about $320

WOW!! I hate to say this but there is one on EBAY for $89 dollars and one for a 4/4 tuba for $129 When did you buy yours?? If it was resently... why not try to get some kind of refund??

[MrBasseyPants]

Sweet!

How much was the stand?

The stand is about $320

WOW!! I hate to say this but there is one on EBAY for $89 dollars and one for a 4/4 tuba for $129 When did you buy yours?? If it was resently... why not try to get some kind of refund??

I bought it last April...it was $320 everywhere....oh well....it happens

[MrBasseyPants]

Well, I got the vintage stand yesterday. I was very suprised at how well it was built and how good of a design it was for being so old. I mean, it seems like many things like this that were built a while ago had been built for function over form, and surprisingly this look to have been thought through with a very good design as well as being sturdy.

I will definitely drag my three stands and horns out to do a shootout.....let's see if I can actually make myself do it this weekend

jc

[tokuno]

My Airlift arrived today, and it's substantial; ~10 lbs. I left the front legs too high after collapsing it to fit on the scale, and it's too upright in the pictures, but seems very stable nevertheless, and even better when the stand is properly adjusted.

I noticed that WWBW has it on sale for $99.99+tx with free shipping; same price I paid, but I needed a coupon.
I like the design's cleverness and the overall quality. Seems like a terrific value, and I'm looking forward to having my horn available and acceptably (four active children) safe.

This is what it looks like with a full-circle Eb on it:

front.jpg

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