Tuba Stand

[Jay Bertolet]

That is the stand I was looking at when I decided to write my post. It just seems light and compact - and I like the idea that it will fit down the bell. Ever have a problem with the tuba slipping off? As much as you play, having one last for years says a lot about the durability.

I've never had an issue with the horn slipping off the stand. The rubberized pad that you rest the horn on is cupped and just sticky enough to cause that not to happen. What works best for me is adjusting my legs while sitting to have one resting somewhere near the center post of the stand. That steadies it plenty to avoid problems. The durability is an easy thing to fix too. The part that wears out on these stands is the retaining collar where you adjust the height. The screw and bolt that you tighten down will strip over time. It's simple enough to remove the stripped parts and put another bolt in place with a large wing nut. Nothing else on these stands has ever worn out for me. Even better, I found out that DEG can provide replacement collar assemblies that are a 5 minute installation with an Allen wrench and that makes the stand just like new.

Regarding the bag, it is very padded. I have never had any damage from these things being in my bell and carted around in a gig bag. The bag itself is made of 1" thick padding and the outside of the bag is covered in what looks like velvet. No dents, no scratches, and the bag is conical so it kind of wedges itself into the bell and keeps everything from moving around at all. My only complaint about the bag is that the flap that you seal the bag with uses velcro and over time, that velcro can come loose from the bag. A few stitches and that problem is solved.

[Wyvern]

What I found worked best for me with my 6/4 Neptune was using a Tubassist (no longer made) mounted on folding chair. That way wherever I am playing the tuba is in same position and I have a suitable chair for playing. The shaped seats are hopeless with larger tuba!

[Jay Bertolet]

For those who use playing stands...

Do you pull slides while you play? Do you think you would need the stand, if your left hand could hold the instrument, rather than pull slides?

no snark...just curious.

Personally, I've had the most trouble holding-on-to/balancing-tubas-on-my-lap when I had to use my left hand to pull slides (particularly when they were thick-wall/heavy tubas.

Also, as my gut has retreated over the past few months, I've noticed more available room to hold a tuba.

Alas, no "gut retreat" for me. Even so, where I feel it most is in my shoulders. Even when I used to balance the horn in my lap, I felt like I also had to steady the horn front to back. The extra muscle tension required to do this was provided mostly by my arms and shoulders and upper chest. When I started using a stand, all that tension went away. I do remember taking some time to find the optimal position for everything but it was easy to maintain once found. For me, the key was to sit comfortably and then position the stand to bring the horn to me. Craning the neck is a real trap with these stands. But if you're trying to avoid that, it's pretty easy to do. Now I use stands on every horn I play (except the cimbasso, can't make a post without mentioning that ) whether I pull slides or not.