Report--New Baltimore Brass tuba rest

scottw · Post by **scottw** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:28 pm

I went down to Baltimore yesterday for a chem-clean and while I was there I got the new Baltimore Brass playing stand. I tried it in rehearsal last evening and was rather pleased! I have been using the K&M stand for the past year and a half and found the new stand better on three points: First, the size--16" folded vs. 23" folded, although they both weighed 5 lbs.
Obviously, easier to carry around.
Second, the ease of set-up-- literally 3 seconds, as all you need to do is pull and flip each of the 3 legs( no nuts to tighten).
Third, the price-- $110. for the K&M vs. $75. for the Baltimore stand.

The saddle (where the tuba sits) is the same for both stands, for now; David Fedderly says they are going to use a different maker in the future. Hopefully, it will be as good as is the K&M saddle.
As to any negatives: After cutting the allowable 1" length off the K&M stand, the new Baltimore stand is actually about 1/4" higher! For those of us who are either shorter or whose leadpipe is a bit too high, this is NOT a good thing! I failed to measure my shortened stand against the Baltimore stand, just assuming that it actually WAS shorter--mistake! My suggestion ( if anyone were interested!) would be to find about an inch to remove in future production runs to take care of this problem many of us have.
Overall, I am pleased with the new stand (especially the spring-loaded leg feature), even if I am still battling certain chairs I must sit in!

poomshanka · Post by **poomshanka** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 8:25 pm

Agreed - great piece of equipment. I use mine with a Roc-n-Soc drum throne w/back rest (around $175 at Guitar Center), and I've never been more comfortable when playing. If you had a nice padded bag/sack made up for it, you could probably find some way to carry it around inside the bell.

...Dave

KarlMarx · Post by **KarlMarx** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 8:48 pm

Haven't orchestral tubas already many more rests, than they ever would want to?

Carolus Marximus Borificatus

scottw · Post by **scottw** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 9:07 pm

poomshanka wrote:Agreed - great piece of equipment. I use mine with a Roc-n-Soc drum throne w/back rest (around $175 at Guitar Center), and I've never been more comfortable when playing. If you had a nice padded bag/sack made up for it, you could probably find some way to carry it around inside the bell.

...Dave

No, at 5 lb.,I don't want it anywhere near my bell, even if it's padded. I just carry a pouch with it and a folding stand--not a problem!

CJ Krause · Post by **CJ Krause** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 9:27 pm

Picture????????????????????????

scottw · Post by **scottw** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 9:58 pm

CJ Krause wrote:Picture????????????????????????

Sorry!!!! Digital camera on the fritz! As I said, the saddle is exactly the same as the K&M; the stand is black tube with square tubular folding legs that snap into place with a heavy spring. For being some 7" shorter than the K&M, the weight is the same so the metal must be pretty rugged.

Joe Baker · Post by **Joe Baker** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 10:13 pm

KarlMarx wrote:Haven't orchestral tubas already many more rests, than they ever would want to?

Carolus Marximus Borificatus

Huh? Can anyone make any sense of this guys wacky lingo?
_______________________________
Joe Baker, who thinks Karl is funnier in English than gibberish

scottw · Post by **scottw** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:07 pm

It's ok, Joe--there are wackos on every site I've ever used!

poomshanka · Post by **poomshanka** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 3:01 am

scottw wrote:No, at 5 lb.,I don't want it anywhere near my bell, even if it's padded. I just carry a pouch with it and a folding stand--not a problem!

Hmmmm.... Well, if the bag's nicely padded, my gut feeling is that if it's snugly in the bell, any jostling that could possibly cause problems would have to be so severe that the stand would be the least of your worries. Of course, if you're playing a Willson, you could probably carry dumbells and cinder blocks in there with no problems whatsoever.

Having something in the bell like that might actually help brace it a bit, like stuffing packing material in before you ship. A stand that light oughtta be pretty negligible.

Just a thought...

...Dave

Lew · Post by **Lew** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 11:27 am

Joe Baker wrote:
KarlMarx wrote:Haven't orchestral tubas already many more rests, than they ever would want to?

Carolus Marximus Borificatus
Huh? Can anyone make any sense of this guys wacky lingo?
_______________________________
Joe Baker, who thinks Karl is funnier in English than gibberish

Isn't this just a reference to the number of rests a tuba player has to count in orchestral music?

scottw · Post by **scottw** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 1:35 pm

Lew wrote:
Joe Baker wrote:
KarlMarx wrote:Haven't orchestral tubas already many more rests, than they ever would want to?

Carolus Marximus Borificatus
Huh? Can anyone make any sense of this guys wacky lingo?
_______________________________
Joe Baker, who thinks Karl is funnier in English than gibberish
Isn't this just a reference to the number of rests a tuba player has to count in orchestral music?

With this guy, who knows?!

Joe Baker · Post by **Joe Baker** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 2:36 pm

Lew wrote:
Joe Baker wrote:
KarlMarx wrote:Haven't orchestral tubas already many more rests, than they ever would want to?

Carolus Marximus Borificatus
Huh? Can anyone make any sense of this guys wacky lingo?
_______________________________
Joe Baker, who thinks Karl is funnier in English than gibberish
Isn't this just a reference to the number of rests a tuba player has to count in orchestral music?

Sorry, Lew, I was just being ironic.

And unclear.
___________________
Joe Baker, who got the joke, and was really hoping to encourage KarlMarx to engage in real discussion -- never imagining he would do so by taking spurious (and anonymous -- grrrr) pot-shots at another lister.

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 11:59 am

poomshanka wrote:
scottw wrote:No, at 5 lb.,I don't want it anywhere near my bell, even if it's padded. I just carry a pouch with it and a folding stand--not a problem!
Hmmmm.... Well, if the bag's nicely padded, my gut feeling is that if it's snugly in the bell, any jostling that could possibly cause problems would have to be so severe that the stand would be the least of your worries.

On the way home from a meeting in New Jersey yesterday, I just squeaked into BB before everyone had left, and picked up a stand. I'd seen one at the Army Conference, and had wanted to buy one then just as a reward for good design. I neglected to at the time, and corrected that mistake yesterday.

The prime feature that makes it better than the K&M is that the legs don't have as wide or as tall a footprint. Last Saturday night, I tripped over one of the legs of my K&M stand by accident. I decided the lower-profile legs of the Baltimore Brass stand were more compatible with my bifocal-induced inability to see my feet.

And I could not resist getting a DEG pouch. The pouch is well padded with a secure enough Velcro closure. The saddle on the BB stand (which is the same, for now, as the K&M) is a tight fit in that bag. But I found that I could turn the thumbscrew holding the saddle onto the stand, slip it off, and put it in the bag next to the stand, and it all fit quite comfortably. I would not have any qualms at all about putting it down the bell in that configuration, because it would fit quite deeply into the bell stack especially of a tuba big enough to compel the use of a stand). Maybe I'd feel differently if my bell stack was the perfect silver-plated bell of a high-end CC Yorkophone. But the Holton has already proven greater durability than I think would be needed.

Rick "happy to have a more portable solution" Denney

Lew · Post by **Lew** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 2:36 pm

Joe Baker wrote:
Lew wrote:
Joe Baker wrote:Huh? Can anyone make any sense of this guys wacky lingo?
_______________________________
Joe Baker, who thinks Karl is funnier in English than gibberish
Isn't this just a reference to the number of rests a tuba player has to count in orchestral music?
Sorry, Lew, I was just being ironic.

And unclear.

... and I as usual was not picking up on the irony and taking a statement as literal.

FWIW, I agree with you about most of his other posts.

MaryAnn · Post by **MaryAnn** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 2:54 pm

Rick Denney wrote:my bifocal-induced inability to see my feet.

ah, Well, Rick, I can't resist. You ARE a tuba player, right? So you're SURE that inability to see your feet is not tummy-induced?

MA, who has never met Rick but understands the bifocal problem.

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 3:27 pm

MaryAnn wrote:MA, who has never met Rick but understands the bifocal problem.

Even though I'm going in the wrong direction these days, I'm still not to the point where I need a video camera to see my feet. Here I was less than five years ago at the conclusion of the 112-mile cycling segment of an Ironman triathlon (this was right before running a marathon, but after the 2.4-mile swim):

Never again, especially not in a mountainous region.

Rick "carrying about 35 more pounds at the moment" Denney

John Caves · Post by **John Caves** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 9:13 pm

Just to clariry, does the BB stand adjust lower than the K&M stand? I tried a K&M stand it just didn't go low enough for me.

Shortness in the genes!!!!!!!!!!!

CJ Krause · Post by **CJ Krause** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 9:38 pm

Who has a pictureeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

scottw · Post by **scottw** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:14 pm

John Caves wrote:Just to clariry, does the BB stand adjust lower than the K&M stand? I tried a K&M stand it just didn't go low enough for me.

Shortness in the genes!!!!!!!!!!!

Sad to say, the answer is "no". It goes about a 1/4" ABOVE the K&M even after the K&M has been cut down the allowable 1". I got it home Tuesday night and compared them and was very unhappy to find this! Technically,their stand does go lower than the stock height of the K&M (by 3/4"), but not after you cut the K&M down the maximum 1". If it weren't for the other nice features, I would be most unhappy; right now, I figure I'm no worse off as to the height and I get a stand that's easier to transport and set up.

John Caves · Post by **John Caves** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:44 pm

Rats !