Is there a god damn decent mic stand w/ TEETH!?

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by Jimbo

The build quality is MUCH better than you would expect for the price. The little plastic inserts that John Suitcase mentioned are actually nylon collars that protect the metal rods from the screw-down knobs, and prevent slippage (quite well). It is the same type of mechanism used on Yamaha drum stands. They may come out if you pull one rod completely out of another -- there is no reason to do this. However, if you do separate the rods, and you loose the nylon colar, your pretty much phuqued. This is the achilles heel. Just don't dismantle the stand and you'll never loose the colars.

The stands are really solid, and fold down nice and compact. The boom adjusts with a metal lever and metal sheath. It's simple to make adjustments, and, once again, there is absolutely no slippage. The large tripod base gives great stability, and the tripod legs are held by a metal leg holder thingy. There is very little plastic on this stand.

The guy at Sam Ash told me they weren't going to carry them anymore. I can't imagine why. The reason I considered them in the first place is that one of the guys I play with has a 10 year old stand by Groove Pack that has been beat to hell on the road, and the damn thing just won't quit. That plus the extra large tripod base make it a winner.

As for stability, I mount my CAD VX2 (one heavy phuqin' mic) 6.5' high with it without any problems. I still plan to get a dedicated big-boy stand for this mic (just to be safe), but I trust the MIS-33 until then. The stands will go quite low, yet run really high too.

I searched hard for a decent mic stand on the low end. I tried OnStage and Hercules (total POS!), and one other POS stand, and none were worth turds. Once I had this stand, I bought seven more.

- Jim

I too have beaten the crap out of mine and they still keep going- the K&M stands I have are good too, but the booms slip with heavier mics-

I have actually done stereo rigs with a pair of CAD's and the stand was just fine-

good stuff- even if it is from Sam Ash....


charles maynes

[DomMonks]

Not directly related as they probably cost a lot, but does anyone know where one can get hold of Keith Monks (no relation) mic stands?

[halcyo]

Originally Posted by DomMonks

Not directly related as they probably cost a lot, but does anyone know where one can get hold of Keith Monks (no relation) mic stands?

Don't you have your own uncle's phone number?!


I am also gonna put one of those sE Reflexion Filters on one of these stands, so do you still think that the Groove Pak will hold up if it is 'boomed' out very far, or do I definitley need something with a counterweight?


Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I guess they are out there, I just needed to look a bit harder!

halcyo

[treymonfauntre]

this might be irrelevant but i broke one of those $20 groove pak stands from sam ash and surprisingly enough it had teeth.. small, stripped, plastic grooves that could be misinterpreted for teeth!

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by treymonfauntre

this might be irrelevant but i broke one of those $20 groove pak stands from sam ash and surprisingly enough it had teeth.. small, stripped, plastic grooves that could be misinterpreted for teeth!

there are two types of the Groove Pack mic stands- the three vertical segment ones are quite robust- The cheaper 2 segment stands (with a fixed length boom) are not that sturdy- and are similar in quality to the "On-Stage" stands which are mediocre at best...


charles maynes

[Jeff A. Roberts]

Originally Posted by halcyo

I dare one person to give me ONE good reason that a mic stand should NOT have teeth on the boom clutch! Just give me one!

halcyo

I'll take that dare.

Teeth are a good way to give a small clutch the ability to positively hold, however, teeth can have problems. Teeth, by definition, limit the choice of angles that you can use with your boom.

O.K., that's fine, just add more teeth to give more angle choices, which makes the teeth finer and less likely to achieve a positive lock, and will also lead to faster wear.


After you stick a long boom into the equation, teeth look even worse. Your boom "amplifies" the space between the teeth as the boom becomes longer. Moving your boom clutch "only one tooth" could move your microphone up or down 6-12 inches or more, so then you would have to readjust your mast height or compromise your positioning. Therefore, teeth are actually most usable on SHORT boom arms, where ironically, they are needed least.

That is why it was a design goal at Latch Lake that teeth would not be used for the micKing and Xtra Boom. We chose to commission original design work for superior clamping power. The boom clutch on the micKing is a double disc brake in essence.

Do the brakes in your car have teeth?

We are now shipping the micKing 2200, which has an MSRP of $450. Street prices should be in the Atlas ballpark. New design, made in the USA vs. old design made in China.

If that's too many reasons, I apologize.

[darjama]

anyone know if the short Sam Ash / Groove Pak stands have teeth as well?

http://www.samash.com/catalog/showit...?SKU=GMIS32XXX

[halcyo]

Originally Posted by Jeff A. Roberts

I'll take that dare.

Teeth, by definition, limit the choice of angles that you can use with your boom.

Moving your boom clutch "only one tooth" could move your microphone up or down 6-12 inches or more, so then you would have to readjust your mast height or compromise your positioning.

I can't imagine that moving a mic a little farther in or out of it's holder/shockmount couldn't compensate. I also can't imagine that we're talking about 6-12 inches unless it is a LONG boom.

Do the brakes in your car have teeth?

No, but there are entirely different physics involved. I know that you meant this as half hearted metaphor, but causing an object to slow to a stop is alot different than holding it from dropping vertically. Especially some $10,000 mic. There is no ****ing way I would put some rare mic up on a boom stand with a 'rubber brake pad' clutch. Is there some kind of middle ground here?

halcyo

[tINY]

Look for a large diameter clutch and a sturdy, fine thredded nut with big handles...

I bet you park your $10k car on hills with just the parking brake.



-tINY

[PhilB]

Would be interesting to use a 'see-saw' system. Just thinking for fun here....l

Like: If the mic were perfectly (or approximately) counter-balanced by the (adjustable) weight on the other end...then there would be NO downward pressure on the locking mechanism (or not much). Just have some sort of sliding weight on the other end, which the user moves further from the central pole (or closer, as needed) to balance out this see-saw. Then, very LITTLE pressure would be needed to hold things in place. Or, of course, user could ADD little weights to the end opposite the microphone....Wouldn't the work? I will patent tomorrow...

Phil

[bobwarren]

Personally, I wouldn't hang a pop filter on an On-Stage stand. I love my Tama stands and will stick with them. Great build quality, price, and looks.

[John Suitcase]

Originally Posted by PhilB

Would be interesting to use a 'see-saw' system. Just thinking for fun here....l

Like: If the mic were perfectly (or approximately) counter-balanced by the (adjustable) weight on the other end...then there would be NO downward pressure on the locking mechanism (or not much). Just have some sort of sliding weight on the other end, which the user moves further from the central pole (or closer, as needed) to balance out this see-saw. Then, very LITTLE pressure would be needed to hold things in place. Or, of course, user could ADD little weights to the end opposite the microphone....Wouldn't the work? I will patent tomorrow...

Phil

That would work, lots of lighting booms have hooks for sand bags and counterweights. I like the idea of something that lets me stick a heavy mic well inside a kick drum, for instance, that will lock, and not tip.

I found the 'groove pack' stands to be a little hard to get used to, but once I adjsuted, it's not that bad. At long extensions, the teeth do force you to make big moves, so you have to make small adjustments using the extension, by twisting the stand a little, moving the base, raising or lowering the entire stand. You just have to think a little differently. On the upside, I can't remember the last time I had the overheads come down on a drummers head (which used to happen not infrequently!)

I also use one of these fancy stereo bars, like $30 at Sam Ash:

http://oktava.com/inc/sdetail/286

It awesome, because the hexagonal bar prevents any sagging. So much better than the on-stage one...

[APOHStudios]

Something that might help with heavy mics and cheaper stands: Counterweights. I have several heavy mics that would cause the arm to sag/slip. The toothed ones are best for non-slippage, but other than my large studio booms, I only have the standard friction type. So, remembering my physics class, I used counterweights on the arm. Fixed the problems.

Just a thought.

Doc

[HIGHENDONLY]

Here ya go a $1000 mic stand.....****ing crazy
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Starbird/

[MadGuitrst]

Here ya go - $79....works fine:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...and?sku=452082

[esaias]

K&M 25600 would be worth of checking out(62eur), looks nice, haven't used one though.

-Tomi

[SuperTorus]

A simple little strip of rubber or latex glued into the retainer will fix that. Works wonders with all kinds of glossy surfaces.

Clean the strip carefully with a drop of cleaning benzine every other month, so the rubber retains it's friction.

[gutsofgold]

Originally Posted by scrubs

I've had pretty good luck with the Tama MS205: TAMA - MS205/MS205BK Boom Stand

No teeth, but the boom arm clamps very tightly. I do have minor issues with the straight height extension, as it never clamps down as tightly as I'd like, but I haven't had any mics sag because of it (even heavy ribbon or tube mics).

I agree about the straight height adjustment. It does do it's job at keeping the straight bar in the air, but it's never tight enough to keep it from rotating. A slight bump and it's off center.