What to look for in a mike stand

Subject: What to look for in a mike stand
From: Marion
Date: 28 Oct 02 - 03:42 PM

Hello all. I'd like to know if you have a favourite mike stand (to put on the floor, not a podium), or features that I should look for or avoid. My usual obsession with portability applies - weight and foldupability are of particular interest.

Thanks, Marion

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 28 Oct 02 - 07:28 PM

You want to make sure that the locking knob which connects the vertical to the "horizontal" arm is capable of exerting enough pressure to prevent premature drooping. Nothing is guaranteed to make an audience laugh more than the sight of a microphone slowly sliding down, and the perfornmer stooping lower and lower.

The clip holding the microphone can have the same problem, but can easily be adjusted for stiffness.

Other than that, the fitments are pretty standard, and it is really a choice between black or chrome....

Murray

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Oct 02 - 07:50 PM

We use tripod bases as opposed to round heavy bases. If you are getting a boom, be sure it extends long enough and has some real weight in the far-from-you end. The cheap ones are too short boom-wise and the knobs are difficult-- we have one that you have to tighten so far, to prevent boom sag, that you need a pair of pliers to loosen it again. You can add weight to these BTW, by putting in some BBs in a paper roll (like you would use for dimes) and stuffing in something to keep it from shifting and making highly entertaining noises.

A boom on a tripod will fold up and carry better than a gooseneck. On the stand itself, there is an adjustment knob that lets you run the lower part of the stand through the slide ring of the tripod, so that the lower end of that upright part is down at the same length as the folded legs-- shortens it all by about 18".

I don't like the clip on one of ours, because the mic we use in it is kinda slick, and it slips-- easily fixed by wrapping the mic with cloth medical tape and a layer of electrical tape to make it all black and spiffy looking.

~Susan

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: AKS
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 07:00 AM

Why not be the stand yourself? Our singer uses a(n AKG c444) headset mic, and that picks up the fiddle she plays as well. The problem is that she can not babble with the rest of us without the audience hearing it, but I plan to make a foot switch to mute the mic while not in use. And then I'm about to pursue our fiddle/mandolin man, who also does some backing vocals, to carry one as well; four stands is less than six, on the stage or in the accessory case ...

AKS

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 07:48 AM

Its when the nuts drop off your problems can start, as the squirrel said to his mate.

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: Ted from Australia
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 08:02 AM

Avoid Chrome!!! buy black. Refurbishment with a can of black spray paint is easy. Rusty chrome (and it ALWAYS rusts)looks daggy and can only be fixed with a new one.
Tripods are best, black carbon fibre are lightest but V expensive.
As above make sure that the locking/adjusting mechanisms on the height and boom are effective and easy to use. Buy the best that you can afford then mark your name clearly 'cause they will be coveted by thy neighbour. The mike holder should be of the soft rubber type as it will help to soak up extraenous vibrations. Mike leads should be of the highest quality that you can afford, One test of a good lead is it's "limpness". Never finish rolling up a mike lead with a knot, use velcro lead tidies.

I see That I am gradually working my way to the PA so I will resist further pontificating.

Regards Ted

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: Willie-O
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 08:18 AM

I still use a couple of old gooseneck stands with round heavy metal bases, they clearly are not what you want but have been amazingly durable with no finicky adjusting nuts. I usually borrow a boom stand for a gig.

W-O

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 08:19 AM

Yeah, carbon fiber, that's what we have. Rugged and lightweight. Well, relatively.

~Susan

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 10:24 AM

Ted made an important point in passing. Wire is really a delicate form of rope. If it kinks, as when you straighten it out after coiling, it will weaken and, possibly, break. Those cute little irregularities in the wire are potential failures. Always roll, rather than coil, all wires.

That's one of my regular rants but it's real.

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: Mooh
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 11:26 AM

Marion,

I'll second the opinions about tripod stands. They fold more compactly, store better in a vehicle, carry easier, and are just as stable as other designs.

Like Ted, I like them black. It makes for a less obtrusive stage visual.

One warning about boom stands. To keep the centre of gravity fairly low, and therefore the stability improved, don't raise the boom pivot too high. This may also keep it out of the line of sight.

A boom may also allow a stand mounted music holder a bit of clearance, as well as instruments, stage paraphernalia, and bosoms.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 01:04 PM

My mic stand has a small tripod base that looks like it was cut out of one of the old style round metal bases... It's the best... small footprint, but stable...

Also my boom... the bit that loosens the 'mast' so it'll slide up and down, well, I have a spring loaded one... no having to spin the bit to loosen it and fight with it to tighten it while trying to hold it up... Just squeeze, and slide... and release when it's the proper height... It was well worth the $ and how!

;-)

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: 53
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 01:14 PM

Get a Atlas stand and you won't go wrong.

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: C-flat
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 01:44 PM

The main problems with the more portable, fold-up mike stands tends to be their lack of weight at the base. If you extend the boom arm fully they have a tendency to tip over. Make sure you get one with a nice weighty base.
Another problem can occur if you over-tighten the little grub screws on the arm. Eventually the thread wears off or the screw shears completely and you're reaching for the duct tape!
I also agree with the choice of black. I've got a bunch of rusty looking chrome ones in the garage!

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: Marion
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 04:27 PM

Merci beaucoup.

Marion

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: Amos
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 05:01 PM

Usual thing to look for in a mic stand, of course, is a mic....

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: rich-joy
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 08:18 PM

I'm with Willie-O - goosenecks readjust quickly and if you like to move around a bit, stability in a stand is important. I can recall some horror performances on the backs of trucks where the slightest movement set the "stage" (and all the mics) wobbling up and down - and just like the barrel of bricks, when I was going up ...

Cheers! RJ

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 08:44 PM

I use one mike stand that holds two micc. At the top is a flexible goose neck that can be bent down when playing the fiddle. Quite by accident I discovered that if you leave one of these flexible goose necks out in the rain for a few days the insides will rust and tend to stiffen. This makes them a lot easier to adjust and they loose their tendency to droop. The bottom mic has an addaptor the screws on to the vertical portion of the stand.   

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: Grab
Date: 30 Oct 02 - 08:13 AM

If the bit that holds the microphone is also adjustable, it gives you more range of positioning, and allows you to move the mic around without having to move the base around too. If the mic is fixed with a moulded-plastic clip so you have to move the boom around to position it, it's much less convenient. Especially for micing a guitar, where you often want the stand to one side of the player, the boom going across in front of the player, and the mic pointing at right angles to the boom.

Graham.

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Oct 02 - 09:14 AM

Real fun is miking a harp with a boom.... without tickling the player so bad she can't play. The sound hole is in the back.

~Susan

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: GUEST,Claymore
Date: 30 Oct 02 - 03:03 PM

OK Marion, strap yourself in... The easiest, lightest and most flexible mic stand is (Dah Daa) a portable music stand with one or two 12" flexible goose necks attached to the up right portion of the stand with a couple of hose clamps.

1. Get the bottom portion of a standard folding music stand, and one (or two if you plan to use the same stand for a vocal and a guitar mic) goose necks.

2. Get a couple of one to one and a half inch hose clamps from an auto parts dealer.

3. Lay the stand top and the goose neck(s) side by side and slide the first hose clamp over the stand base and the gooseneck(s) til they all meet at the bottom of the goose neck(s). Tighten the clamp so that the top of the gooseneck is level with the top of the stand upright. Then slide the second hose clamp half way down the gooseneck and stand top and tighten at the middle.

4. By bending the gooseneck forward you can put the top portion of the music stand back on and still attach a mic or two to the forward bent gooseneck.

5. Avantages: low weight, small size when folded, easy to set up, ajustable in a number of different ways, low cost, and stable, especially if you use the music stand with music on it. I thought of this many years ago and have used it in in all sorts of occasions. If I want to stand up I use a dime to loosen the hose clamps and move the gooseneck to the top of the stand upright and the middle hose clamp; leaving the music stand top off. With the stand itself extended, it is just as tall as a normal mic stand with a goose neck on top. And the whole thing weighs less than a pound, and takes up no more space than a regular portable music stand. MacIver never had a chance...

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: Marion
Date: 30 Oct 02 - 03:14 PM

That sounds really interesting, Claymore. And I already have a portable lightweight music stand. The way I'm picturing it, it seems like it might be a little top-heavy and unstable though. Does adding a heavy book to the stand part make it more stable? I guess that would put some weight directly over the centre to counter the reaching-out weight of the mike.

Marion

Subject: RE: What to look for in a mike stand
From: Marion
Date: 01 Nov 02 - 01:24 PM

Claymore, you can't collapse the music stand with the gooseneck clamped on, can you? Do you put the gooseneck on and off every time?

Marion