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Accessories Music stand lights

I've just ordered myself a Rat Stands Star good for 5 hours on maximum brightness apparently -£35 from Chamberlain Music. I'm a big fan of the Rat Stands Jazz Stand - expensive but nothing short of witchcraft when you see it fold or unfold in 1 second. Plus it doesn't damage paintwork if you bump the corner of the stand
moving it around at home.
Think I'm going to order one of the lights, the stand looks quite nifty too. Is it very heavy and is it easy to adjust to various heights for seating/standing?

Thanks

Jx
 
Hi @Jeanette here's a link to the full specs the stand is pretty light at 2.7kg - to adjust the height: you just push it down or pull it up.

You can have the base either way: feet forward for when you want the stand at height or feet back if you want to use it as a table top stand. It takes a bit of getting used to as there's quite a bit of spring in the base. Watch the video and put your foot on the base.

I have the official gig bag for my stand - which if I'm honest is a bit overkill and is more substantial than a lot of instrument cases!

Bottom line is if you order it and find it not to your liking that you can send it back under the distance selling regulation.
 
The school where we rehearse has a large number of the RAT Jazz Music Stands. They are very clever and convenient but don't last for ever - on several of them the "tray" no longer stays in position as the neck joint has gone floppy. They are expensive for a home stand.

I bought the RAT Scherzo lightweight stand for about £25 from Chamberlain Music near us. It's a more traditionally styled folding stand but very well made and convenient. RAT make some other designs too.

Rhys
 
@rhysonsax - have the rub screws been tightened as per the manual?

The stand is guaranteed for 5 years of professional use so would imagine it to last a lot longer for less intensive use.
 
@rhysonsax - have the rub screws been tightened as per the manual?

The stand is guaranteed for 5 years of professional use so would imagine it to last a lot longer for less intensive use.

I will ask when we rehearse there on Thursday. I imagine that being used in a school is more intense than professional use !

Rhys

PS Is that "grub" screws ?
 
I will ask when we rehearse there on Thursday. I imagine that being used in a school is more intense than professional use !

Rhys

PS Is that "grub" screws ?
Did you ask?

Jx
 
Did you ask?

Jx

Sorry, our rehearsal was cancelled (again) due to a case of Covid in a key band member. We are struggling at the moment to keep everyone healthy and happy.

I may be able to ask by text rather than in person.

Rhys
 
may be able to ask by text rather than in person.
Thanks, I ordered on but it's out of stock so can cancel. Is your stand easy to assemble. I'm feeling very undecided now :)

Jx
 
I heard back about the RAT Jazz stands from the head of music where we rehearse and he said:

I think they are good on the whole - expensive, but so useful in terms of stacking loads efficiently.
We have around 50 stands and I have had to send back 16 or so for repairs over the years. You can tighten/loosen the neck with an Allen key - it's a bolt that runs through the pivot joint which tightens a spring. If you have time to keep on top of that then they should be fine. Obviously with 50 all over the department, I don't and when they become too tight, the lever that runs up the back (of the) tray can snap or pull out of its plastic casting.

By coincidence I did an improvisation class this morning at another music studio at a 6th form college. They had the RAT Performer stands which seem to have the same plastic desk but a more conventional set of legs/feet and sell for half the price of the RAT Jazz stand. If you don't need your music stand to fold up flat, then the Performer model might be a good alternative.

My RAT Scherzo is like a conventional lightweight folding music stand, but made of better materials and with good locks on the pillar. If you can work a lightweight music stand you would find this one familiar and easy to put up and down, but not as sturdy as the Jazz or Performer stands and their solid plastic desk can be a big advantage.

Hope that helps.

Rhys
 
I remember back in the 70s my high school ordered a bunch of those two-legged lean-forward stands (those were made, if memory serves, by Hamilton). Even in the heavy gauge steel of the time, they fell over enthusiastically with the slightest bump. All the musicians scoured all the practice rooms and ensemble rooms for Manhasset stands and the new fancy two-legged ones accumulated near the edges of the room; no one wanted them.

This looks like a light weight plastic version of the same thing. Without even the weight of the old steel ones, this one's probably even more prone to falling over.

Just cut to the chase and get yourself a proper Manhasset stand.
 
It doesn't fall over.

Or to put it another way, it is less prone to falling over than standard three-legged stands.

In ten years of our 17-piece big band having weekly rehearsals with the RAT Jazz stands I cannot remember a single case of a stand falling or being knocked over. And some of the band members are clumsy !

Rhys
 
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@rhysonsax - have the rub screws been tightened as per the manual?

The stand is guaranteed for 5 years of professional use so would imagine it to last a lot longer for less intensive use.
I have to say that 5 years is pretty pitiful. The traditional Manhasset stand lasts for generations.
 
I remember back in the 70s my high school ordered a bunch of those two-legged lean-forward stands (those were made, if memory serves, by Hamilton). Even in the heavy gauge steel of the time, they fell over enthusiastically with the slightest bump. All the musicians scoured all the practice rooms and ensemble rooms for Manhasset stands and the new fancy two-legged ones accumulated near the edges of the room; no one wanted them.

This looks like a light weight plastic version of the same thing. Without even the weight of the old steel ones, this one's probably even more prone to falling over.

Just cut to the chase and get yourself a proper Manhasset stand.
My wife has a RAT Jazz stand, and it is more stable than a traditional 3-legged one.
You shouldn’t criticise a product that you evidently know nothing about.:old:
 
I heard back about the RAT Jazz stands from the head of music where we rehearse and he said:

I think they are good on the whole - expensive, but so useful in terms of stacking loads efficiently.
We have around 50 stands and I have had to send back 16 or so for repairs over the years. You can tighten/loosen the neck with an Allen key - it's a bolt that runs through the pivot joint which tightens a spring. If you have time to keep on top of that then they should be fine. Obviously with 50 all over the department, I don't and when they become too tight, the lever that runs up the back (of the) tray can snap or pull out of its plastic casting.

By coincidence I did an improvisation class this morning at another music studio at a 6th form college. They had the RAT Performer stands which seem to have the same plastic desk but a more conventional set of legs/feet and sell for half the price of the RAT Jazz stand. If you don't need your music stand to fold up flat, then the Performer model might be a good alternative.

My RAT Scherzo is like a conventional lightweight folding music stand, but made of better materials and with good locks on the pillar. If you can work a lightweight music stand you would find this one familiar and easy to put up and down, but not as sturdy as the Jazz or Performer stands and their solid plastic desk can be a big advantage.

Hope that helps.

Rhys
Thanks Rhys, folding flat is what I want for portability. I have a blue no name tripod stand which we bought our son but I want black for concerts and I really want something the music won't slide off. Might keep my order, I think if I look after it the rat jazz will be fine but apparently out if5 stock at the moment.

Jx
 

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