The model number for the stand David refers to is Yamaha MS-303al. It can be purchased for around $60(US). It weighs 1.7lbs, cs. the 'usual' folding stand format (Yamaha's is MS1000 and is also called 'light weight' and has aluminum tubing) which comes in at about 3.3Lbs. It is black, and if memory serves, the finish struck me as a powder coating, rather than anodized. It is available from Amazon.com. There are MS-303 stands with different trailing letters: guessing from weight listings, MS-303als might have portions, or all of it, made from steel. The Yamaha site ([1]usa.yamaha.com) doesn't list the MS-303al, but does show the MS-300al and shows it as discontinued. I don't know if the MS-303al replaces it, but Amazon does say it has only 2 in stock, so 'order soon'. There are other aluminum stands, but precious little information about them. Wittner has a light weight stand. Early Music Shop of New England has it for around $33US (they have the Yamaha MS-303al listed at $125, which may be no gauge of anything!). Vivace Violins has it for 14.23BPS, 17.03BPS with VAT. They identify it as Wittner, don't give a part number (other than their own 1048FoldingMusicStandBlack). Shar has one that looks very much like it, which they label LS5A, which sells for $22.99US, and say it comes with a carry bag. There are many others with the same form factor, but the real differentiator seems to be that the aluminum stands are under 2lbs(1kg) and the steel ones are over 3lbs. So much for the raw info. I've owned and seen many of the folding "american" style stands, and one of the supposed light weight stands where the desk is connected to the rest of the stand, and it can't be disconnected without minor metalwork (and for an electronics tech, having to take apart screw mechanisms qualifies as minor metalwork...and sometimes major metal work. We wouldn't be doing electronics if we were so great with mechanical stuff.) The steel ones which are all one part (Wittner called the first one I encountered the 'uni-pult', kind of like catapult, which I would have been glad to use it in). The desk always suffered from latent dropsy. Latent, because it wouldn't start to droop until the music was on it, you were all settled, and the group had started playing. It is great for those comedy routines which made Tim Conway famous. The Yamaha was a very different story. I was never able to own one, largely due to bad timing, but the few times I sat with someone else who owned one, I was amazed at its design. It is light (especially if you're used to the standard "American" design which is pretty much embodied in the Hamilton model KB400), very adjustable (with 3 telescoping sections in the base, and an additional section connected to the desk). The desk rod wasn't semipermanently married to the base, so it could be stored in two cases to balance its contribution to your load. And once it was set, it stayed where you put it. The best part is that there are very few black stands with its formfactor/design, so if someone mistakes your desk for his, and leaves you his, it will still fit. (The Hamilton style is copied by many many makers, and they all make the interface between the top rod and the desk enough different that they won't mate, or mate, but then wobble and rattle and fall off and generally add to your blood pressure...)
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 10:59 AM, David van Ooijen <[2][email protected]> wrote: Aluminum stands by Yamaha. I have one for some 20 (?) years now, travelled the world a few times, still as new. On Monday, 20 June 2016, Herbert Ward <[1][3][email protected]> wrote: I've seen collapsible music stands made of plastic or aluminaum that weigh about half as much as stands made of steel. I looked in Amazon and Google, but no luck. Can anyone help? I'd be especially interested in experiences with durability. To get on or off this list see list information at [2][4]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- ******************************* David van Ooijen [3][5][email protected] [4][6]www.davidvanooijen.nl ******************************* -- References 1. mailto:[7][email protected] 2. [8]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 3. mailto:[9][email protected] 4. [10]http://www.davidvanooijen.nl/ -- References 1. http://usa.yamaha.com/ 2. mailto:[email protected] 3. mailto:[email protected] 4. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 5. mailto:[email protected] 6. http://www.davidvanooijen.nl/ 7. mailto:[email protected] 8. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 9. mailto:[email protected] 10. http://www.davidvanooijen.nl/
