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Wondering what people here are using

I haven't found a guitar stand that I'm happy with yet, but I haven't spent very much on them either. But now I'm ready to spend some money and looking for a stand that will display an acoustic guitar well for photos and guitar shows.

Thanks!
-Patch

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http://www.wideskyguitars.com
https://www.instagram.com/wide_sky_guitars/

My favorite stand for stability is the K&M Memphis Pro. This is what I use for playing in places where I am somewhat worried about someone accidentally bumping into the guitar. These are pretty hard to tip over, but they fold up well for transport.

My favorite stand for portability and having a low profile visually is the Cooperstand. It folds up to a size that fits in a guitar case. If I wanted to photograph a guitar, I would probably use this one.

I don't usually denigrate products in public, but I think this stand needs to be mentioned here.

I bought this stand about five years ago, since it seemed so solid. A few weeks ago I heard the unmistakable sound of an acoustic guitar hitting the floor. Nobody was near the guitar. Luckily it wasn't damaged, but easily could have been. The guitar was on one of these stands by Hercules.

The clamp that locks the adjustable vertical support had blown apart, spewing parts, allowing the cradle that holds the guitar up by the headstock to go into freefall, the guitar falling with it. They have a similar model with a different cradle, but with the same self-destructing clamp. There are many accounts of this problem across the web. I had another one of these. They both went into the trash.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I have a Hercules stand for years and love it. I've never had a problem. However, they are heavy and with the high visibility yellow paint they really aren't the most attractive for displaying or photographing.

FWIW I have released the clamp that adjust the height with a guitar on it because of the reports that the clamp can go bad. All that happened was the guitar slid down the angled feet of the stand and came to rest on the ground. Just like Pat, there was no damage. Also, I understand that the clamping mechanism was redesigned years ago. That said, it still wouldn't fit the OP's purpose.


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I like the Hamilton KB38: classic looks, great support, excellent stability. https://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-KB38-Or ... B0002TJO92

I have seen some beautiful wooden stands that may work well for photography, but I have no idea how practical they would be for everyday use. To me, the modern stands with plastic parts and clamps and snaps and whatnot look like they belong on a construction site.

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George :-)

We've used Hercules guitar stands on stage for about 3 years of weekly abuse and have had no issues. Worthless for photography.

For photos I use a little fold up stand called a FretRest.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Another vote for "The Hamilton".

Rock solid.

My only complaint is after 20 years or so they started to rust a little.........

This stand has become my favorite. Good for photography and I have gigged with it for a number of years. More stable than it looks and it folds up and fits in the back pocket of my gig bag.

https://www.amazon.com/Stands-17580B-Ac ... BSC8DFJQPJ

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Hercules. They are the best

Thank you so much for the advice! I'm going to give the Hamilton a try.

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http://www.wideskyguitars.com
https://www.instagram.com/wide_sky_guitars/

Every week we take in headstock breaks/repairs and very often, more often than not someone has been "storing" or displaying a more often than not G*bson on a stand and it gets knocked.

Now before anyone gets upset that Hesh is picking on G*bson even in a seemingly unrelated thread... we've kept track of what headstocks we repair and around 80% are G*bsons. Since Dave developed the Collins headstock repair jig that has been widely used (with permission) by at least dozens of Luthiers that we know we have some cred with discussing headstock breaks, what breaks, why, etc.

Received a five star FaceBook review yesterday on a headstock repair that we did and yup.... it was on a G*bson that fell off a stand.

Anyway stands are the number one offender leading to headstock breaks and it does not matter who's stand. If it can be knocked off, and humans seem to be good at that, off they go and as mentioned above one brand of guitar with super fast, thin necks that I love by the way seems to break more often. Everything has a price....

Regarding Hercules we've never used the stands because we won't and don't use stands at all for the reasons above. Even at home I hang my guitars even when I put them down for a minute. But we have used many Hercules wall hangers for over 12 years now with never a problem. The unique closing feature of the patented mechanism is attractive to us because some headstock shapes hang better than others. Some designs won't hang at all either or at least do so safely.

I just got a new amp (Fender Super-Sonic 22 Blond) and set up an area in my basement to play with my new amp and soon to arrive Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face pedal.... and I installed a guitar wall hanger to keep the strat (black but of course) on when I'm not playing Purple Haze. In fact I have many guitars hanging from the walls in various rooms in my home and greatly prefer hanging them from the walls over floor stands.

So that's my entire point, consider hangers over stands if your playing area is fixed and not say a gig. Much safer in my experience .

For those who heed Hesh's advice, I will share a little trick that could be useful for those with multiple guitars in need of hanging, and/or a changing collection:

A common type of wall hanger has a headstock hook on a 1/4"-20 threaded post, and the post threads into a t-nut which is inside a small wooden block. You are supposed to screw the wooden block to a wall stud. If you just secure it to drywall, the weight of the guitar can cause a collapse.

I bought more hangers than I needed, and a lot of spare t-nuts. I took the hangers apart, including extracting the t-nuts. I bought a nice oak board long enough to fit along the wall where I wanted to hang the guitars. I drilled the appropriate holes for t-nuts (shallow Forster bit cut in the back, 3/8" hole all the way through) every 6 inches along the length of the board, then installed t-nuts in all the holes. I used a stud finder and determined where to drill countersunk holes for mounting the board to studs near both ends and a few spots along the length. I mounted it on the wall at an appropriate height to allow for peghead clearance, then installed the hangers in whichever holes I wanted.

Solid as a rock, flexible in terms of where the guitars go, no more destructive to the home than hanging shelves, and depending on the board and how much you gussy it up, visually appealing.

Another consideration from personal experience is that a wall hanger can take an instrument out of range of falling/drooped objects.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Good points. I've got wall hangers in the house and shop - yes, they are all Hercules in the shop and will be in the house when I get them changed out. Hercules stand is only for gigs - if the guitar falls then the whole stand has to fall and they are more stable than most.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Either I am playing it or it is in the case. I do not trust stands.

This is the best advice in the thread. It's also very helpful in letting a case humidifier protect your ax if you live in climates that have dry winters while using a case humidifier.

Yea, I'm all for wall hangers, that's all I use. The point of the thread was that I'm looking for a decent stand that would be good for taking photos with as well as for displaying at guitar shows.

I thought the Hamilton might be a good way to go and I actually have one ordered but in thinking it through I don't want the guitar hanging from the neck at the headstock. That would take away from the transition from the neck to to the head and I don't want to busy up that area in my photos. So I'm going with Terence's suggestion and see if that gets me what I'm looking for, it's a slick looking minimal design.

Thanks

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http://www.wideskyguitars.com
https://www.instagram.com/wide_sky_guitars/

Slightly off topic but I really like these for supporting guitars when playing and want to support temporally.

Repair folks like those too especially for G*bsons....

IMHO another caveat for breakage, many years ago when M. dunn built me a maccafferri guitar with a fiberglass case, He kindly asked me not to let others play it. It lives in a fiberglass case , and it has endured many years of hard use including being dropped at the off ramp of BC ferries in saanich bc. I never use a stand. When I had a sales office in a retail location all guitars and violins were hung up on the wall . The only stand up instrument was a double bass which lived in a corner.

The other day I picked up my new guitar from my stand and noticed some small (but very annoying) scratches on both sides of the neck where the it was held by the stand.

You probably heard me cursing!!!!

When I looked at the stand I noticed that from years of use the rubber had worn away exposing the metal underneath it and causing said damage. Simple fix, I just twisted the rubber to a fresh spot.

Never a dull moment in this business........

Hesh you're an old cynic (or possibly a young one!)

As it happens I have been constructing a stand as a different job in the workshop. Using up some Padauk that was too 'splitty' for use as back and sides, along with some Ash that has been in the rafters for a while. Not finished yet but just for fun...

Dave

You're right, old cynic.

I'm a professional Luthier and co-owner of a very busy repair practice in the very musical city of Ann Arbor. My business partner and friend Dave Collins has repaired two head stock breaks from guitars being knocked over and off stands today alone....

I think the message is clear that, at home, stands are not as safe as the case or a wall hanger.

How about when gigging? Any favorites, Hesh? Mine is the K&M Memphis Pro.

Hey Don: I'm a guitar in the case guy when away from home and not playing it. Especially with others and cords all over the place.