Quote:

Actually, the Ultimate stand belongs to work, Oxygen belongs to me. I think what I might actually do is ty-rap that bugger onto the stand. I'll get some ty-rap anchor pads with the sticky-back tape on them, put those on the board, then keep some long ty-raps in the lappy bag and whenever I'm practicing with the silent band, then tie that thing right down.



Good idea, especially if you can find those tie-wraps with the little finger release tab on them so you can easily undo and reuse them.

Quote:

I do have my own space-age Ultimate stand that eventually the rubber pads on the arms kind of just melted off. The double-backed tape that Ultimate used had a useful durability of about 15 years, then it just kind of gelled and gave up.



Yes, this has happened on both of my Ultimate stands also. But only after having to leave them inside a hot van, that seems to be what does it. On the one stand, I cleaned all the goo off of the sticks and carefully applied a straight single bead of silicone RTV HD in black from the auto parts store, as straight as possible, paying attention not to squeeze the bead to large so the strips would not prevent inserting the arms into their storage at the top of the stand. Let the stuff cure a good 24 hours or more, then, if necessary trim back the silicone bead with a sharp box knife until it fits into the arm storage slots easily. So far, so good. But it looks like this repair will eventually tear off also.

Quote:

I'll have to give the velcro idea a try with my own stand, but I'll have to watch it because the arms store in very tight fitting slots in the top of the main triangular prism tube - the velcro will have to fit in the same place as where the rubber pads go.



That is exactly the case. Having done it for a touring act I set up under hire, though, I can tell you that once the original foam pads are removed, and if you get the 1/2" wide velcro tape, once the tape is applied to the arms and the adhesive has had a chance to cure a bit, they fit. Problem is finding 1/2" wide velcro tape. It is out there somewhere, but rather rare. If it turns out to be unobtanium, try carefully cutting the readily available 1" piece in half with sharp scissors, then apply to the sticks.

Quote:

I've never really liked that stand because of where the feet end up. Always in the way of where I want to put a sustain switch.



Tell me about it. I love the Ultimate stands for their ease of portability and packing, but the sustain pedal and Expression pedal problem persists because of the leg design. A small flat board cut to fit the right side leg area, then attach short wood feet risers to the backside of the board such that they support the board over the leg (foot) of the stand at a slant towards you, while serving as a slot to capture the board over the leg at the same time, works well. The pedals are attached to the board using the heavy duty velcro pads. This board is made of 1/4" ply and the little wood block risers underneath are made from sawing up a single piece of 2X2 pine into six little feet. Again, the blocks at the rear are a bit higher than the blocks that are on my side of the leg, such that the ply is slanted towards me a bit with the front edge of the ply touching ground level. Those blocks create a slot that fits right down over the leg rather tightly but not so tight as the wood has worn. A coat or two of flat black spray paint and at least my pedals are where I left 'em when my big foot needs 'em again.


You're an engineer also, Scott, I'm sure you'll come up with something, if it is better than my wooden pedal platform workaround, let me know about it.


--Mac

PGmusic FAQs, Tutorials and Updates! click here

You must be Audiominds.
www.audiominds.com