expensive hardware worth it?

Nick G.

Senior Member
so i have some "ok" hardware but ive started looking into the idea of getting some stronger stands that should be more reliable as ive recently started getting more and mnore gigs with my band.

ive found a pretty cheap deal for some dw5700 boom stands on ebay brand new for £75
and was thinking of buying a few

but would you guys recommend these? ive heard a lot about dw stands being heavy but that doesnt really bother me too much :)

should i wait and get the 9000 stands? or is there something that could be better for cheaper?

cheers,
nick
 
I'd recommend any of the higher end stands from Yamaha, Pearl or DW. Buy new, as second hand can be a bit of a lottery. Buy double braced for durability. There shouldn't be a need to go for the very top end of the range unless you need ultimate heavy duty durability.
 
I have moved to light weight, modest priced, single braced stands.
The Tama Stage Master snare and hat stands are great. They come in both single and double braced models.
I also have many thin, light weight cymbal stands.

I have been using the medium priced stands for a few years now with no issues.
They save my back when carting them around.

I do have heavy duty hardware on my kit that stays home.

The hardware of today is much better that the hardware that I grew up with during the late 60's and 70's.

You can go with either expensive or medium priced hardware.
Its personal choice.
I think that if the lower priced hardware works for you then there is no need to buy the high end gear unless you want to.
I have 4 kits, so buying high priced hardware for all of them would have been an expense that I couldn't afford.
 
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I'm using hardware from about five different manufacturers. DW, Tama, Yamaha, Pearl and Ludwig. I like heavy duty stands, particularly on stage where there might be a chance of being knocked. At time I even might use sandbags on the legs if they're set too close to an edge. The last three stands I bought were DW 9700 series. Yes they're heavy, probably a bit more so than the DW 5000 series, but I love their stability. In the studio I'll use just about anything as long as it stays put and doesn't make noise.

Dennis
 
I use to just use any old hardware. Then when i got to college school jazz band had all gibraltar hardward and as far as i am concerned its the best out there. I mean they make hardware and just hardware. And the thing is with gibraltar doesnt matter if you go with their cheapest or most expensive its all good. I have all gibraltar single braced hardware and two legged hi hat and id put them against any companies double braced hardware as far as durability is concerned and they are light.
 
I bought three Sound Percussion convertible stands from Guitar Center for about 40. USD each and they are heavy strong and do not move when I smack a cymbal. I'm not sure spending the extra cash on DW is really worth it.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Sound-Percussion-SP880BS-Double-Braced-Boom-Stand-104496393-i1413612.gc
I have six of those stands. I can't kill them!
Mine were sold under the PDP name.

As DRockSteady said, Everything that I have by Gibraltar is also great.
 
when it comes down to snare stands----- its really worth it!
i bought a dw 9000 snare stand and all its features are amazing, the arms that hold the snare can open up the 16"!!!!
nevertheless, although expensive cymbal stands have great configurations, i find them to be way overpriced!
 
I bought three Sound Percussion convertible stands from Guitar Center for about 40. USD each and they are heavy strong and do not move when I smack a cymbal. I'm not sure spending the extra cash on DW is really worth it.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Sound-Percussion-SP880BS-Double-Braced-Boom-Stand-104496393-i1413612.gc

Good call GD. These stands will do pretty much anything a drummer would need them to do and for $40 you can't go wrong.

For hihat stands and pedals you might avoid the cheap stuff, but for boom stands you just want the cymbal to stay put and you don't need all that much for that.
 
so i have some "ok" hardware but ive started looking into the idea of getting some stronger stands that should be more reliable as ive recently started getting more and mnore gigs with my band.

ive found a pretty cheap deal for some dw5700 boom stands on ebay brand new for £75
and was thinking of buying a few

but would you guys recommend these? ive heard a lot about dw stands being heavy but that doesnt really bother me too much :)

should i wait and get the 9000 stands? or is there something that could be better for cheaper?

cheers,
nick

To quote a product reviewer who reviewed the DW9000 stands: They're really made for rockstars. Meaning people who have people to move stuff around. I used to own the 5000 series of hardware and although built good enough to jack a car up on, it was complete overkill. Over-engineered, overweight, over-the-top. I went to Tama Stagemaster stuff and that was really all I needed until I discovered the Pearl 900 series - sorta' big and double-braced, but lightweight. I'm impressed with it. I'm keeping my Tama Iron Cobra Jr. bass drum pedal, though!
 
Forgot to mention, before I bought my rack, I had a cymbal and a tom on each of these. 8, 10, and 12 inch with 16, 17, and19 inch cymbals and were as stable as you could want.
 
$40 stands from GC = golden.

Question: exactly HOW hard do you have to play (beat) your gear in order to "need" heavy-duty hardware? I use Yamaha 600 series hardware (single-braced bases) with tom arms and splash cymbal mounts to mount all of my stuff, and I never have problems with tipping or slippage. Depending on the gig, I sometimes slam my drums (to get that rock "choked" sound), and I don't see the need to buy double-braced stands. At what point DO you need it?
 
I have a buddy that bought a total Yamaha Oak Custom kit with all Yamaha double braced cymbal stands ... he told me the more he gigs, the more he realizes it was overkill.

My cymbal stands are Yamaha 600 and 700 series single braced, and he says he now wishes that he had gone that route as they are more than up to the job and much lighter!
 
If I were just mounting one cymbal per stand, I'd have no problem using the GC ones that GRUNTERSDAD mentioned. Until I got my rack, I used the top of the line, double braced, heavy duty Yamaha stands, but I had three things mounted on each of them. You gotta love three hole receivers.

DSC09750-1-1.jpg


Here I even have my china mounted off a cymbal extender arm that comes out of the top of the boom arm that holds the crash below it.
DSC09756-1.jpg


Nothing on these stands ever moved and having more things on a stand made the use of memory locks more worthwhile..
 
Buy the hardware "that you need" ... Overkill is just that. Double-braced 30 lb stands are quite unnecessary if all your doing is holding up a cymbal, 3 or 4 ' off the floor. Quite something else, if your putting an 18" china 6' in the air, above your "other crashes.​
My "big" rock kit, I had 10 Tama Titan boom stands (they later became the Road Pro series). But I was mounting 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 inch roto-toms on them, and the other 5 stands, big cymbals.​
Well, that hardware stood me well, for 15 years, and when I sold it, I got almost as much for it, as when I bought it new. Hell, that stuff "survived" the 80's better than I did.​
Now, I use all Yamaha 600/700 Series stuff. The hardware fits the job required of it. And I have 2 Yamaha hex racks.​
Don't confuse "price" with "cheap". Stay away from the no name "budget" stuff. It might look like the "expensive" double-braced brands, but it won't last like the "expensive" double braced brands.​
 
"expensive" so far was worth it for me. I managed to get all the DW hardware on clearance...otherwise...i dunno?
I totally agree with the overkill aspect.

On my gigging Pacific set, I use a 900 series combo cymbal stand that holds a 20" ride and a 16" floor tom (well, it floats now). I totally agree with Fuzrock regarding heavy duty stands for multi attachments.

For my home studio, I use 2 DW 9000 series tom stands. One holds a 10" tom, 16", 18" crashes and a 10" splash.
The other holds a 12" tom, 20" crash, 18" elevated china.
Definitely need the HEAVY's for multi use stands. Heavy duty gear for pedals and HH's.

Sorry about the size of the pics, i was trying to reduce them.

I love Gibraltar stands. Well built.
 

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I have a buddy that bought a total Yamaha Oak Custom kit with all Yamaha double braced cymbal stands ... he told me the more he gigs, the more he realizes it was overkill.

My cymbal stands are Yamaha 600 and 700 series single braced, and he says he now wishes that he had gone that route as they are more than up to the job and much lighter!

Totally agree, use the same hardwear and no problem. I only have two stands;; one with 17" crash, 14" floor, 19" crash/ride & 21" ride, the other stand with 8" tom, 17" crash and 12" splash on it. All with locks that are marked. Instead of 5 or 6 stands that build up the weight and cover the floor, my bag is alot lighter and and my floor footprint is a lot smaller.
 
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