The Case for Single-Braced Stands

Drumolator

Platinum Member
All of my stands are single-braced and have been for a long time. I have used them in rock, blues, funk, jazz, and praise and worship. I do not play real loud, but I do wack 'em pretty hard sometimes. Some drummers believe that double-braced stands must be better, but I do not believe this is always the case.

Gibraltar, Yamaha, and Tama all make good quality single-braced stands. Mine are Gibraltar (cymbal, snare), Tama (cymbal), and Mapex (hihat). I have used the Tama stand for two cymbals, and one tom and a cymbal. I also have a cymbal boom arm that I attach to my bass-drum-mounted tom holder. The less I have to move around the better.

So what do you think? Anyone else a believer in single-braced stands?
 
I'm thinking of switching to them. It's not a priority. If you don't use the boom feature, I don't see any issues with them, but I've never "field tested" them.
 
I'm a believer. In fact, for years I used flat-based cymbals stands as well with great success. However, thanks to technology and a drumming population driving research and development, my new Pearl 900-series stands aren't much heavier than my older Tama Stagemaster single-braced stuff, so the weight for me is the same for a bit more stability.

But I've always said, the hardware doesn't get abused when you're using it. It gets abused when it's moved from gig to gig, especially when other people are involved in moving it around. So, you can go as light as you need, and if you're the only one moving it, it'll last for years. Nobody needs that over-engineered Drum Workshop stuff that you can jack a truck up on. Nobody plays that hard - look at John Bonham, the man made his instrument speak with his technique!
 
I use Tama single braced snare, hat, and cymbal stands.
I also use a Gibraltar bass drum mounted ride cymbal holder on my 18 inch bass kit.

I have no problem with them. I really like them.

Check out the bass drum cymbal holders that I use for my vintage Gretsch kit and my Pearl/ddrum kit.
They work great and they save me energy and time during setup and transport.
They save floorspace too.
 

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All of my hardware is double braced. If I solely had to move my gear, I probably would think differently. Stability is paramount when it comes to my hardware selection, especially when some of my stands might get sand bagged on some venues. Yes, including my over-engineered DW 9700 stands.

Dennis
 
Nobody needs that over-engineered Drum Workshop stuff that you can jack a truck up on.

:)

I think we have yet another case of the 20somethings wanting it and the older people not needing it. :)
 
Absolutely.
I used to have my floor tom and 2 cymbals on 1 stand and my tom and 1 cymbal on another. And I never found it very fast or easy to set-up.
I now have the 3 same cymbals on Yamaha's cs650 stands, the tom on the Yamaha 12" snare stand, and I put legs on the floor tom (and it sounds better too). I really find this way faster to position stuff exactly were I want.
2 of these stands weigh about the same as 1 cs850 stands I was using. And w/out the multiclamp and booms things weigh less and set up is faster.
 
:)

I think we have yet another case of the 20somethings wanting it and the older people not needing it. :)

That certainly may be the case! Peace and goodwill.
 
I guess that the lesson is this.
They make hardware in all capacities.
Use what you like or need to get the job done for you.

If a single braced stand or a bass mounted cymbal holder works for you,
then that is what you should use.

If you want or need heavy duty then that is what you should have.

I found some inexpensive cymbal stands for $30 each.
I bought six of them to use with my 4 kits.
I figured that I would use them and throw them away as they screwed up.
That was 3 years ago and I haven't had to replace any of them.
I gig with these stands and transport them a lot.

That worked for me because I got six stands for the price of two.
 
Nearly all my hardware is single-braced and I jam everything I can onto every stand. I don't have a single stand that holds only one cymbal. In fact, I have one single-braced stand that holds up to three cymbals, plus two hanging floor toms and occasionally a couple of cowbells, with no issues whatsoever. It shakes just slightly if I lay into it, but never so much that anything's in danger of tipping or falling off.

Double-braced stands are a mix of marketing and overkill engineering. I don't doubt that there are individuals who seriously need a super-wide-stanced, double-braced stand for some reason (such as Terry here)... but for the majority of gigging drummers, it's really not crucial in my opinion. And lugging around large amounts of steel back in my younger days probably was a major contributor to my two slipped discs.
 

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I have a DW 9000 stand that holds a 15" tom,22" ride,14" hats and a 19" china.It's still solid as a rock. Sure,it's heavy but it does the work of 4 stands. :)
 
When you start mounting 14" and up toms on a stand with cymbals on top, double brace is going to out perform single every time. If you have one heavyweight in your bag, that's not too bad for what its going to do for you if need be.

I mentioned before in an older thread of same that in the studio we A-B'd single and double braced cymbal stands (double being considerably heavier) and the recorded play backs reveled cymbals recorded/sounded better on heavier stands. Could have something to do with the mass of the stand not transferring vibration back to the cymbal.
 
Lets talk about single braced hat and snare stands.
I have Tama Stage Master single braced snare and hat stands.

I use 5x14 and 5.5x13 wood snare drums of average weights.
I also use thick 14 inch hats.
I have no problems with these stands,
They are inexpensive, They adjust really well.
They are a working drummers dream.
They are just as good as my comparable double braced snare and hat stands.
 
I have a few single braced HH's, an AXIS being one of them. I prefer the heavier HH stands when possible. Of all my HH stands, I play my YAMAHA HS 1100 the most, its heavy but not that big (small foot print). The heavier HH's don't move as easily and their bulk seems to absorb the shock better (I play barefoot most of the time).

Snare stands I prefer single braced and the smaller foot print the better- which the single braced ones usually have.
 
Open question: If someone produced a carbon fibre range of stands, that were at least as strong as the best double braced stands, but, let's say, 30% more expensive, would you buy them? Just curious.
 
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