Flat-Base Hardware - DW vs. Ludwig vs. Gibraltar

As Cleforo and others have stated, Make sure that the load is placed over a leg when setting the cymbal stands. I positioned the stand legs under the load of the boom arm for my ride cymbal. I also counterbalanced the weight of the ride by adding a clamp type cymbal mount to the boom stand for a crash. That adds even more stability to the boom stand. Use design to your advantage when setting up your kit.

Your cymbal clamp off of your ride cymbal stand is genious! If I do this I can get rid of a stand all together. Has anyone out there hung a 12" tom off of one of these flat base stands? I did one gig with a 10" tom but I am not sure if one could handle the weight.
 
...I have discovered that the tripod is the way to go, and I found that in the lightest Yamaha 600-series stands. And these Yamaha's are basically as light as the flat-based stuff, but you get the added stability of the tripod...

I currently have two Yamaha 700-series boom stands, two 600-series straight stands, and two 700-series hi-hat stands. I agree that they work perfectly for a light sturdy setup! I like them alot, actually and have zero complaints.

I just want another full setup to keep in the car at all times and was wanting something different. I do like the look of the flat-base stands and there's always a chance that whatever I buy will end up staying home, while the Yamaha stuff goes out.

Plus, I just like new gear and am pretty satisfied with my drums, cymbals, and pedals at the moment. Need something else to want. ha ha
 
Your cymbal clamp off of your ride cymbal stand is genious! If I do this I can get rid of a stand all together. Has anyone out there hung a 12" tom off of one of these flat base stands? I did one gig with a 10" tom but I am not sure if one could handle the weight.

I do something similar. I use a boom stand for the ride, then mount a DW Puppy Bone on the end of the boom opposite the ride cymbal. I use that for a crash and it's VERY convenient! I can get by with only a straight stand for my left side crash and a boom stand with puppy bone for my ride and right side crash.

I kinda want to go with three straight stands on this new setup, though.

I'll try to find a pic.

EDIT - Can't seem to find a pic at the moment. Also, the boom arm on the Yamaha stuff is smooth and I had to use a Dremel to grind up a spot for the Puppy Bone to grab. Works great!
 
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I think I can picture what you are saying. I have attached a picture and circled the area in question. I could see by using a puppy bone I might be able to clamp onto the other end of the boom circled and put a crash up there.
 

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I think I can picture what you are saying. I have attached a picture and circled the area in question. I could see by using a puppy bone I might be able to clamp onto the other end of the boom circled and put a crash up there.

Yeah, that's what I do! The Puppy Bone isn't very high, so you have to like your cymbals pretty low. It won't work for everyone. I wish it was maybe a few inches longer, but it does work great.

I should have pics, but I can't seem to find any.
 
Found some pics!

1 is with the longer DW arm and clamp and the other is with the Puppy Bone.
 

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I've used the DW's and more recently the Ludwig Atlas flat-based stands -- they're both great... I will say I think the Ludwig models have been a little more durable long term. The DW's don't seem to take the abuse as well - though they maybe a tiny bit lighter in weight.
 
The "branching out" is the accessories they have, like the 2 different cymbal arms that attach to ft legs, the bass drum mounted ride cymbal attachment. Stuff like that. I saw some stuff at the Chicago show in May. Some is out, some is available in July, so it's coming up.
They may show pics in the Atlas section on the Ludwig site.

I only had a couple Gibraltar FB straights, and the snare stand, and they're sturdy.
I actually just used the Gib FB straight stands to make other things out of them, so I never used them as a stand. The snare stand was used as a snare stand.

Like I said, I use my 24 as a crash ride, it's not super low and I crash it a lot. It never moves on either the Ludwig or DW stand.
 
The "branching out" is the accessories they have, like the 2 different cymbal arms that attach to ft legs, the bass drum mounted ride cymbal attachment. Stuff like that. I saw some stuff at the Chicago show in May. Some is out, some is available in July, so it's coming up.

They may show pics in the Atlas section on the Ludwig site.

The Ludwig site seems pretty slow to be updated. For example, the NEW Keystone line and Atlas mounts aren't on it. I haven't read anything yet about the stuff you mentioned. I'll have to look around to get an idea about that stuff!

Thanks.

Chris
 
Two Ludwig accessories are in the catalog called Aerodyne Scissor Lifts, long and short.
Two tilter clamps also.
The 2013 catalog is downloadable (wouldn't attach) from the Ludwig site.

Pics of the new Gull Wing style legs would probably be on their Facebook page, along with the new rail mount deal.
The spurs are pretty dang cool, sort of look like the Dunnett/Ayotte spurs with that bullet looking end. The Ludwig spurs will adjust to lift the front of the drum up a LOT.

All this stuff mounts off the Atlas tom/leg mount. Kevin Packard said those mounts would be available in July.

They also had a BD ride cymbal mount that was (if I can explain it right) one of those boom arm holding pieces (the round thing the boom arm goes in), attached a tube with a height adjustment, then the top section of a straight tilter. Basically the middle, and top sections of the straight FB stand with a clamp at the bottom to clamp onto any 1/2" rod coming out of the Atlas tom mount.

Sorry to derail the Flat Base topic...

Airborne, is that boom stand wobbly with the cymbal arm out that far?

I use my FB's just as straights, not sure I'd trust a 24 on a FB boom.
When we play outdoor gigs, I bring the lighter tubed DW stands. They are lighter than the regular DW stands, but just as sturdy.
Awesome Sonor kit BTW!

Edit...forget the blah blah on the explanation I gave... here's a video! The stuff I was talking about is quick in the beginning, but at 58 seconds it shows the stuff pretty close up. The Supralite 6.5 was my favorite sounding snare of the show!
 
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Dang Neal, that was very helpful! Thanks man!

Hey man, you're welcome.
Mad props to Karl on this subject as well, he's the resident hardware mad scientist here on DW.

Given your setup, (love the green sparkle Ludwigs) I think I'll agree with Karl - and say you have no choice but to get the Ludwig Atlas Classic set.
Do yourself a favor and order some of the 'normal' smaller rubber feet, they will come in handy, especially for the hi-hat stand.

Good luck!
Neal
 
So..... Check it out.

I ended up finding a local store that had some Atlas Classic hardware in stock. The short story is that they let me open the boxes and check everything out before purchasing. I ended up working a deal with them (just a few bucks off, nothing killer) for the hi-hat stand, straight cymbal stand, boom cymbal stand, and snare stand.

I bought the package and went straight to rehearsal. I used the stands at rehearsal, but that's the only time I've spent with them so far.

A few VERY early observations are:

- The snare stand is much more heavy-duty than I expected. It almost doesn't fit in with the "Classic" term IMO.
- The legs on the snare stand made it impossible to use my double-pedal, which kinda stinks. I rarely use a double, but had it with me last night. I still need to try different things to see if I can make this work.
- The big rubber feet make the stands not fold up as nicely and they seem kinda silly to me, but I get how they're useful to some/most folks.
- The stands are as light as I hoped, so that's great!
- The hi-hat stand feels very nice under my foot for whatever reason. I really enjoyed playing on it!
- My snare (Acrolite Reissue) sounds better than ever on this snare stand. Even the bass player noticed it sounded better. Crazy!
- The boom stand is almost the same weight as the straight stand (not using a scale). It seems a little heavier, but it's hardly noticeable. I liked that!

They are quality stands and I'm happy I got them! Unfortunately for me, I won't really get much time with them until this weekend, since I have things going on every night this week. But so far, I'm digging them!

Thanks everyone!
 
Also, I've been using a baseball bat bag for my lightweight stuff and the handle ripped right after getting the Ludwig stands last night. LOL

I made a quick stop to Lowes to see if they had any bags that would work. I wasn't sure if the 20" tool bag would work, but it did and it's FANTASTIC! These bags are made for carrying really heavy tools and I gotta say it's built better than any hardware or even military bag I've owned. Everything is reinforced through the roof and things fit perfectly! (see pic)

Also, and I find this curious, notice how the hi-hat stand I just bought has different feet than the rest of the Atlas Classic stands I bought. The pics I've seen always show the hi-hat stand with the big feet, but mine has smaller feet. Maybe this is an early one or something? I may email Ludwig to find out.

Has anyone else seen that before?
 

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Doesn't appear to be a way to email Ludwig support directly, which absolutely sucks and is pretty much ridiculous in the year 2013.

Also, I don't see any other stand on the Ludwig site that has the feet that came on my hi-hat stand (from the pro, classic, or standard lines.) I wonder what that's all about?

EDIT - Page 5 of the 2013 Ludwig Catalog that Bermuda linked to above shows a Blue/Olive Oyster wrap kit with the Atlas Classic hi-hat stand with these feet, but that's the only pic I've seen. http://www.ludwig-drums.com/literature/AV8147_2013_Ludwig Catalog.pdf
 
Chris;

Congrats, that's awesome !! The stands are great and the bag is even better!
I'm gonna go get me a bag just like that at my local Home Depot for my Ludwig FB stands.

See folks, you get back what you put in on this site...

Regarding your hihat stand feet, Ludwig started using the smaller feet just on this stand because it doesn't fold up very nicely or compactly with the larger reversible feet. Try swapping yours, you'll see what I mean.

See my post #32 above. I actually bought the smaller feet for mine from my dealer , $5.

Neal
 
Chris;

Congrats, that's awesome !! The stands are great and the bag is even better!
I'm gonna go get me a bag just like that at my local Home Depot for my Ludwig FB stands.

See folks, you get back what you put in on this site...

Regarding your hihat stand feet, Ludwig started using the smaller feet just on this stand because it doesn't fold up very nicely or compactly with the larger reversible feet. Try swapping yours, you'll see what I mean.

See my post #32 above. I actually bought the smaller feet for mine from my dealer , $5.

Neal

Hey Neal, I realize places carry different things, but I went by Home Depot first and couldn't find a bag over like 18". I went to Lowes and they only had a few that were 20". The stands actually measure out like 22" or so fully collapsed, but I took a chance and they fit fine (because it's a bag with some flex in it.)

I'd like to add a third Atlas Classic stand and I "think" it would fit fine, but it may be tight.

I see what you mean now by the smaller feet. I wasn't quite following ya at first. So now the hi-hats all come with these smaller feet? That's cool and a great idea! I wouldn't mind having them for the snare stand too.
 
Cool, thanks I'll look out for a bag that's at least 20" long.
I have a few 'home improvement' mega stores to try if Home Depot doesn't have something.

That bag is a great option for ANY light hardware setup. Worthy of its own thread.
So many drummers are desperate to 'lighten the load' so to speak.

Neal
 
Glad it's worked out for ya!

Yeah, that hat stand is really nice feeling. Those smaller feet look pretty nice too. Mine has the larger feet. I have them in the "low" position, & the cymbal stand legs go over top of the HH leg.
I'll have to get a set of the smaller feet. I don't really need them, but if they fold up closer to the tube, the less chance of "something" ever happening to the legs in the case (besides, I haven't bought anything in a long time :) )

Having the feet on the cymbals stands get the legs of the floor, and over mic cables that always are on the stage. This makes them more like regular tripod stands in that regard compared to my DW FB stands.

I've just used the A Classic snare stand to hold the tom, and the small contact points on the basket really open the drums sound (and YES! the Acro Classic is a great sounding snare!)
The only beef I have with that snare stand is that it should be a multi-angle tilt, & not just tilt in one direction. THAT part about it is a little too "Classic". Seems like a multi angled basket be a given these days too, with all the options every little piece of gear has now.

I do like the tom flat, but just a little tilt when I use this stand would be nice.
For my snare it's just not that convenient as far as leg placement either, so I use my Pearl snare stand.
The Atlas is sturdy enough, but the way it has to tilt isn't good for my use with leg placements
 
...The only beef I have with that snare stand is that it should be a multi-angle tilt, & not just tilt in one direction. THAT part about it is a little too "Classic". Seems like a multi angled basket be a given these days too, with all the options every little piece of gear has now...

That actually confused me for a second when I first messed with it. I was surprised that it tilted side-to-side and not front-to-back like alot of other stands. Of course, I can just turn it sideways and have the front-to-back tilting. ha ha

If I get time this weekend, I'm gonna try my rack tom in it to see what happens. I haven't been happy with my rack tom in my other snare stands. It sounds best hanging in a RIMS style mount, but that's a little too loose and floppy with a 13" tom and smaller lighter weight stands.

Dude, I can't stop spending money. I'd say buying and selling crap is as fun to me as playing. Yes, that's sad, but it's true. :)
 
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