REALISTIC PORTABLE DRUM RACK

Nealio1987

Senior Member
Hi Everybody

I have recently been thinking about a drum rack for my gigging kit. I currently own a gibralter cylinder type of rack which is big and bulky and not very realistic for 50 % of where im going to be gigging. My question is , does anyone know a type of rack that is lightweight , where i can fold it up and put it in the van and not a stupid price , sick of carrying massive bag of stands, I have seen a few rough pics of a small type of rack which is more square ?

any help would be apreciated.

Kindest Regards

NEALIOS
 
I've got a Gibraltar rack as well, but I haven't used it in its full configuration for some years now. You're absolutely right, for both size and weight reasons it doesn't make much sense.

What I did for several years is use only side racks. I used a very low one with only about 30" high legs and a 36" bar for a crash, china and two floor toms, and one with 40" legs and a 36" crossbar for two crashes, three toms, and a splash. They sat on either side of my bass drum and could be moved as one piece from the stage to wherever. I could remove the cymbal arms and tom arms from them, detach the T-legs, and slide them into the back of the station wagon next to the cases without breaking them down any further.

Within the last few weeks I went a step further and simply attached two short rack tubes (a 24" and an 18") to my cymbal stands using super multi-clamps. Then I suspend my toms off those. So the entire kit (currently 5 toms, 7 cymbals) is on three cymbal stands, and it's plenty stable.

Gibraltar also has come out with the Stealth racks, that run along the floor or just above it, for use as side racks. These look like lighter alternatives to a full-size rack that can work a bit better for gigs, but they may be tricky for larger setups.

The square racks you're referring to are by Pearl, and many seem to prefer them because the rack bars are less likely to slip. However, they are no smaller or lighter than Gibraltar's main rack series.
 
The answer is to put casters on your Gibraltar rack - just lift if out of your vehicle and roll it into the venue - I have a Gibby starter rack with 4 Gibby casters - excellent unit.
 
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