Ludwig Atlas Classic vs. DW 6000's

Bo Eder

Platinum Member
It's nice to have such a great relationship with the guys at Pro Drum. Last week I picked up three of those Ludwig Atlas Classic straight flat-based cymbal stands and immediately used them on a gig that night.

In the last five days or so, I've discovered things that make me scratch my head, and now Stan at Pro Drum is nice enough to let me bring 'em back and get the DW ones. So my short list of things about the Atlas stands:

1) Because of those reversible rubber feet, when you go to fold the legs up, they don't go all the way in, unless you've reversed the rubber feet and are using the "other" hole which raises the stand about an inch and a half.
2) When the stand is compacted, because of the big wing nuts, you have to stagger where the wing nuts fall (by turning the tubes a bit), or else you can't loosen or tighten them.
3) On the copies that I have, the wing nut that keeps the legs out, loosens up, and the stand will actually sink until the center hits the ground. This was a bit aggravating and I can see where somewhere down the line, I'll end up stripping out the wing nut and having to replace it because I've had to make it so tight.

I still have the stands and will get with Stan later in the week after the NAMM show so we can do a side-by-side comparison. But I hate to say it, I think DW has the better engineering in this department after looking at the DW stands today. I may make the switch. But I was really digging the Ludwig vibe - but they're a little frustrating to work with. Anybody experience the same thing?
 
I went the cheaper route and went with the Gibraltars. Half the price and they work just fine. Just scored a used boom stand for my ride off Ebay too.
 
I went the cheaper route and went with the Gibraltars. Half the price and they work just fine. Just scored a used boom stand for my ride off Ebay too.

I use the flat-base Gibraltar stands too. I liked them a lot better than the DW ones which seemed over-built.
 
I must admit, having checked out the Gibraltars at a Sam Ash some time ago, I did like how they were basically a flat-based stand on a bit of steroids. They didn't do anything new and shiny in the engineering department. Although I didn't think DW did anything to re-engineer their flat based stuff either. But the Ludwigs have that tilter that when loosened, you can actually rotate the tilter as well (not sure what the thinking was behind that), and of course, the over-sight of the wing nuts knocking together when the sections are dropped on top of each other. The DW's give you memory locks for the sections, but even without them, the wing nuts are separated when sections are on top of each other (which I think was an idea developed by Tama back in the day).

I will consider the Gibraltars, but I'm seriously leaning toward the DW's too.
 
I have both the Atlas and DW flat base stands.

You were talking about using regular stands for gigs because of possible audience contact, so the FB's would just be at home?
I got the Atlas stuff when they became available, (straight and boom versions) so I've had them a while.
Here's some comparison.

Atlas Classic:
I leave them "at height", so I wasn't aware of the wing nuts hitting when folding them up. I don't have everything "lined up" usually anyway, so I probably wouldn't have noticed. The FB boom stand only has the one wing nut for height of the center tube, so it isn't an issue on that stand.

I have the feet so the stand is in a higher position. I do this to avoid any cords on the floor that might be a PITA for me. It's worked out great so far. i think it's a cool feature aside from overlapping stands easily.

The folded out legs haven't come loose, and have not seemed to need to be tightened a lot to me. For convenience, I put small chrome hose clamps at the bottom where I want the legs to stop.
The tilter gizmo moving around the top tube...I can only speculate that it's to let you keep the same top tube height (or length of the boom) you set, but still move the tilter itself if needed (?).

I like these stands a lot. I wish they had memory locks, but I get that it's supposed to be the "light weight, compact" blahblahblah.
The hat stand is GREAT. The wing nuts on these Atlas stands are comfortable, and really smooth--which I have said before many times :)

The DW 6000:
I've had these for several years. Love the memory locks, the tilter is great (always was).
The only problem I have had is quite a few of the tilter wing nuts did not go on easily at all. I had to get replacements.

As good as the straight cymbal stands are, the DW FB hat stand was so wobbly I avoided it.

Being a long time Ludwig fan/player, I really dig having nice, modern Ludwig hardware for my Ludwig drums, but being totally honest, I was always very happy with the DW FB stands too, and didn't need to get anything else.
I still use the DW FB's, and the sets of the mid-weight boom and straight stands (with the real tilter).

I'm very "set it and forget it", and with the memory locks, the DW stands let me do that without thinking that something might have to be readjusted when I pull it out of the hardware case.
The Ludwig stand settings haven't moved either, but they just tighten by the (really nice) wing nut. Is that too anal in not wanting to mess with anything? Maybe, probably, but it's something I thought about.

Pluses for DW:
Tilters cymbal spacer, and the fact that it is straight in line with the tube (where you set the stand is where the center of the cymbal is).
Memory locks.
Easy weight to deal with.

Pluses for the Ludwig:
The adjustable height feet.
The tubes all work smoothly but hold tightly for me.
Way better wing nuts--look cool too.
Slightly beefier tubes, but not really any heavier.
Ludwig stands for my 4 Ludwig kits.

Sorry if it got blahbityblahblah.
 
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