Crosstown sleeve and packing thoughts.

Mr Farkle

Mr Farkle

Well-known Member
I'm packing around a Crosstown hardware set and getting slightly annoyed with the bags and case. Packing up used to be throwing gear into a bag. Now I'm carefully packing everything using the Yamaha supplied sleeves and case. When unpacking the sleeve hides the hardware so I don't really know what I'm getting when I dig through the bag. Packing up is taking me longer than usual and a black sleeve in a black case is terrible for these old eyes, especially on a dimly lit stage.

I've been looking for alternatives. Ideally I would find a lightweight, padded, segmented case but I haven't run across anything that would work.

Crosstown users... have you struggled with the sleeves? Do you use them? Maybe I just need to stop caring and start banging them around.
 
It is an extra step that's kind of a pain. I know the DW Ultralight hardware bag does have dividers (it's divided into 3 compartments, longways). I know Yamaha supplied the sleeves because the aluminum is very easy to scratch.

An alternative might be to use the existing Crosstown bag and instead of using the default sleeves, you could wrap the stands in different colored towels, as a "Color coding" way of knowing what you have. Big Lots, Wal-Mart, Gabe's etc. sell large bath towels that are pretty inexpesnive. That might help. Also, at this time of year, large beach towels are on clearance at many different stores, so you might try that too.
 
I don't use sleeves, and my Crosstown HH lives in a bag with 2 cymbal stands, snare stand and a throne base, and looks the same as when new 4 years ago. Then again, I don't think I've ever had stands blemish each other.
 
Bo Eder said:
I don’t use the sleeves. They don’t get as scratched up as Yamaha has led us to believe. I just put them in my trap case as normal and go.
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bermuda said:
I don't use sleeves, and my Crosstown HH lives in a bag with 2 cymbal stands, snare stand and a throne base, and looks the same as when new 4 years ago. Then again, I don't think I've ever had stands blemish each other.
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Fantastic. That's all I needed to hear. Thanks, *guys!

*distinguished gentleman
 
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I actually don’t mind well worn gear, I just don’t want to be the one who puts the wear on it. Probably something for the therapist to address.
 
vyacheslav said:
I know the DW Ultralight hardware bag does have dividers (it's divided into 3 compartments, longways).
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That's a nice bag! One other issue is the Yamaha bag is a little too short. For now I moved everything, sleeve free, to a slightly larger hardware bag. We'll see how that goes!
 
I don't have these stands, and previous responses from verified users of these products makes it sound as though the sleeves are useless anyway, but I was thinking any of the following:
-get some cheap fabric and make different colored sleeves
-get a multi pack of long ugly pattern socks and use different ones for different types of stands
-get a something like a metallic sharpie or colored fabric marker to write on each sleeve 'ride' 'hi hat' etc
 
Used my new Crosstowns for the first time at a gig last Saturday night. Brought all the stands with sleeves on them. Tossed all the sleeves when packing up and threw the stands naked into my SKB mid-sized stand case. No patience for sleeves for all the reasons mentioned in the OP.
 
Mr Farkle said:
I'm packing around a Crosstown hardware set and getting slightly annoyed with the bags and case. Packing up used to be throwing gear into a bag. Now I'm carefully packing everything using the Yamaha supplied sleeves and case. When unpacking the sleeve hides the hardware so I don't really know what I'm getting when I dig through the bag. Packing up is taking me longer than usual and a black sleeve in a black case is terrible for these old eyes, especially on a dimly lit stage.

I've been looking for alternatives. Ideally I would find a lightweight, padded, segmented case but I haven't run across anything that would work.

Crosstown users... have you struggled with the sleeves? Do you use them? Maybe I just need to stop caring and start banging them around.
Click to expand...
Try some ahead products. They have a roller bag for hard ware stands
 
I use the sleeves. Since I only fold the legs, slip on the sleeve and lay them all out inside my 54" PR rolling bag, it's surprisingly easy and quick. The added piece of mind is just icing, for me. I'll probably use them as long as they last. Only the hi-hat stand goes in naked because I don't fold the pedal, just collapse the legs. It rides on top.

I'll add that I use (and still do) light rugs as dividers in my bags with the chrome stuff. Since I don't break down my stands, this is a better tradeoff when tossing each piece into a bag.
 
Other folks suggested color-coding the sleeves - I'd use colored duct tape and a permanent marker. Just a thought.
 
I don't see any problem. Love using the sleeves as they prevent scratching.

And they scratch for sure as I have found out when not using hte sleeves one time (especially when using a heavier throne base in the mix.

As I don't use memory locks on the cymbal arms I always extend and collapse those.

Its a seconds setup for me.
 
I don't use the sleeves and they have been on the road with me since February with a couple years now total ownership - maybe like 1 scratch that I can find if I look - totally a non-problem.
 
I'm no scientist but if you've got a bag full of Crosstown stands they're all made of the same material, aluminium, so if they rub against each other they're not likely to scratch each other. But throw another stand or a seat base in there made of harder chromed steel and that would be the culprit that scratches the Crosstown stands. Just a thought.
 
I’ve done both. Currently using sleeves but I’ve ditched the snare stand and am about to ditch the hi hat. Not really liking those 2
 
Smoke said:
Other folks suggested color-coding the sleeves - I'd use colored duct tape and a permanent marker. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

The sleeves are all the same; size and shape. No need to color code them.

I'm going on 4 years with the same set of Crosstown hardware. I use the Protection Racket version of the Ahead rolling sled mentioned above. No concerns packing my crosstown hardware - 3x cymbal stands, snare stand, and hi-hat - sleeveless with my flying dragon kick pedal, throne, vocal mic rig, spare parts and tool-kit pouch, etc. No signs of wear, or mechanical issues, to date.
 
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