I modified my Pearl Flat Base Cymbal Stand..........

vyacheslav

Senior Member
Overall, I really like these, although they are on the pricey side. I like the fact they are convertible to regular tripods (although I never plan to use them as such, it's nice to have that option). I also love the Uni-Lock tilter and the cool 50/50 foam/felts it comes with. I also dig the modern looking "wing nut".

The one thing I decidedly DON'T like is that the legs are WAY too long for my liking, and it makes the stands hard to position around themselves and other components. I cut 2 3/4" off of each leg (modified stand on the left, factory stand on the right). Much more reasonable now! I decided on that length, because the original Ludwig 1400's, the Tama Classics and the DW Ultralights all have legs that are around 10" from the vertical tube to the end of the leg, including rubber foot. The length of each leg after modification for the Pearl Stand is now 10 1/4". Much easier to position and no difference in stability. It also makes them a tad more compact a takes off just a smidge of extra weight. Never a bad thing!

I just simply took off the rubber foot, measured, cut, and put the rubber foot back on. Easy. I like the stand much more now!

The only drawback is that the rubber feet are almost goof-ily large (at least compared to other flat base/lightweight stands), so now that the legs are shorter, the tripod cannot fold all the way closed because the rubber foot gets in the way of the inside of the leg (where the brace is that connects the leg to the wing bolt section). Before modification it was above and clear of the inside of the leg when folded. It's not that big of a deal. I could always replace the feet with smaller ones (like a DW or Tama Classic) and the folded up legs would clear the rest of the stand, it's just that the comically large rubber feet that are currently on the stand are too big to do so after being cut down. I understand that Pearl probably put larger feet on there in case it was used as a "regular" tripod, so I get it, but they still seem unusually large for a stand of this size/weight. A minor hassle; still very much worth the modification!

These are very high quality stands, although I'm not sure they are worth $80 a pop (I got these as open box/demos, so I paid much less than that, thankfully). Worth checking out for sure, although again, based on their competition on the flat base market, they are priced well above many of thier competitors.

V
 

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I have a couple of these stands. The legs are slightly long, but I like that for extra stability. When you convert the stand to ‘normal’ the legs don’t reach as far because they’re on a steeper angle, slightly shorter than other regular stands.
So I think the length is a happy midpoint between a fraction long as a flat base and a fraction short as a tripod. Works for me. I like the construction, the smooth tilter and the classic look.
 
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