Yet Another Yamaha 3 Series H/W Review
NOTE: Les, please see *** under HS3
TLDR SUMMARY
- Look ma, no fingerprints!
- Excellent design, construction and functionality. Made outside of China factory in Taiwan.
- Weights fall in ultra-light category, but duty is higher and more comparable to 600 series or greater.
- SS3 snare stand is standout... 2.5lbs lighter than SS740A with no notable limitations.
- HS3 hi-hat stand is 3.1lbs lighter than HS740A with reduced footprint and vibration. Fixed spring tension or no leg rotation may be limiting for some people.
- CS3 cymbal stand is 3.2lbs lighter than (half the weight of) CS750 though not intended as a direct replacement for it. However, CS3 tripod base can be used with CS755 upper two tubes to provide limited boom functionality or TH904A to mount smaller toms and will lighten load by 2.2lbs.
- Overall, the 3 series stands seem to be an excellent light-duty, ultralight-weight option to reduce gigging weight and overcome some challenges with UL flat-base hardware from other manufacturers.
Bail out now if no further details are desired...
Otherwise, on with more CROSS-TOWN, Traffic, doodoo dododo doo doo... (sorry, couldn't resist)
HW3 SOFT CASE
- Size: 70.5L x 30W x 20H cm (27.75 x 11.75 x 7.88in).
- Material: Decent quality black polyester (600d?) with ~3mm (1/8in) lined padding and top double-pull center zipper.
- Sleeves: (4) 70 x 24cm (27.5 x 9.4in) thinner (more paper-like) black material than case.
- All stands fit well inside sleeves when fully collapsed and top hi-hat rod is unscrewed.
- All stands + FP7210 pedal + DS750 seat base & top fit comfortably inside case. An additional CS3 can be added if seat top is removed.
- For gigging, I leave all stands at play heights and just collapse legs when packing so plan on using a fuller length case instead.
- I also individually wrap stands in gray bath towels ($3 @ Walmart) so don't foresee any issues when packing with heavier hardware (to be put in first/on bottom).
ALL STANDS
- Made in Taiwan (same contract manufacturer as thrones?) instead of China.
- Date code ink stamp is under one leg near rubber tip for CS & SS and under footboard for HS.
- Overall appearance is inverse of other series... textured silver (and more glittery) legs & tubes, and polished aluminum collars & wing nuts.
- Wing nuts are smaller 1.5in width instead of larger 1.75in on other series, but still easy to grip.
- All bolts and tilters appear to be steel and are chrome plated at aluminum contact/friction points.
- Tube clamps are 2-piece hinged design rather than 1-piece design on other series. Further reduces weight and allows quick interchange of plastic inserts.
- Tube diameters seem to be slightly undersized (per calipers) compared to other series, but had no issues with interoperability. Possibly just difference between powder coating and chrome plating thickness.
SS3 SNARE STAND
- Weight is 1.2kg (2.5lbs) lighter than SS740A... 2.6 - 1.4kg (5.7 - 3.2lbs).
- Basket design, dimensions and operation are near identical to SS740A... primary difference is use of aluminum instead of steel.
- Top | Bottom tube diameters of 22.2 | 28.6mm (7/8 | 1-1/8in) are identical to SS740A.
- Longer negative-offset bottom tube allows for it to be 0 to 1-1/8in closer to floor (depending on leg radius) than SS740A... which helps lower center of gravity at similar leg stances.
- Height range with 14x5in snare (to batter hoop top) is 58.4 - 77.5cm (23.0 - 30.5in). Very versatile.
- Tested with 13x5.75 and 14x5 -> 14x8 snares of varying weight at 28in height... zero problems with leg positioning, stability or playability.
- Overall, very impressive for its light weight. Definite keeper.
HS3 HI-HAT STAND
- Weight is 1.4kg (3.1lbs) lighter than HS740A... 3.6 - 2.2kg (7.9 - 4.8lbs).
- Rod diameter is 6mm (1/4in) vintage-standard like all other series.
- Top rod can be unscrewed/reinstalled from bottom rod without removing top tube. HS740A top rod has 3/4in long plastic knurled section at base (to ease finger tightening) that prevents this.
- Top rod height is 1/2in shorter than HS740A. Top rod lengths are the same (@ 17in) and bottom rod of HS3 is 1/2in shorter. ***
- Top | Bottom tube diameters of 22.2 | 28.6mm (7/8 | 1-1/8in) are identical to HS740A. Memory lock not included on top tube, but can be added.
- Top and bottom tube lengths are shorter than HS740A as Les noted, but fully support max rod height.
- Tripod legs are shorter, mount 2.5in lower and have 1.0in less radius (10in vs 11in) than HS740A... which allows closer placement to other gear.
- Tripod leg support collar is integrated with vertical base frame so NO modification for leg rotation is possible.
- Base frame is slightly more narrow and curved at top than HS740A frame.
- Footboard connection to rod (chain, connecting bracket, nut and felt bumper) appears identical to HS740A. ***
- Footboard support arms have to be unhooked from frame to fold footboard just like with HS740A. No difference.
- Spring tension is fixed and similar to lowest setting on a new HS740A.
- Tested with 13" & 14" New Beats and 15" Sound Edge and easily adapted to each with the same tension. And as Les noted, there is a noticeable reduction in playing vibration transfer compared to the HS740A... very nice.
- In summary, fixed spring tension or no leg rotation may be issues for some, but so far so good here. Another keeper.
*** Les, I compared four additional HS740 / HS740A and one HS830 (which are often mistaken as HS730) stands this week and all top rod heights and lengths match and all bumpers are felt. Could you have possibly modified your 700 in the past with a longer top rod and rubber bumper?
CS3 CYMBAL STAND
- Weight is 1.5kg (3.2lbs) lighter than CS750... 2.9 - 1.4kg (6.4 - 3.2lbs).
- Tripod base weight is 1.0kg (2.2lbs) lighter than CS750/CS755... 1.9 - 0.9kg (4.2 - 2.0lbs). Yep, CS3 upper two tubes only weigh 0.5kg (1.2lbs).
- Top post thread diameter is 8mm standard like all other series. Tama and Sonor quick release nuts work fine.
- Offset cymbal tilter similar (if not identical) to 600 series.
- Top tube diameter of 12.7mm (1/2in) is notably smaller than and incompatible with 19.1mm (3/4in) of CS750... and 15.9mm (5/8in) of CS650.
- Middle | Bottom tube diameters of 22.2 | 28.6mm (7/8 | 1-1/8in) are identical to CS750 and allow for middle tube to be replaced with 700+ series or TH904 3-hole mount platform.
- Bottom tube is mounted lower in tripod base than CS750 and at same stance as HS740A (10in leg radius), tube bottom sits 2.5in closer to floor (1.5in vs 4.0in) than CS750... to help lower center of gravity.
- As a straight crash stand, tested with 16", 18" and 20" medium weight cymbals at 44-46in center height... needed a slightly wider stance than CS750 (11in vs 10in leg radius) for better stability. Normally use about 11in, just wanted to compare with 10in of HS3.
- As a straight ride stand, tested 20", 21" and 22" medium & heavy weight cymbals at 36-38in center height... rock solid at 11in leg radius.
- As a boom crash stand using CS755 upper tubes and boom arm, tested same crash cymbals at same heights... needed to increase leg radius to 14in and be more careful with boom orientation to gain stability. Even then, medium force strikes to the 20" caused the stand to move/walk a bit so need to experiment more. At least 16" and 18" medium crashes seem usable.
- As a joint boom crash and tom mount with TH904A holder, tested 16" and 18" medium crash cymbals at 44in height and 10" and 12" toms at 34in height. Leg radius remained at 14in. Toms were Pearl Reference Series with weights of 8.9 and 10.4lbs respectively and were specifically chosen for their fairly heavy weight and longer lateral extension with the aluminum OptiMount system (i.e. potentially worst case scenario). The tom arm was positioned directly over one leg and the cymbal arm opposite it with the boom angled 90 degrees to it. Toms on the CS3 setup bounced more from playing and from cymbal crashes than they did on the CS755 setup, but overall was more stable than the boom crash setup alone. The tom weight definitely helped offset the imbalance caused by cymbal crashes.
- Overall, the CS3 is a fine straight stand. It wasn't intended to be as flexible or solid as a CS7*, but the boom and tom mount arrangements show some promise and I'll continue to experiment.
Time to put these through the ringer on some gigs...