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I not really a believer in putting guitars in stands, in my opinion the only two places for a guitar are in my hands being played in safely in its case. That said, however, I have started to play a number of recitals where I need both guitar and lute on stage, so I need a stand for the guitar (I'll have to make one for the lute). The guitar in question is an $8k Aram so I don't want to just prop it in the corner!

So, the question is this, what type do you prefer, the A-frame or the giraffe neck? Is the advantage of the lower centre of gravity of the A-frame outwieghed by the neck support of the giraffe neck design?

Opinions and pictures please.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

EDIT (give me back my button, it's the main reason I don't post much now!)

Should read "in my hands being played or safely in its case."

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I don't own a $8K Aram, but I have put my strats and teles and an occational acoustic in both types of stands that you mention, and I much prefer the A-fame. I have used them on crowded, dimly lit stages for years, and my guitars seldom get knocked off the A-frame stands. On the plus side are the low center of gravity that you mention, but also a larger footprint (my "giraffe" stands had 3 contact points on the floor, my A-frames have four), and they are smaller when folded up. On the negative side... can't think of any! Make sure your fisih doesn't disagree with the padding material on the stand.

Oh, and I agree about the edit button thing; as soon as I post this I will kick myself over something I forgot to mention or some spelling error or my broken English.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

"...your fisih..."??! I meant to say: "...your guitar's finish...". See what I mean?

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I have no stand advice, but will say that your English, Arnt, is probably better than mine. Sorry Colin to digress from the thread.

Hi Colin,

I,ve not been happy with the store bought stands , so knocked this together .It snugs the guitar very well . The neck support is easily adjustable for different width guitars via a simple wedge ( with the round handle ). The angle set can be adjusted by lengthening the buckskin strip . I used no metal ( leather hinge) and cushion felt from my piano supplies .

Cheers Craig

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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My Word What a clever design. Looks very safe, functional and handsome to boot. I gotta make me one of those!

John

Colin,
You've hit upon the only real reason to use a guitar stand. I play several instruments and I need to put them somewhere accessible when performing. I use the A frame style and I've never had an accident with them but I have had accidents putting my guitar into a regular case when the conditions were not optimal. The case was at an angle and the lid closed before the guitar was all the way in and the tongue of the latch put a nice ding in the top. It was deep and the fibers were cut so I couldn't even steam it out. But, I digress.

The small size of the A frame style makes it more likely that I'll bring it along and use it instead of trying to prop the instrument up in a corner or some other foolish thing.

Hesh! This is and old picture. Shurly this rack and 4 more like it are full by now

Thanks Arnt and Mike, I was leaning towards the A-frame type so I might go ahead and get one of those. But I do have some bits of rosewood and Yew in the pile so one like Craig's is a definite project.

Nice though those are Hesh, not very practical for what I was after. I don't like keeping guitars in stands at home, I like to keep them in their cases when not being used. I just need something to go next to my chair on stage to take one guitar.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

[QUOTE=ToddStock] Peak ST-10 stand - $18 when last I picked up a couple at Appalachian Bluegrass in Catonsville, and it folds to a very compact 14" x 2" x 2" package.[/QUOTE]

Is that an A-frame or a giraffe stand Todd? Remember also that I'm in the UK so US brands are probably not available here.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Thanks Colin and John. I've noticed the store bought ones are made to suit electrics as well , and as such have a narrow width between the bottom lower bout rests. Mine is for acoustic guitars , and has this width wider . As you can see , it supports the guitar at the lower bouts , back of the upper bout and adjusts to support the neck as well.
I came up with this design on the fly , and was so impressed with it's performance , considered making some as it flat packs.
You're welcome to use the design , but would like it referred to as the Lawrence of Australia Stand

List of materials include wood, leather, felt , hotglue and a bit of shellac . Sort of Old World ingredients .
As I said above ,it is very stable and supports the guitar better than any others I have seen


       Lawrence of Australia

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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HI MICHAEL, hey everyone it's MR. PAYNE! Michael, welcome home.

Okay here is one by a fellow woodworker here in Arkansas, he has several wood species: cherry, maple, and walnut. Then he does some in lacquer.







Cello stand works nicely.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Again Bruce, very nice I like the idea of making a wooden stand, but a woodworker in Arkansas is not too much use to me in the UK. However from the pictures I guess you prefer the giraffe type.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I hate it when you don't hear the end of a story, so I thought you might like to know that I bought one of these. It is really a hybrid between the two types, having the low centre of gravity and four point footprint of the A-frame plus the neck support of the giraffe type.



Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Jesus Hesh I want to live in your house

[QUOTE=Hesh1956] I like these stands.

[/QUOTE]


Jese Hesh I wanna live in your house

Barry

Geez Hesh,

Don't you get a lot of "unrelated" sound when listening to the stereo? Or is that how you break 'em in?

colin, for a variety of reasons i couldn't agree with you more about the unsuitability of stands as anything other than very temporary, short term instrument storage, e.g., during a lesson, performance, etc.

but there can be risks invilved in their use even during a performance. some years ago had a friend who was performing at a festival. put her martin on the stand to switch to the banjo for the next tune. whilst singing that song a gust of wind blew the martin not only off the stand but clear off the stage. the result was a broken neck.

lesson: when performing outdoors keep the case nearby and lay them in the case between sets, tunes, etc.

Beautiful.

Oh, I like the Hercules stands.

(i was referring to the Hesch photo)

Now, stop and think about it for a moment. There are times when 3 feet are better than 4. Radio towers come to mind (I know, a bit of a stretch) but have you ever seen a modern radio tower with 4 stay cables? Its 3. Because you get the concerted effort of 2 cables supporting the tower against the wind from all angles. With 4 cables, there are 4 directions where it is just one cable!!

With a 3 legged platform, a direct hit perpendicular to 2 of the feet will provide no more protection than a 4 legged device (same impact scenario). But its the other angles that count! With a 4 legged device there are 4 easy ways to knock it over, with a three legged device, there a only 3, I think that means something like a 25% improvement in safety.

Are heads spinning yet? Don't knock those 3 legged Hercules (or the a-frames) because they have only three feet...there is a good reason for that.

Mike

(ok, I screwed up a bit on the radio tower thing...there are three wind angles that are bad, and 4 with a 4 cable stay system)

I like three leg things too Mike .Because most surfaces aren't truly flat and level, four legs usually have a wobble .
Three leg things never do !

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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[QUOTE=crazymanmichael] colin, for a variety of reasons i couldn't agree with you more about the unsuitability of stands as anything other than very temporary, short term instrument storage, e.g., during a lesson, performance, etc.

but there can be risks invilved in their use even during a performance. some years ago had a friend who was performing at a festival. put her martin on the stand to switch to the banjo for the next tune. whilst singing that song a gust of wind blew the martin not only off the stand but clear off the stage. the result was a broken neck.

lesson: when performing outdoors keep the case nearby and lay them in the case between sets, tunes, etc.[/QUOTE]

An even better lesson: when playing outdoors (or indoors for that matter) don't play the banjo.