Is that copper? Amazing! Looks very futuristic. Love how the line of the stand flows into the Stick.

Yet another variation Stand-up/Sit-down Stick Stand (my main use is as sit-down).

The core of the project is a Pearl BC-830 Cymbal Boom stand. The Stick holder block is inspired by earlier projects here, and of course the TAGG, but I have included a couple of variations that I've not noticed anywhere else (I'm happy to be educated if there are examples I've missed).

N.B. Think of this as a prototype. As you'll see from the pictures, the finish is not elegant. It's been made from offcuts that were ready to hand, were mainly used in the sizes they already were, and have just been sanded smooth enough to avoid splinters.

It started as a sandwich of 3 pieces of wood plus 4 bolts with wing nuts. On one side is an off cut of 100x10 (4"x ~1/2") skirting board. The main body is an offcut of 150x50 (6"x2") construction timber. Between those is a piece of 4mm hardboard from which the shape of the belthook 'tongue' had been cut out.

The belthook sits over the skiriting, with the cutout in the hardboard acting to discourage lateral movement till the bolts are tightened. All standard so far.

To mount the block on the stand I used the threaded 'pin' that's designed to hold the cymbal. That is 10mm dia at the base, then narrows to 8mm, the top part of which is threaded. To make use of that I drilled an 11cm deep 8mm dia hole in the bottom of the block, then widened the first 55mm to 10mm dia. That allowed the block to be pushed on to the 'pin'. It was a snug enough fit that it held in place securely, without wobble or tendency to rotate (and required some force to dismantle).

That arrangement gave a workable solution.

My first modification was to add some washers between the hardboard and the skirting, so the tongue just (but only just) fitted in the slot. With that arrangement the Stick could be fitted & removed without any adjustment of bolts (as per the TAGG?).

Even with a snug slot (or bolted tight) there was a noticable flexing of the non-tongue side of the belt hook (my 1985 #1642 have the non-adjustable plastic hook, I don't know if the newer adjustable one is stiffer?). The flex could probably be put up with, but I decided to make things more secure by adding a piece of plain 50x8 (2"x 3/8"?) architrave across the top 2 bolts. That gave a very secure fit with only a little flex from the belthook mount, which could be solved using one of the cymbal retaining rubbers, as per the doorstop in the bottom image in this post).

However, the extra bar required at least one of the bolts to be removed almost entirely to fit or remove the Stick. To get around that, on one side of the bar I cut a slot from the edge to the hole, angling the slot to allow for rotation. With that modification the outer bar can be rotated to raise it out of the way for fitting/removal with only a few turns of the wing nuts. To help reduce the nut turns on the 'pivot' side I added some extra washers between skirting & bar.





Just one more modification after that (so far). As mentioned above, the block was just a push fit on to the stand. Over time that would wear loose, so I had an idea...

I drilled a 55mm (~2") hole right through the block, positioned to expose most of the thread at the top of the cymbal mount. I placed a large M8 washer on the cymbal mount pin (to give a larger base than just the widening from 8mm to 10mm), fitted the holder on the mount, added a couple of small washers (to help accomodate the curve of the hole wall), then popped on the nut normally used to hold the cymbal in secure and tightened it up. Result - a holder that is secure on the cymbal stand, but easy to adjust or remove.

Through the hole you can see the cut out in the hardboard (Stick not fitted when picture taken).
N.B. The partially visible the pencil circle doesn't mean I slipped with the hole saw! After I drew that I changed my mind about the position in order to expose less threads.



If I ever get around to making a 'tidier' one I'd offset the mounting hole a bit towards the open side (maybe a third in, rather than halfway across) to improve access for turning the mounting nut. It's okay as it is, but no harm in making it easier!

So Scronk - on the Gibraltar 6713E stand, how wide is the max tripod leg stance/spread? In other words the diameter of a circle drawn around fully extended leg tips. And about how much does the stand weigh? From looking at it with a Stick attached, it seems like it could be kinda tippy at standing height. I'm been thinking of developing some kind of stand for myself just to see how it suits me.

Hey Captain, sorry for my delay in replying.

The Gibraltar floor stand is adjustable - I run mine at 23” diameter but it will go out to 32” maximum. I find it to be stable and certainly it’s much better than designs that use a cymbal boom arm. To be honest the issue for me wasn’t the stability of the stand but the wobble from the joint at the belt hook. This was resolved by the wobble-stopper and I think there are other ways to address this too. I haven’t tried a TAGG interface but Emmett’s comments indicate it also had this issue of wobble? (This is an unqualified comment but I believe the SUSS is a more stable junction overall than the TAGG!)

The Gibraltar floor stand weighs 7.5 pounds - it’s quite sturdy. It is 38” tall and then the white interface board is above this (see pictures on page 1).

The SUSS is an easy build and the Gibraltar hardware is good quality. You can also buy cheaper drum hardware and achieve a similar result. Or choose a different floor stand if you prefer (maybe you want something taller?)

It will be interesting to see what you decide to do. Post some pictures!

That's the biggest movement factor for me too.

I have in mind a further modification to better clamp the 'tongue' for the next iteration but the fundamental issue seems to be flexibility in the 'pad' between the hook itself & the Stick body.

My 1985 Stick has the non-adjustable version of the injection molded plastic hook. I'm not sure if the adjustable version of the hook is any more or less stiff in that respect?

It’s hard to know about versions of the belt hook, without comparing them side-by-side. I believe there has also been a metal version at some point?

I’m convinced that some of the stability for the Stick when worn on the body, is achieved by being anchored at the belt and at the headstock by the neck strap. I’m sure there is still flexion in the belt hook, but this is less apparent because the instrument is also secured at the top. When the Stick is mounted only at the belt hook, as on a stand, the flex of that junction becomes more apparent.

On my instrument the belt hook can be removed to reveal two steel-threaded mounting holes in the back. Attaching directly to these might produce a more rigid mounting. I’d prefer to combine this with a side-mounting clamp that held the instrument securely.

In any event, the wobble-stopper works for me at the moment. And I really like the Stick on a walk-up stand: it really encourages playing.

Yes. From http://www.stick.com/about/history/timeline/

On closer examination I think that the flex I as attributing to the 'mount' block is afterall mainly in the plastic of the hook. Even if the hook is very firmly clamped to the 'stand' there is still scope for flex between hook & mount - which is where your wobble stopper comes into play.


Agree. That extra anchor point at the top is going to reduce any tendency for movement, whereas with a stand the top is reliant on the mount lower down and magnifies even the smallest amount of flexing at teh sole anchor point.
There is possibly also the factor that when worn on the body it's to an extent part of the 'body system' which is constantly making fine adjustments?

I found I could eliminate the wobble at the belt hook by fabricating a thicker non-flexible belt hook out of 1/4" ABS with an aluminum center to duplicate the internal dimensions of a stock hook. I also made an all aluminum extra long belt hook with a built-in Lap Dawg with way more height positioning AND Lap Dawg mounting options than a stock hook. I showed all this to Emmett and he was pretty 'meh'.

I thought it was useful for floor stand stability and also for a gadget he came up with and had me engineer and build as an alternative to the Lap Dawg for seated playing called an "Under Dawg" which he sold a few. It allowed a less vertical, more horizontal angle than the Lap Dawg could accommodate. It was a big oval plastic plate you actually sat on, and it had a bracket on the front much like some of these floor stands have. It was stable enough but still had a bit of the same fore & aft wobble issues with a stock belt hook. The UnderDawg was kinda complex, bulky, had a lot of moving parts, was labor intensive and not nearly as simple and elegant as the Lap Dawg design so after one short run, it was discontinued.

But I thought my stouter belt hooks were more stable in general once I tried one. Since I'm a seated player and just use the belt hook to hang a Lap Dawg on, the stock belt hook suits me fine. But if I whipped up a floor stand rig, I'd probably go to a thicker belt hook and build the receiving socket to accommodate that.

Hard to imagine they're not more stable. Those are seriously chunky.
An interesting option to consider.

Captain the metal belt hook looks really solid. If it’s a 13mm slot (like the original belt hook) I’d love to try one of those on the SUSS. Do you have the CNC files for it, or was it handmade?