Portable stand extender?

[ghmerrill]

The semantics of that is "portable extender for a music stand" rather than "extender for a portable music stand".

I'm thinking of making/adapting a music shelf stand extender (example: The Manhasset M91 "Stand-Out") so it would be easily portable from one stand to another (e.g. from home stand to rehearsal and gig stands). The underlying assumption here is that the stands involved would all be standard Manhasset ones (or something "similar").

The primary stumbling block to the portability appears to lie in how the extender would be attached to "foreign" (I.e., non-home) stands since the scenario of carrying an electric drill and fastener hardware to sites and drilling through other people's stands doesn't seem realistic. I MAY be able to get away with just using some strong spring clips in place of the screws. An alternative might be small/strong magnets.

If I go in the magnet direction, then an alternative solution would be to just cut a piece of acrylic sheet (maybe 1/4" thick), into a couple of pieces (one for the back and one for the bottom shelf extender -- or just use a piece of angled aluminum stock for the bottom shelf), glue those together, then glue magnets to the back, and voila!.

Has anyone tried something like this? Any thoughts/experiences to relate? The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards the magnets and acrylic sheet idea as inexpensive, easy to do, and easy to make just the right size.

[heldenbone]

My ancient Manhasset has an aluminum desk.

[ghmerrill]

My ancient Manhasset has an aluminum desk.

Now I'm so embarrassed. So does mine. However -- trying to recover from that faux pas ...

That doesn't mean magnets wouldn't work. Magnets on the extender, and magnets on the back side of the Manhasset table. That might not be bad.

Otherwise, I now have to think of some sort of "clip" attachment -- which would also work well, I think.

But thanks for that observation.

[AtomicClock]

I've been meaning to build one of these:



It "attaches" with gravity, though I suppose you could rig up some clamps.

[harrisonreed]

I would try to find whatever jerk arranged or engraved something that needs that much sheet music out at once without possibility of turning a page, and turn them into my entended stand.

Something like the solution in that video doesn't seem too fair to your section mates.

[ghmerrill]

My issue isn't sheet music, but location/orientation of the horn so that I'm (a) not hanging out with my big bell blowing into the stand, and yet (b) not banging my slide on the stand tube. I'm playing exclusively from my Windows tablet now, using MobileSheets. So I don't need horizontal space. But I would like to get the bell at least partly clear of the stand. Being able to place the table to the far left side of the stand tube would be ideal. In addition, it would enable me to use one of the Manhasset "Music Stand Cup Holder" things (hung off the right side of the stand shelf) in order to facilitate fast mute changes (except, of course for the giant bass cup mute -- for which there seems to be no help).

I think I'm going to make some kind of plywood/Masonite mock-up, and mess with it until I get something that works for me.

[ghmerrill]

Something like the solution in that video doesn't seem too fair to your section mates.

In all fairness, I think I've seen some tied low Bb sequences in the bass part recently that require that much space.

[harrisonreed]

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Manhasset/ ... GsEALw_wcB

Would that work? Probably about as portable as bringing clamps, a stand desk, and other stuff.

[ghmerrill]

It would work at home, and anywhere I could take it to. But otherwise not. Also, it's another big thing to lug. I'd really like something I can throw in my "accessories" (mutes/music/trombone stand/etc.) bag and use on pretty much any stand (at least with a solid table) that I might run into.

Just doing some more measurements, I'm now thinking that getting one of those Manhasset Stand-Out things might be the easiest approach. I could just rivet two or three flat spring clips (like belt clips) to the back of a Stand-out, and I think that would do the trick to enable just clipping it on the stand. I don't need all that much extra space extended off the left side of the stand in order for my bell and slide to be well clear of it.

It seems REALLY difficult to buy just a single Stand-Out extension , but I may as well get a pair, put one on my home practice stand, and the other in the accessories bag.

[AtomicClock]

A heavy tablet, cantilevered off the edge of a sturdy Manhasset is okay. But not all stands are sturdy enough. Otherwise, I'd suggest just gluing some spring clips to a tablet case.

[ghmerrill]

Good thought. I'm not sure what counts as a "heavy" tablet. My wife had a Fujitsu (when she was working for Fujitsu) that would have been an excellent boat anchor. With the keyboard removed, my Lenovo X1 doesn't seem heavy, but is definitely heavier than my Chromebook. On the other hand, it actually has a disk drive in it.

Also, it won't be very much cantilevered. All I'm looking for is about 3 more inches. So less of the stand extender will be off the stand than on it, and I think it will probably be okay in that regard. And likewise, probably half of the tablet will be over the shelf as well. I'd be disappointed if I had a to add a sandbag to the accessories in order to stabilize the stand -- although I've played a couple of times in situations where weights on stand bases were called for.

Right now, I don't see myself being in a situation where anything other than a "sturdy Manhasset" will be the order of the day. If the spring clips turn out to be insufficient, I'll look into some sort of sturdier clamp approach. One step at a time.

[AtomicClock]

What about a "music stand" attachment for a mic stand? Some of them go off to the side. Should be easy enough to screw one to whatever music stand you're issued.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Quik-MS-303-Micr ... B001QCM3OM

[ghmerrill]

A possibility -- if it would extend far enough out to give me room for the slide, and also go high enough (but I'm skeptical that could be managed).

[CharlieB]

I'd really like something I can throw in my "accessories" (mutes/music/trombone stand/etc.) bag and use on pretty much any stand (at least with a solid table) that I might run into.

Two binder clips and the top piece from one of these works well on a Manhasset style stand:
https://www.johnkealmusic.com/p-481-wir ... stand.aspx

[ghmerrill]

That's a clever approach, but it won't work for me because of another constraint I have that I failed to mention.

While I could get away with this approach if I were sitting in a trombone section in the back row of a community band (or some other situation where I wouldn't be very visible), my primary performance situation now is where I'm highly visible, with only one saxophone player separating me from the audience (and not blocking the audience view of me to any degree, even if it's the 6'8" guy playing tenor). In fact, frequently I can end up having no one directly in front of me, depending on what floor or platform we're on. We use standard Manhasset stands, but each has a "banner" hung on the front. So while something like 3 or 4 inches of a tasteful black Manhasset Stand-Out extension will look okay with that (maintaining the uniformity of the look), I don't think I'd want to go with the visual appearance of a wire frame music stand.

[CharlieB]

Got it. The wire stand is ugly.
The M91 is about as simple as it gets; just slide it on.
Google found M91's selling "per each" for under $15.
But the M91 is not universal to all makes of stands.
By trimming off the lip under the tray, and using a big binder clip top and bottom, it could be made universal.
These things:
https://www.amazon.com/Extra-Large-Bind ... 169d3&th=1

[ghmerrill]

Google found M91's selling "per each" for under $15.

Yeah, but I think all those are + shipping. By the time you pay for that you might as well buy a couple if you can use them both -- which I probably will, but leaving one permanently on my home stand, and take the other to rehearsals and gigs.