Ride Cymbal Stand--Advice

[double bass man]

I am about to buy my first cymbal stand--for a Ride cymbal. I only want to play a small kit, that is Snare / Hi-Hat and Ride cymbal---(For small group's) Your advice welcome:

a) Any advantage over a boom arm verses a non boom stand?
b) If I bought a boom arm stand would you attach various 'odds & ends' to the boom arm? Examples: cow bell / wood block etc. Would the Ride cymbal get in the way? Would the attachments be playable / to heavy for the boom arm?
c) Do boom arms come in different lengths?

('Newbe' here.)

Many thanks.

 

[alparrott]

A) Yes. Almost any boom stand you buy nowadays will be convertible between boom and straight, so you can experiment with placement of your cymbal and find something that works for you. In light of what you ask in (b) it makes sense to get a boom arm so that the ride can be angled to one side, so that any attached percussion will be easier to hit.

B) Various hardware manufacturers such as LP, Gibraltar, Pearl, Tama, Meinl, etc. make clamps that attach to stands and allow the mounting of percussion items on a 9.5mm rod. There are also clamps that attach to a bass drum hoop for the same purpose.



C) They do, if you look hard enough. Most boom cymbal stands out there come with a boom arm that's about 20" - 24" long. In my experience this has been plenty to get a cymbal wherever it's needed on the kit. If your specific needs are different, you can look into a product like the DW DWCP9700XL Extra Heavy Duty stand - which costs $219 but I think would probably hold the entire Earth at full extension. (This kind of stand is much more than what the average player needs. Again, the typical $89 boom stand will serve most players perfectly well.)



My best advice to you is to go to a well-stocked music store near you and actually see the equipment in person so that you get a real-world understanding of what the bits and bobs are and how they work. If you haven't got one of those near you, perhaps you can befriend a drummer who would be kind enough to show you his kit.

 

[Morrisman]

I often play a 2 piece kit with one cymbal + hihat.

I usually end up placing the cymbal over the centre of the bass drum, so either hand can play it. A short boom is plenty for this - I use a Yamaha 7 series. Sometimes I just put the top part of the stand straight onto the bass drum. If your bass has a tom mount you could try that.

The problem I have with long booms for ride cymbals is that they flex a little, or the stage does, so the cymbal bounces up and down a bit when I play. In a quiet, fast jazz setting this can affect how the notes sound. So I always keep the boom extended as short as possible.

 

[No Way Jose]

A) I keep my ride cymbal on a PDP boom stand and it works well for me.

B) I prefer to have cowbell, tambourine and wood block together on their own stand. It doesn't have to be a big or heavy duty stand. I can carry it around and practice here and there.

I bought heavier duty double braced stands because I have outdoor gigs. Wind might blow over a cymbal on a lighter stand. But single braced stands do work and are lighter.

 

[caddywumpus]

I am about to buy my first cymbal stand--for a Ride cymbal. I only want to play a small kit, that is Snare / Hi-Hat and Ride cymbal---(For small group's) Your advice welcome:

a) Any advantage over a boom arm verses a non boom stand?
b) If I bought a boom arm stand would you attach various 'odds & ends' to the boom arm? Examples: cow bell / wood block etc. Would the Ride cymbal get in the way? Would the attachments be playable / to heavy for the boom arm?
c) Do boom arms come in different lengths?

('Newbe' here.)

a) positionability. If a straight stand won’t get the cymbal over your bass drum enough for your liking, use a boom arm to do that.

b) I would attach odds and ends to anything BUT the boom arm. Possibly the base of the stand, possibly the hi hat stand, possibly the bass drum.

c) Boom arms come in different lengths, yes.

…we’ve all been newbies at some point. Ask whatever questions you like—a lot of us like to help out!

 

[harryconway]

It really depends on where you want to locate your ride cymbal. I like my ride low and over the right side of the bass drum.

A lot of modern boom arm stands now let you collapse the arm into the cymbal stand, if you want to use it as a straight stand (so you get the best of both worlds). My Yamaha booms do that.

Attaching other items to the boom ...... probably not the way I'd go. Like alparrott and caddywampus stated, maybe use an auxiliary cymbal boom and attach to the cymbal stand itself, or the bass drum.

Since I have the Yamaha hardware to do this ...... I might use the triple head. It can support 3 tom holders/cymbal arms in a slew of configurations. You can find other companies also have double and triple mount systems. But it's a bit overkill for a cowbell or woodblock.

 

[bongoman]

Re attaching things to the boom arm, it won’t work because A the boom is pointed away from you, on the other side of the stand, and B the cymbal itself will be in the way.

Instead, mount accessories to the bass drum hoop, or to a different stand, or mounted off your floor tom using a “claw” mounting system.

 

[Winston_Wolf]

I'm hard pressed to ever recommend a straight stand now that the convertible straight/boom stands are so common. You could probably get away with a Yamaha 600 stand, especially if you wanted something lightweight and compact, but a 700 series would be a "forever" level purchase. Some of my Yamaha cymbal stands are over 30 years old and still look brand new.

As far as clamping things to the stand, I'm not a fan. Cymbal stands vibrate, so either the cymbal will ring if you hit whatever is clamped on, or vice versa. Personally, I don't want anything messing with the tone of my ride cymbal.

 

[double bass man]

Many thanks everybody for your knowledge. Much appreciated.

 

[C.M. Jones]

My ride is always on a boom, which allows me to extend the cymbal over my bass drum for ergonomic access. That's the only reason I use a boom, however. My two crashes are on straight stands. But @Winston_Wolf makes a good point above: Many stands are now straight/boom hybrids, great options for optimal flexibility.