Almost A Disaster ...

With two ukulele group concerts coming up shortly, I was mortified when the music stand I was using at a rehearsal gave up the ghost and died.

It was an inexpensive item which I had bought, not being sure how much use it would have and never having had one before I was unsure of just how much I needed to spend. Well I purchased one of Amazon and was really quite pleased with it - AT FIRST! when used at a sitting position and with sheet music, it seemed quite adequate BUT of course as we started to learn / rehearse more songs, the load on the stand started to overload its meagre structure - especially when set at its tallest height when I was standing, as for concerts.

I hardly got any use out of it; I had it for about 5 months and used it 2-3 times a month on average at the club and a few times at home. In that time, it lost two of the rubber caps on the feet, the thumb screw on the feet stripped its thread ( not sure if it ever really was capable of tightening but because it did not matter, I lived with it). The final straw however was the thumb screw on the sheet holder also stripped its thread, this meant that the stand was completely U/S. I have replaced the latter with a nut and bolt, to make the stand usable but I shall keep it only as a lightweight spare. You never know, when it might come in useful but I do need to keep a spanner and screwdriver in its case. Annoying!!

I have written to the supplier but, as I will use it for a spare I am did not ask for any reparation. It will be interesting if they offer any suggestions.

The outcome is that I have bought another much more robust music stand - without realising it is the same manufacturer although bought from another retailer via Amazon. This new stand will indeed take the weight of a loose leaf folder (all those songs ...) and will also allow me to attach one or possibly two ukulele holders. Nothing worse than having to stand an instrument up against a handy chair leg or on a table. Whilst performing in one of our concerts we tend to huddle quite close and a separate floor stand would be impractical.

More importantly, I can also attach a holder for my glass of beer! (not shown here).

I feel much better prepared for our next concert, and am raring to go. It does hold a moral for any amateur musicians (or anybody really), do not try to economise overly when considering products which have to perform a function. It can cost more in the longer term!