Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Sturdy support for digital piano?

I have recently purchased a digital piano 'bundle' that includes a standard keyboard stand and a fordable seat. Since I don't have too much space in my studio apartment I thought the setup would work out perfectly for me...until I finished setting up and played my test run. The moment I hit the starting octave of Chopin etude I knew the keyboard stand would not tolerate any degree of banging and even arpeggios at forte! Realizing my oversight I am putting the playing on hold until I get a decent stand - since the piano manufacturer's stand is rather expensive at ~$150.

As such I am hoping to find an alternative at slight lower budget. Considering the height of the unit itself, the height of the support (~25 inches/ 60-65 cm) should be between a coffee table and a dining table in height, and have enough width to cover the length of the keyboard, at 50 inches. In fact, I have an Ikea table with adjustable legs that meets the need but just wondering if there is any other setup that allows heavy pounding at low and high registers?

For really solid stands, you may need to pay a bit. I saw a K&M Omega stand and was very impressed with the stability -- but at $200, it's more than your manufacturer's stand.

I've got an older stand like the On-Stage WS8540 that I love, but when I ordered a more recent model, it proved to be very wobbly. Based on the stickers, they shifted manufacturing to China, and apparently didn't give tight enough specifications.

Some of the double-tube x-stands work pretty well. But they may not be up to Chopin!

I'd say this is very much a case where you'll want to try and buy at the local music shop, rather than mail order. It's a pain to ship back lousy stands.

I have the quiklok ws650, rock solid, slightly cheaper, the height adjustment is quite coarse however, but mod-able with a drill

I always recommend the K&M 18950 stand.

This is expensive, but it is built like a tank and very stable.

There are similarly designed stands from other manufacturers that are available for less, however I cannot vouch for their stability/sturdiness.

Kind regards,
James
x

About six months ago I bought a Quik Lok Monolith for my gigging slab after reading Dave Horne's positive opinion (thank you, Dave). Never liked Z or X stands, and I found the ironing-board type stands unsatisfactory for a variety of reasons (e.g., others tripping over the legs). I have my Roland on a V-stand which is superb but expensive.

Bought the Monolith unseen online ($95 in USA) and I think it's the best stand I've ever had or used. Rock solid, easiest setup ever, heavy but easy to carry, no chance of a wandering pedal. Only be sure to set the piano on the back part of the supports.

I checked this out and found that the height range was ...

26.2 to 36" (66.5 to 91.5 cm).


That seems about an inch too high at the lowest setting.

Have you found this to be the case ?

Of course, if you play standing up ... no problem.

The Quik-Lok Monolith does look nice. Yes, based on a quick measurement, 26.2 inches would put the keybed of an ES7 about an inch higher than my acoustic Kawai, so it does seem odd that that's the shortest it gets. I probably wouldn't notice much (I play on a lot of pianos, often raised up on dollies), but given an option I'd as soon have them at the same height. I do like the bar that keeps your sustain pedal from wandering about.

dmd: I find the sitting height of the Monolith (with the height bars sticking thru the lowest holes) just right for me, but then I'm 6 feet 2 in tall and like to play with my bench at its highest setting.

Others I believe just push the bars in and move the supports to their lowest possible position, below the holes.

I found this height issue out about 15 years ago when I bought a Quik-Lok Z-stand for my Roland A-90. Even at the lowest setting it was a bit high for my playing preference. Maybe I like my hands a bit too low, but I never had this issue with acoustics. So I measured a bunch of acoustics and sure enough, the keys were all at least an inch lower than the lowest setting on my A-90 on my Z-stand. I thought it was so odd, as there were all these settings up high (I assume for people who stand when playing) and yet they couldn't provide a 'normal' sitting height.

So I took the stand to a welder who cutoff the legs, cut out about an inch, then rewelded it back together. I was skeptical that it would be as strong, but it hasn't failed since. But since I'm either getting a VPC-1 or MP11, which are heavy, I am considering a sturdier stand like an Omega. I'll have to make sure about the height….

I plan to purchase an MP11 at some point. It seems odd that there are no decent, stable stands that also meet a typical acoustic height requirement. Right now, the stand issue is holding up my purchase. I really have no interest in having the key height 2 inches higher than "normal."

I have been thinking of trying the K&M 18953 stand, but I am concerned that it is neither deep nor wide enough to hold the MP11. Ugh

So, are you telling me that if you remove the "stopper" from the stand and just let it sit on the "bottom" ... it will be at a lower level than the one indicated by the specs ?

AND ... and it is a big and ... that level will be appropriate for most/many keyboards.

I have this Proel platform-type stand (http://www.proel.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=1_8_45_178&product_id=3524) that I got at my local music shop maybe 10 years ago (about $100). They sell a version without the 2nd tier, although the 2nd tier "arms" are removable (I leave them home about half the time, and the other half of the time they support a music rest). I play rock & roll/rockabilly so there is plenty of pounding, and this thing is rock-solid. The X-style stands wobble and shake all over.

Another thing you can change is the height of your seat. I use a drum throne ($90), in part because it's more comfortable when you are doing a night's worth of sitting. But it is really easy to dial in the perfect height (like an old-style piano stool).

Just some thoughts.

I looked at the specifications ....

It says minimum height = 720 inches.

What does that mean ? The shortest height is 60 feet ? Not real useful.

Am I mis-reading that ?

Must be a typo. LOL ...

Try changing the website language to Italian (Proel is an Italian company) - you will see the minimum heigh shows 720 mm, so yes, it would appear that 720 inches is indeed an error.

Cheers,
James
x

Yes, though I can't link you to the place on the Forum I read that. Also, I recall that Dave Horne in a thread on this subject 3+ years ago wrote that he welded his Monolith at a lower height. Sounds to me like a workable solution, maybe worth the trouble.

I have just ordered the K&M 18950 stand from Thomann but have yet to authorise payment, so there is still time to change to either the 18953 or the 18810 K&Ms.

Thomann advertises the minimum height of the 18950 as 650mm, while K&M puts it at 670mm.

Has any owner of this stand taken a tape measure and actually measured the real minimum height of this stand?

I am a bit confused.

I am curious too. I need to decide how I am going to support my MP11.

If you take off the movable legs on the K&M 18950, and let it sit on the floor (I would add caps to the bottoms of the legs), what is the height of the stand?

Haven't received it yet. Got to pay up first. You place an order, then you have 21 days to pay up. After payment, you receive it within 5 working days from Germany.
The order is automatically cancelled after 21 days, in case of non payment.

Especially for the MP11 and only from the information found on internet, I narrowed it down at either:
K&M 18950 --or-- Quik Lok WS-650

See also this thread:
https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubb...and_+_Monitors_for_MP11.html#Post2297073

The K&M at it's lower setting it's very marginal for me.
Quik Lok apparently have coarse setting steps (but could potentially be hacked with a drill)

I think I'll go with the Quik Lok

IIRC I've seen an unpacking video on this forum (and YouTube) that showed the Quick Lok stand.

64.2 Cms.