Over the last twenty years or so, I've played very little A clarinet. Even when I was doing a lot of orchestral stuff down here in the Houston area, it was always as the hired gun bass clarinet player or a sax play for Gershwin; down here, the regular clarinet seats have always been held by long-term occupants.
As a result, I've had little call for more than one clarinet peg, which has stayed firmly attached to my various doubling stands. I had a couple of Pak-i-stand folding pegs in my clarinet case at one point, but I ended up giving them away to other players who needed a stand when they had none.
For the first time in a long while, I'm playing a show (In To The Woods) where all that I'm playing is Bb and A soprano clarinet. I had been toting my folding bass clarinet stand with two clarinet pegs attached to the legs. It works, but it's cumbersome and odd looking in the bargain.
After a bit of searching on amazon.com, I decided to take a chance and order a pair of the Hercules in-the-bell folding stands. Although not a big fan of Hercules products (I own a combo baritone/alto/tenor stand, as well as one of their standard clarinet pegs), I have to say that I am more than pleased with their in-bell product.
All of the other "in bell" stands that I have tried have been adequate, but only just. Some are made in a flimsy fashion, others don't have a sufficient "footprint" to assure stability, and some have been too light to stay in one place when you grab a horn in a hurry. (Pak-i-stands are particularly bad in this regard.)
These Hercules pegs combine all of the good aspects of the other pegs, but without any of the bad ones. They have a wide footprint, but without any of the spidery legs used by the others. You can actually see the things on the floor, due to the yellow color used in the Hercules products; most of the others are black as coal. They have a spring locator peg and a flocked cone upon which the bell rests, not a hard plastic surface. And, they are solid - no springy legs that will go skating across the floor when you look to set a horn down in a hurry.
In short, they are a great product, better than their other equipment. If only their other stands were half as good...
As a result, I've had little call for more than one clarinet peg, which has stayed firmly attached to my various doubling stands. I had a couple of Pak-i-stand folding pegs in my clarinet case at one point, but I ended up giving them away to other players who needed a stand when they had none.
For the first time in a long while, I'm playing a show (In To The Woods) where all that I'm playing is Bb and A soprano clarinet. I had been toting my folding bass clarinet stand with two clarinet pegs attached to the legs. It works, but it's cumbersome and odd looking in the bargain.
After a bit of searching on amazon.com, I decided to take a chance and order a pair of the Hercules in-the-bell folding stands. Although not a big fan of Hercules products (I own a combo baritone/alto/tenor stand, as well as one of their standard clarinet pegs), I have to say that I am more than pleased with their in-bell product.
All of the other "in bell" stands that I have tried have been adequate, but only just. Some are made in a flimsy fashion, others don't have a sufficient "footprint" to assure stability, and some have been too light to stay in one place when you grab a horn in a hurry. (Pak-i-stands are particularly bad in this regard.)
These Hercules pegs combine all of the good aspects of the other pegs, but without any of the bad ones. They have a wide footprint, but without any of the spidery legs used by the others. You can actually see the things on the floor, due to the yellow color used in the Hercules products; most of the others are black as coal. They have a spring locator peg and a flocked cone upon which the bell rests, not a hard plastic surface. And, they are solid - no springy legs that will go skating across the floor when you look to set a horn down in a hurry.
In short, they are a great product, better than their other equipment. If only their other stands were half as good...
