I’ve long been a fan of Hercules instrument stands and have them for guitars/banjos, uke/violin/viola, and a big three-instrument stand, as well as a few wall hangers and one hanger that connects to a mic stand. I like the build quality, but I especially like the self-closing feature instead of the more common gate or strap to hold the instrument in.
I’ve mainly been using Hercules uke stands for my violins and violas, but miss having a place to hang my bow with the instrument. (The Ingles violin/viola stand has still worked pretty well for me to hold a bow, even though it has a “gate” that you rotate down to hold the instrument in place. I typically have the Ingles on one side of my music stand and a Hercules uke stand on the other side.) Earlier this week I happened on a picture of the stage before a Tim O’Brien concert and low and behold there was Hercules stand with bow holder. I don’t know how long these have been available, but they hadn’t shown up in my previous searches for violin stands. Knowing that one was out there, I searched till I found this model. (It would have been easier to find if I’d gone straight to the Hercules site instead of to music stores and Amazon.)
Anyway, I got the stand yesterday. Overall, happy with the stand. My only concerns are the relatively light-weight snaps (not sure the right word) that hold the poles when extended - the “snaps” seem likely to have short lives, but I’m hoping Hercules has tested them enough. (The Ingles, on the other hand, has solid knobs that screw in to set the heights. The Hercules uke stand also seems to have much sturdier adjustments.)
Edited by - DougBrock on 07/29/2022 11:26:15
I have one of these and quite like it. I'm not always using the 'snaps' so I don't know about their longevity. However, one issue is when extending the lower legs, as you extend them they reach a point where they have maximum 'width' and continued 'extending' will then decrease that width. When 'fully' extended the stand becomes less stable. Stop extending the legs when the legs have reached their maximum width.
I do like a bow holder / hanger rather than a hole that holds the Frog screw. I have used an Ingles for a decade + and am not likely to replace it until it breaks. I did break one when I dropped it on the tightening screw. R/
