Hercules BS100B Music Stands - a preliminary review

Those of you who have played uke with me for any amount of time are probably familiar with my music-stand woes: I end up having to buy a new one every couple of months. Screws get stripped, wing nuts or other parts fall off and get lost, and the next thing I know I'm stuck with a useless piece of metal that won't hold a thing.

I did a bit of homework and determined that there are two truly heavy-duty, yet truly portable, stands out there: the Hercules BS100B, and the K&M Heavy Duty. Both got decent reviews on Amazon and on Musician's Friend; being the cheapskate that I am, I opted for the Hercules at fifteen bucks cheaper.

It arrived this afternoon and - I am far more impressed than I expected to be! The stand supports my heavy notebooks of uke songs without wobbling, and it doesn't have three or four screws or wing nuts to mess around with - the adjustability is all internal. I'll be bringing this with me to my uke class on Monday for a proper road test, but so far this is the sturdiest portable stand I've ever encountered. Additionally, it has little arms that fold out on the sides to expand the desk area, really convenient for all of those three-page arrangements we have.

The downside? It does not fold as compactly as the cheaper music stands I am used to (like I said, fewer screws and wing nuts!), and therefore does not fit in my everyday-carry bag, nor does it fit into any of the bags I have left over from all of my broken music stands. So, I had to fork over an additional $15 for a branded bag. As someone who hates logos, this annoyed me a bit - hopefully I'll soon have the time and the inspiration to sew my own non-branded bag.

And like the 1914 Ford Model T, the Hercules BS100B is available in any color you want - so long as it is black :)