Guitar Stands – Part 2 (not homemade)

I just reviewed homemade guitar and ukulele stands. But I believe in most cases you’d be better off purchasing a stand. What do you look for in guitar or instrument stand? Something inexpensive? Sturdy that won’t tip over when bumped? Something that holds your guitar securely so it won’t fall off the stand? Something that fits in you case or gig bag? Something that is attractive and will complement your guitars when they are on display? You can’t have it all at once but you should be able to find something that you like and works for you.

The stand above on the right is one of my favorites. It was made by Ultimate Stands. It has long been discontinued. They had a wooden model, the AXCEL AXW-3, which I wish I owned. But the molded plastic model is very light weight, sturdy and folds flat for travel. The guitar neck can be secured to the guitar can’t fall out. It’s a good design and I wish Ultimate would make these again.

I just purchased the stand to the left for my new classical guitar. One of the problems with many of my existing stands is they don’t hold the wider neck of a classical guitar. The Ultimate stand above holds the classical guitar just fine, but I need stands throughout my house. The stand on the left is bigger than you might guess from the pictures. If you’re worried about pets or children knocking your guitar off the stand this might not be the model for you. It seems very sturdy for my lifestyle.

The Stageline Wooden Guitar Stand has both an acoustic model and a model for electric guitars. This and A-Frame style stands are not so good for asymmetrically shaped guitars such as Stratocasters. I got rid of my Strats last year and most of my guitars are full bodied so the acoustic model works fine on all but two guitars.

I have a bunch of wall hangers from String Swing (left image) and Hercules (right image). Some have metal bases instead of wood. The String Swing hanger I have can be bent wide enough to hold my classical guitar. My classical guitar’s neck is too wide to fit the Hercules auto-grab hanger.

These hold mandolins, ukuleles, odd shaped guitars including Strats. Of course you need to put holes in your walls for the screws and need to make sure they are anchored securely.

Another problem with these designs is you need to be careful putting your guitar in the stand or removing it. It is easy to accidentally allow the guitar to swing or scrape against the wall. They sell a protector to go behind the instrument (also attached to the wall) to prevent banging your guitar against the wall.

I also have a Hercules floor stand similar to the one shown on the right. It has the auto-grab feature like the wall model above. The weight of your guitar closes the tips to swing up to prevent your guitar from being knocked out of the stand. I like it a lot. It holds everything except my classical guitar. They have a model that will hold a classical guitar as well (wish I had that one). I’ve used it with Strats, jazz boxes, acoustics and ukuleles. It doesn’t travel as well as some stands but I like keeping it handy in my study.

An innovative and popular A-frame-like stand that travels well is made CooperStands. Two of their many variations are shown above. I almost bought one of these and still might get one. I’ve been looking at them for some time. The wooden one is about $50 and the plastic models between $20 and $35 (approximately). Some are in red or green or glow. They fold small enough to carry in case or gig bag. They hold electric and acoustic guitars and have a mini-model that also holds ukuleles and iPads.

The classic and inexpensive tubular guitar stand has been around as long as I can remember. It is reasonably sturdy, slightly portable and can be found everywhere. I personally dislike the stand and threw several away about ten years ago. My new classical guitar came with one of these and I’m using for an acoustic guitar at the moment (not the classical). If it works for you great. I’d prefer just about anything else.

Here’s some other choices in stands I’ve pinned for you.

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