If you’re having trouble getting your mic stand to stay in place, read this post before buying another cheap microphone stand.
I’m going to show you the most common reason microphone stands stop working, how to fix it, and how to avoid this problem in the future.
Cheap Microphone Stands: The Biggest Problem
When I first started recording my band in high school over a decade ago, my friends and I couldn’t afford anything but the cheapest mic stands we could find at Guitar Center. You might be in a similar situation…
If you have already bought a mic stand and you’re starting to have problems with it, you’re not alone. Tell me in the comments if this looks familiar…
You set up your stand and no matter how much you tighten it down, the weight of the microphone is too much for the stand as it slowly and frustratingly falls toward the floor.
We tried everything to repair our mic stands when they inevitably started to slip – duct tape, counter weights, more duct tape…
This is by far the most common problem with mic stands, and it wasn’t until I was an intern at a live sound company that I learned the simple key to fixing it.
By the way – if this DOESN’T sound like the problem you’re having, check out the full post on fixing problems with microphone stands.
How To Fix a Drooping Microphone Stand
I still remember the day… I was interning at a live sound company and was tasked with fixing all of the mic stands. One of the more experienced audio technicians sat me down to teach me how to fix the problem with the boom arm, and I was amazed at how simple the solution was.
If you’re having this problem, try this before buying a new stand…
How To Prevent Broken Microphone Stands
If the technique I just showed you fixed your stand, that’s great.
To avoid this problem in the future, make sure that you always loosen the boom angle adjustment before adjusting the boom angle. If you adjust the stand when there is a lot of friction on these pads, it will quickly damage the pads and the stand will start to slip.
If the technique I showed you didn’t work for you, you might need a new stand after all. But this time, you should consider investing just a little more for a stand that will last.
Any stand you get will eventually start to have this problem. With cheap stands, you’ll probably start to see this problem within the first year.
Microphone Stand Recommendation
I like to use K&M stands like this one – they are used by many professional studios and live sound companies, as they are somewhat of an industry standard.
If you need a short stand for guitar amps, drums, and other instruments that are low to the ground, check out the K&M short stand.
If you need a taller stand for vocalists, cymbals or instruments a bit further from the ground, you’ll want the K&M tall stand.
They cost between $60 to $100, but I think it’s worth it, because they are more reliable and more robust. That means that they fail less often and when they do fail, you can probably repair them because the parts are just higher quality.
The way I think about it is by spending a bit more now, I save myself the hassle and cost of replacing cheaper stands year after year.
I wrote a another post all about K&M Stands and why they are my favorite.
Disclaimer:
I’m not paid by K&M to say this – K&M doesn’t even know who I am.
If you purchase something today after clicking my link, I’ll get a small cut of your purchase no matter which stand you buy at no extra cost to you.
The small cut of that purchase will help me make more videos like the ones you see here.