Members OldTwelver Posted November 12, 2012 Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 Problem: I pulled some old guitar stands out and found that the latex tubing on the forks had dried out and hardened. So, I went to look for new stands, but was disappointed at how flimsy (lightweight) most of the new ones were compared to mine. Unless I was willing to pay thru the nose for quality, and to also satisfy my concern that the tubing was safe for all guitar finishes, I was stuck. Besides, I like my old stands. Solution: Replace the tubing on the old stands. Seemed like a simple plan. Found the right size and thickness ( 1/4"ID 1/2"OD 1/8"Wall ) surgical tubing at a local medical supply, $10.00 for four feet. I could have shopped for a better price, but I was in a hurry to fix this problem. Then I cut the old tubing off and tried to slide the new tubing on. After fighting for a half hour to get about a half inch of tubing on, I realized I was in trouble. 3/8"OD rod, 1/4"ID tubing. I should have seen this coming. So, I spent the rest of the day pondering the problem. By clamping the tubing to an air hose nozzle and putting air pressure into the tubing, I found I could get it to "float" over the rod as I pushed it on. You have to be careful not to apply too much pressure. It's a bit tricky, and varies as you go, but I found 60-70 psi worked well. You really need three hands. If you get carried away, you can trade your guitar for a clown suit and show all the little kids at birthday parties the cool barnyard animals you can make by blowing up surgical tubing. My stand is like new, and I'm quite content. At least for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members herbie d Posted November 12, 2012 Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 Ha,ha. I bet I have 50 of those stands, and all of them missing the U-shaped part. I tend to buy the A-frame type stands these days, but tend to loose them all the time at different venues. Its funny, I forget them, go back to pick them up, and there never there. I guess there in some spot in this world along with all those U-parts that I've lost. Replacing that tubing... the easier way is to use hair spray from an arisol can. Spray it on the metal, slide the tube on, the arisol evaporates everything is tight, Woh-La, magic. I do the same thing to repace the hand grips on bicycle handle bars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldTwelver Posted November 12, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 Originally Posted by herbie d Replacing that tubing... the easier way is to use hair spray from an arisol can. Spray it on the metal, slide the tube on, the arisol evaporates everything is tight, Woh-La, magic. I do the same thing to repace the hand grips on bicycle handle bars. Herbie,I guess I should have explained more. If I had opted to replace the tubing with the same size and thickness as the original, I wouldn't have had a problem. As I recall, after a fair amount of handling and temperature changes, the original tubing could start to "walk" off the shaft. So, I went for a tighter fit and twice the tube wall thickness as the 1/16" on the OEM tubing, and also for a softer contact surface. I tried lubricating, but the 1/4"ID tubing just pushed the lube out of the way. So, I created my own difficulty, but in the end, I'm happier with the result.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opa John Posted November 12, 2012 Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 Paul, you did a nice job and it makes them look like new again, but I don't know about that surgical tubing rubbing up against a guitar with a nitro finish. Polyurethane finished guitars don't seem to mind it, but I've heard any kind of rubber or vinyl will eat into the finish (or, at least leave marks) on nitro finishes. Before you park your big ol' Martin 12-String on one of 'em, you might wanna ask someone more knowledgeable about it than I am, though. I'm only repeating what I've heard. But, what do I know? I don't even own a guitar stand. Mine are all kept in their cases and when I play it's for a couple of hours at a stretch, so I don't mind opening a case to get one of 'em out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldTwelver Posted November 12, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 Originally Posted by Opa John Paul, you did a nice job and it makes them look like new again, but I don't know about that surgical tubing rubbing up against a guitar with a nitro finish. Polyurethane finished guitars don't seem to mind it, but I've heard any kind of rubber or vinyl will eat into the finish (or, at least leave marks) on nitro finishes. Before you park your big ol' Martin 12-String on one of 'em, you might wanna ask someone more knowledgeable about it than I am, though. I'm only repeating what I've heard. Thanks John,I've used these stands on a variety of nitrocellulose guitars over the years, and never had any problems. I bought the new tubing from a medical supply house so I could verify with my own eyes that the packaging stated it was 100% Natural Latex. Synthetic Latex, neoprene, vinyl, and most foamy spongy products, are petroleum based, and as I understand it, are indeed trouble for nitro finishes.Even so, I only use stands for a short period of time while playing. Like to get more coffee, hit the bathroom, or when switching guitars. Since this is earthquake country, my guitars are normally tucked away safely in their hard shell cases.Now you're gonna make me paranoid ....... Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bad Robot Posted November 12, 2012 Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 My wife made denim covers for mine out of foam and a decrepit pair of jeans. The stands are now nitro-friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted November 12, 2012 Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 Originally Posted by Bad Robot My wife made denim covers for mine out of foam and a decrepit pair of jeans. The stands are now nitro-friendly. Back when I used tubular stands, a girlfriend made me some denim covers just like that...workede great, too! Nowdays, I use these:Bought several, for $10, per when MARS Music went out of business...best stands I've ever owned...so, naturally, they're no longer made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members poppytater Posted November 12, 2012 Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 This thread got me curious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members herbie d Posted November 12, 2012 Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 Those stand are certainly nice looking. Would look great sitting in the living room. I am always on the look-out for solid stands that take up as little realEstate as posible in my equipment truck and can take the abuse of being loaded and unloaded continually. Ha,ha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted November 12, 2012 Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 Originally Posted by poppytater This thread got me curious Beautiful stay-at-home stands, sure-to-be-stolen gigging stands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted November 12, 2012 Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 Very timely thread. I was just deciding to either throw away or refurbish one of my stands (we're in the midst of a move, so I'm looking for stowage to jettison). I'm definitely putting a curvy wood stand on the project list once I get the new wood shop set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EdBega Posted November 12, 2012 Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 FYI (mountain) bikers the compressed air works good for handlebar grips too. I use to use hair spray as a lubricant but that doesn't help for removing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opa John Posted November 12, 2012 Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 Originally Posted by EdBega FYI (mountain) bikers the compressed air works good for handlebar grips too. I use to use hair spray as a lubricant but that doesn't help for removing. A little bowl of warm water and a spritz of Joy detergent works great for putting the grips on. For getting them off, nothing works better than a razor knife. Actually, for getting them off, I usually pry up one edge with a screwdriver tip and shoot a little WD-40 down inside the grip, give it a twist and it's off in no time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted November 12, 2012 Members Share Posted November 12, 2012 There's also the Guitar Stand Bra: http://www.timsguitarworkshop.com/standbra.html. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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