Have you though about going vintage hardware also? I just used my 1400 wfl cymbal stands this weekend for two gigs they held up spectacularly, they had large heavy cymbals with me banging on them for six hours! I would of thought they would of never been able to take the abuse, yeah right!?!? they just replace my DW 9000 hardware! so I'm a hard hitter and play in a marshall backline band, with flimsy hardware that holds up!

Yeah I'm a heavy hitter too....

At this point I'm just going to keep the vintage stuff stored away and update the kit with all new double braced hardware. I've already bought 2 new Ludwig boom stands so I'll just keep going.... I'll restore the speed king pedal and use that though.

I prefer single braced stuff even though im not the lightest hitter...i just hate schlepping around really heavy metal. I also wouldnt buy that snare stand because i dont like things with plastic on them because it seems to break easier. Id bet that the adjustment knob on the basket will be the first thing to go.

Good point!

I've got that snare stand. It's basically the Ludwig-branded version of the Gibraltar JZ-106, but with a double-braced base. I bought it because that Gibraltar stand seems to have a pretty good reputation for being a good, lightweight, cheap stand. I bought the Ludwig instead of the Gibraltar because I usually prefer double-braced snare stands. That bit of extra weight on the base just makes 'em seem a little bit more stable and balanced.

It's a decent stand, especially considering the price ($44.50 from DrumsOnSale.com), but it's not perfect. In its favor, the stand is lightweight, pretty sturdy, and cheap. All good things, and exactly what I was looking for when I bought it. On the negative side, the basket knob isn't the easiest to turn. I'm guessing it'll hold up fine (like other plastic knobs I've used), but it's situated pretty close to the stand's main tube and it can be a little awkward to get your hand in there. It's also been a little bit of a challenge to get my snare angle just right -- the angle I want seems to be between two teeth on the gear tilter.

I've got two other stands and I like them both better, but for different reasons. My old standby is a Pearl S-800W. It's a heavy SOB and it's also got a geared tilter, but it's sturdy as a brick sh**house. I use it at work (a high school) with 20-pound marching drums and it holds up to the beating just fine. The stand I've currently got on my kit at home is a Taye SS6000BT. I love the adjustability of that stand. The ball tilter makes it easy to put my snare exactly how I want it and the big ol' basket knob is easy to turn.

If weight's not a concern and you're looking for a sturdy, cheap stand, the Pearl S-800W I mentioned is on Guitar Center's clearance site for $29.97 -- just go to http://clearance.guitarcenter.com and search for s800w .

I ended up buying the snare stand that I mentioned in the first post. I'm very satisfied with it. Very stoute unit and goes real low if need be...

While it was defiantly more expensive than the Pearl unit I had to stick with what I was after....