Terrible Engineering
- Posted by
- Mark Maurer
- Date Posted
- 12/16/2022
For as cool as these Randall May tenor stands look, the engineering was mind-blowingly bad. This should just be common sense: if you have 4 tenor drums - a 14" and 12" on your left, and a 13" and 10" on your right - the weight of the tenors will certainly be skewed to the left side. So, one would assume that the tenor drums should be supported in at least 3 locations to prevent tipping (from the unequal weight distribution). Yet somehow, an engineer decided to only brace the drums in the center front and in the center back (with no safety latching system in place either). Even on a level band room floor, it will only take an unobservant middle-schooler to bump up against the 14" tenor drum to send the whole thing crashing to the floor - scratching your beautiful new Yamaha tenors in the process.
Extremely disappointed
- Posted by
- Tom
- Date Posted
- 09/18/2019
I just had to buy another one of these awful stands this year because my other stand of this exact same model was so unbelievably broken and completely unusable due to very high friction in the legs and missing parts. And now guess what, this new one that I just bought a few weeks ago, is ALREADY BROKEN! The AIRLift system is completely busted and the little red piece to adjust it hangs loose and is not able to be tightened causing the drums to swaying back and forth while I'm trying to play them. This means now that all of the weight from the drums is very poorly distributed and is put entirely on the legs which for some reason are not able to handle and fall over with the slightest bump. The hind legs have very minimal adjustability and do not move with ease in any way. I've been so unbelievably fed up with these stands as they are a waste of money and time. Majority of rehearsals are now just trying to set up our stands because they're so difficult to get set up and to stay sturdy. Terrible product from Randall May and they have A LOT of work to do if they ever want me to buy another one of their poorly designed products.
Terrible stands
- Posted by
- Mark
- Date Posted
- 02/21/2019
I've used these Randall May Airlift stands for only 1 season and they're already broken. The support bar on the front leg has gone missing during a truck ride and was not able to be put back on. The screws and legs have don't move with ease due to high amounts of friction, also some screws have gone missing during truck rides and weren't found causing parts to be moving around when they're not supposed to. The weight is very poorly distributed, the drums already bounce a lot while playing and the slightest bump causes them to fall over. The drop and lock system is not reliable at all, the lock in isn't very supportive, the drums can slide off of the lock when you least know it, and it has even cut me while I was trying to set them up. Do not buy these stands by any means. Go with a Pearl or Dynasty stand, at least those have reliability and good designs.
What the actual hell are these stands?
- Posted by
- John
- Date Posted
- 09/04/2018
Randall May and Yamaha got it all wrong here. These are the absolute worst stands I've had to work with. First of all, what is with all the screws and these flimsy legs? It makes the stand very difficult to set up and it takes forever just to get it to stay still and feel sturdy. Second, the weight is very poorly distributed, just blowing on the drums will make them fall over and I can barely play my drums in the stands at football games without the huge worry that they're going to fall over. Third, this Yamaha drop and lock system for quads is plain retarded, your drums have to be in an exact position to either go on or come off of the drum, otherwise it's stuck and you are screwed. Yamaha and Randall May needs to do some serious rethinking on these stands. And how the hell are they the most expensive stands on the market? I can get a Pearl or Dynasty stand for $150 or less in which either one of those stands doesn't cause so many problems and these Randall May stands are nearly $200!?!? These stands are not for me and shouldn't be for any other quad player out there and it's sad cause Yamaha drums really aren't that bad, they just need better mounting hardware. I think I'll get some J-rod attachments for my quads and a stand and carrier by Pearl since those can actually help me be able to play my drums without the worry that they are going to fall over, break, and maybe even hurt somebody.
Cool concept, but not very practical
- Posted by
- Scott
- Date Posted
- 05/19/2018
I have had these stands for a few months now and like the other commenter have had problems with them falling over. The weight is not well distributed and the slightest bump will cause your drums to fall over. There are also too many moving parts which make the stands difficult to set up. I think Yamaha is on the right track, but needs to rethink weight distribution and ease of use.
Hard to set up
- Posted by
- Ben
- Date Posted
- 05/11/2018
My high school uses these Yamaha Field Corps drums, but the stands really are such a hassle to set up. I find the stand to be not very well designed and they are a pain to set up. They don't handle the weight of the drum very well either, they've fallen many times. And putting the drum on and off is a pain as well and the same goes for the carrier as it has to be in an exact position or it will not come down.
