Hercules Orchestra Stand, Black, BS311B

I obsessively combed through reviews of many other portable gig stands in search of the best one… I play in a wedding quartet and was tired of wrestling a full sized Manhasset music stand into my car. My colleagues use a couple different folding gig stands- one is the Peak stand, which folds up nice and small, if you can do it correctly- it’s kind of like folding a road map. Also, it is made out of a rigid plastic, which didn’t seem sturdy enough to me.
The Hercules is solid- mostly sturdy metal that definitely won’t blow over at an outdoor wedding. The base is wide and very stable. Also, there are nifty little metal springy page holders which actually work.

The only downside is that due to the quality materials it is quite heavy- and it doesn’t fold down very small- so there is still a fair bit of lugging. But it is easier to get out of the car than a regular orchestral stand!

I was amazed at how quick and simple it was to set this stand up and fold it back down. When it arrived I pulled it out of the box and had it set up in about one minute and ready to go without consulting any instructions. All of the locks and release points were exactly where you would expect them to be. The tension on the stand adjustments are perfect and ready to go. Although I can’t attest to the long-term durability of the stand yet, it is surprisingly sturdy and strong for a portably stand. It looks like it will last a long time.

Some the the best features of this stand are the legs that can adjust so that it can take up less space on a stage or go against a wall. You don’t even have to loosen/tighten anything to do it, just move them into position and they stay and the stand is just as sturdy as any other that I have used. The “clutch” that allows the stand to move up and down works well with very little effort. If you are used to a traditional metal stand that you can hold down with a foot and adjust the height with one hand it will take a bit of getting used to since it requires two hands. However, like me, you will also likely be pleased that it is much more likely to stay in place once you position it instead of spinning freely or sinking under the weight of what you put on it.

I don’t have anything negative to say about the stand, but be aware that this is not a lightweight stand. It is light enough to carry, but it has more weight to it than I anticipated. Also, there are other models made by Hercules so be sure to check the height. This one adjusts high enough for what most people would likely need, but if you need something that comes up extra high you will want to look elsewhere. I did buy the Hercules bag to carry it and I’m glad that i did. The stand separates into two pieces when broken down and the bag has a baffle in it to prevent them from banging together during transport.

Questo leggio rappresenta la fine di una lunga ricerca…avevo gia’ uno stand per chitarra della hercules e quando ho visto questo non ho esitato a comprarlo anche se costoso. E’ robusto e ben progettato, e’ in metallo e portatile nei limiti del possibile significa che pur essendo un leggio robusto e pesante lo si può’ piegare e portarlo in giro. Certo non va in una tasca dello zaino ma non si può’ avere tutto. L’ho preso pensando di poterlo usare anche con il mio macbook e quindi mi serviva robusto e mi servivano anche i buchi in modo da far passare i vari cavi del computer ma anche per assicurarlo meglio al leggio stesso. Lo consiglio a chi ha esigenze di avere un leggio robusto ma ripiegabile a chi lo usa con un foglio ma anche e sopratutto con libri di musica e altra roba anche pesante (fino a 5k) tipo usarlo come stand per laptop.

Works ok, and quality is fine. The folding legs need a mechanism to keep them from flopping around during transport. Using a bungee for now. The angle the vertical post flops back to may be great for some, but I’m not a fan. I have several Hercules stands, and generally love them but this is not a favorite of mine, and I play professionally.

The stand looks sturdy, there are no plastic elements in the feet of the stand (this was the point of failure in my previous music stand) so little risk of this breaking during assembly/disassembly. There are some plastic elements in the height adjustment mechanism though.
An instrument peg can be added.
The downsides of this stand are that it’s heavy and bulky (even when folded). The stand is relatively expensive, yet the manufacturer didn’t bother to include a bag to transport it, which I’m incredibly annoyed about.
There is a clip included for holding sheet music, which seems like a good idea, but in practice, the top of all of my music books and A4 printed sheets falls well beneath the top of the stand, so the clip doesn’t reach the top of the books to hold them in place.
Update: I have decided to return this stand because I realised after a couple of days that it’s not tall enough for practicing while standing (which is recommended for good posture for clarinet and other woodwind players). I had initially just used it while sitting, and therefore didn’t notice the problem. The height would probably be fine for a child (but then there’s the weight of the stand to take into consideration).

This is the best music stand I’ve owned. It folds and fits inside a mic stand soft case I have making transporting a breeze. It’s built like a tank compared to other stands of similar price. It’s sturdy enough to trust putting my mixer on at a gig. I really like the way the legs fit close to the floor making room for other gear and cleaner setup. I have recommended this stand to other professional musician friends.