Follow-up: Hercules woodwind stands

A few months ago I did a review of the Hercules DS538B dual-saxophone stand with flute/clarinet and soprano saxophone pegs.

I had some concerns about the stability of my flute on the flute/clarinet pegs, but got some advice in the comments section that the DS602B peg (sold separately) might be better. In the meantime, I’ve gotten to like other aspects of the stand well enough that I decided I needed a smaller version for one-saxophone gigs, so I recently picked up the DS530BB stand, which holds one alto or tenor saxophone and includes no pegs (though it has sockets to accept up to two). Most of my comments in the previous review apply to the DS530BB, so I’ll just provide a couple of photos:

It also includes a bright yellow drawstring bag, and the string makes it a little easier to carry if you’ve already got your arms full of instruments.

The DS602B “Deluxe” peg, which Hercules indicates is for “French/German Clarinets and Flutes,” is quite good. It works for my clarinets and oboe as well as the standard combination pegs that come with the DS538B, and works much, much better for my flute.

I tried to demonstrate the stability difference between the standard peg and the deluxe peg. You can see it a bit in the photos below, but I think I failed to really capture the improvement in the deluxe peg.

The deluxe peg has the same tapered tip as the standard peg, which, as I mentioned in the previous review, is a definite improvement over a cylindrical dowel-type peg in a quick instrument switch. The peg is also lightly spring-loaded. At first I found this a little weird—if my aim isn’t perfect, I end up compressing the spring a bit, moving the tip of the peg while trying to situate the flute. But after getting used to it a little, I think it actually works pretty well, and actually gives me a little more leeway if I’m trying to get the flute onto the stand in a hurry. The spring-loading also ensures a secure fit for conical woodwinds with a variety of (small) bores, and it actually creates a subtle, appealing effect that my oboe is just slightly jumping into my hand when I take it off the peg.

The deluxe peg’s better stability seems to come from a wider base element on the peg that presumably is designed specifically for securing flutes, and the fact that the peg stays wider farther up its height.

With the dual-saxophone stand plus the single-saxophone stand, plus the double stand’s included flute/clarinet combo pegs (2) and soprano saxophone peg, plus the deluxe peg, I’m pretty well set for quite a few playing situations. At the time of this writing, total street price for all three is about $120.