The keyboard stand that TILTS and ROTATES

[albertors]

Check this out, this is a great project finally seeing the light..it's amazing stuff guys:

www.scarabsupport.com

After months of "perhaps" they started to work on it and I'm happy to be featured in their site as well.

Take care,
Alberto

[Over The Edge]

8)



FL
www.franklucas.net

[hephiroth]

how can you see a picture? do you have to contact them to get price and more info???

-jeff-

[albertors]

The version I have is a prototype of the future unit. Even if I think it will be pretty much the same with no changes, the unit is about to be (but not yet) patented so they expressively asked me to avoid public display. They will be giving me pictures soon though, as well as some Autocad-made schemes. I think they're going to be posted anytime soon but I'm not aware of any deadline.

I'll keep you up,
Alberto

[hephiroth]

wow, you got a prototype! that's awesome. since you can't post pics, can you tell me how it compares to like what jordan has? would it allow the same kind of effect as Patrick's (StandBuilder's) design as far as the spinning aspect? And, can you spin it without tilting? because i'd rather just keep it flat... thanks if you can answer those!

-Jeff-

[albertors]

You're welcome Jeff,
I think I pretty much remember what Jordan has so I'm trying to make a comparison:

first of all Jordan stand looks really taller than the Scarab. I didn't really measured it but it looks like being about 50cm (20 inch?) when completely closed. It has four telescopic legs placed like an X on the bottom that you can extend up to 50cm (20 inches) when fully extended. You can choose if you want to extend them or not, depending on the situation and the keyboard. The main body is an alluminium column which has two small idraulic pistons that raise up to 1m (about 40 inches) which is pretty comfortable if you need to play standing up but without tilting. There are four arms on top placed almost like an X that hold your synth, they can be extended to match the size of the keyboard you are placing on it and they allow you to place the keyboard in the middle of the stand or even slightly ahead or nearer to you (which turns out to be really useful). You can choose to tilt the synth or not..I don't know how many degrees you can actually do that but it can really tilt a lot, in both directions (this allows a lot of setups changes). Those pistons are able to sustain more than 100kg each because they look like being similar to what office chairs have. When closed the legs tilt vertically to the main column and the whole thing is no taller than 50cm (20 inches)..very lightweight and very portable.

I think this is pretty much all, I'll keep you up on how the thing behaves but if you have questions just shoot.

All the best,
Alberto

[hephiroth]

ah...that sounds really cool...so it is easy to play standing up? and how is the rotating? is that similar to jordan's stand? thanks again for filling me in on this...it sounds really cool!

-jeff-

[merijn]

Behold... This is the ultra stand. Alberto Presents to you ''THE SCARAB!''

Alberto was kind enough to keep me up to date about the progress. So I knew what he was doing for a couple of months. believe me, you won't be disappointed! :D

[albertors]

ah...that sounds really cool...so it is easy to play standing up? and how is the rotating? is that similar to jordan's stand? thanks again for filling me in on this...it sounds really cool!


No problem..I read that I actually forgot some details sorry: the whole column rotates thanks to a sort of rail in the bottom of the base..don't tell me how it is exactly made because I could draw some crazy conclusions but that's how it works..this lets the two pistons be always in the right position for the keyboard. tilting happens when you choose different extensions for the two pistons, this make it tilt in the way you want but yet even a big keyboard is safe from falling. When both pistons are extended to their maximum lenght the stand is higher than 1m (40 inches) which is perfect for most standing people I think. The cool thing is that this is such a small company that nothing suffers from the mass-construction procedure because every unit is numbered by a serial number and it's somewhat unique. This way they plan to accomodate everyone need in order to match their requirements.


Behold... This is the ultra stand. Alberto Presents to you ''THE SCARAB!''

Alberto was kind enough to keep me up to date about the progress. So I knew what he was doing for a couple of months. believe me, you won't be disappointed!

Merijn you are going nuts..i told you prolonged exposure to my words can lead to unpredictable effects..btw this is REALLY outstanding..it started like a funny idea but these people went serious on me and gave me blank paper to start. Obviously I won't show you my drawings or theories because they were easily surpassed by a 5 years old girl painting with crayons. Btw they asked me what my requests were in terms of features and started working hard to design that. They want no compromise and these metal benders know they have the skill for doing a good job..this makes them a dangerous team ;) EDIT: plus they have no interest in making a business out of this as they are more than economically covered..THIS is the most interesting aspect..doing stuff for passion delivers the goods :D

more updates as soon as they come,
Alberto

[Ehren]

About how much should I expect to pay for one of these stands, anyway? It sounds perfect, but money is *always* an issue.

[albertors]

Makes sense :)
at first I made an assumption: considering that the company customer target is not the wide percentage of players and that they don't use mass-production structures (even if this is all professionally laser-cut stuff 8)) I was pretty much sure that the price was something between 30% and 60% higher than some expensive stand. I've been told by them that this assumption was wrong as the price should be exactly what we all already paid for some well-done made stand in the market like ultimate stuff or Quicklok. It still seems a bit strange to me but this is what they said..however they left a 15% chance of being wrong that will be revealed when then final unit is made.

Consider that expensive stands usually go from 100$ to 200$..correct me if I'm wrong..

alberto

[Liquid Shadow]

I'm gonna have to get me one of these.

[Ehren]

Yeah, that stand will definitely be a future investment for me as well.

[albertors]

I'm sorry guys for all of this suspence because of my axe-cut information..it's that the site was launched a bit earlier for promotion but I'll try to get the furthest I can if you need any detail or other stuff.

Alberto

[PsawniK]

Can one of these stands be made to hold two 'boards?

[albertors]

Mh that's really interesting..my prototype only allows one keyboard because the holding X at the top just embraces one synth..the structure is fully capable of holding two synthesizers so this would just be a matter of changing the arms on the back so that they make space for another synth on top of the other just as it happens with most of the other stands..I think this is a mod that you could ask about with no problem as they fully customize it (doesn't look to be so hard even).

Alberto

[hephiroth]

alberto-

sorry to bother you with more questions, but can you tell me if you need special cable extensions because the keyboard rotates? like, for example, a sustain pedal or something with not a very long cord...or the power cord not being long enough...is this an issue at all?

also, do you have any idea when this will be available?

thanks so much...i'm really interested in this!

-Jeff-

[albertors]

No prob Jeff,
rotating the stand could be difficult or even dangerous if you don't have some spare cable lenght remaining. The more lenght you have the more you'll be able to rotate it..unless of course you keep going and going because at that point you will wrap the cables.

Did you intend to give it a spin like a helicopter? :D About availability, I think it should be possible to see pictures and perhaps even buy it in less than one month from now.

Alberto

UPDATE: For questions and comments you may also use the new message board (http://www.albertorizzoschettino.com/~progsounds/board/viewboard.php?BoardID=16). I'll continue to reply here as well of course.

[hephiroth]

no, i didn't mean for it to spin like a helicopter--i just want to move it around like JR does...just so i can face different directions...i might have to buy some cable extensions, but it'd be worth it. i can't WAIT to see what this looks like...i have the feeling i'll buy it immediately!!! haha

-jeff-

[albertors]

Ehe I understand ;) it was just a joke: it's a cool thing to do and the Scarab allows you to do that even when tilted for standing players. I'll let you know more details as soon as they come out.

Alberto

[albertors]

update: project drawings and 3d renderings should be ready soon. I've been told that it's still not sure if they shall be published on the internet but this means the thing is going on and they expect to be distributing this "earlier than we thought" (their words :) go figure..)

Tilt on :)

[merijn]

Great Rizzo! :D Tension builds....

[hephiroth]

INTERESTING!!!!

can't wait to see pix

-jeff-

[albertors]

Update for those interested:

The big muscle and motor-oil-dirty guys at the melting metal labs finally found the right gas piston to build the main column. I've been told that a second prototype will be built in order to test it but they hope to hit the production phase on June. It will be possible to use more than one synth on that thanks to some custom accessories for the upper tiers. Bad thing I will still be in LA when the 2nd prototype is released so I won't be able to test it..well they have who will do that.

Seems like our summer gigs will be hot :)

Oh and that friend of mine over there told me he would like to send his excuses to everyone who received a reply from him only after a week or so. He's been very busy lately (this is what he told me, I couldn't verify ;))

I will let you know more ASAP,
Alb

EDIT: Just a reminder for first time readers. Progsounds hosts a Scarab dedicated board for questions et similia. It's available at:

http://www.albertorizzoschettino.com/~progsounds/board

[maJ estY]

Post some pictures as soon as you can, man! ;)

[albertors]

Post some pictures as soon as you can, man! ;)

Affirmative sir ;) it all depends on what the big guys tell me but as soon as I have the "lock and load" I'll shoot some pics.

Alb

[merijn]

Great Alberto! :lol:

[Liquid Shadow]

This just in: Alberto is going to give every member of ProgSounds one of these stands for free.



Well, it was worth a shot...

[albertors]

This just in: Alberto is going to give every member of ProgSounds one of these stands for free.



Well, it was worth a shot...

Why don't you go asking this to the oil-drenched muscled hi protein driven badass hot metal benders? ;)

[hephiroth]

any update on this stand? i had to go searching for this thread! hehe

-jeff-?

[albertors]

Hi,

last thing I received was that the guys at Vali-X had found a couple companies producing a piece for the main arm. They were about to find their "partner" among those two and then receive two dummy test pieces. From the shape and connectors of those pieces will be generated the fine-tuning of the structure itself (by keeping the same original idea of course).

The guy told they are taking great care of the stability issue, not because there is any danger of a keyboard falling on the ground but because they are trying to keep the shaking at the minimum possible since I told them it's pretty fastidious ;-)

Any question you guys have or comment always remember there is a dedicated space in ProgSounds (at this address) (http://www.albertorizzoschettino.com/~progsounds/board).

I'm as excited as you are ;-) take care guys,
Alberto

[merijn]

Still no pics? I understand it's still being developed.

[albertors]

No pics unfortunately, as they actually have nothing built up with the new prototype specs.