I was in the market for guitar stools since I was starting to develop back pain in the lumbar area during long practice sessions but I had a hard time finding a guitar stool that has an adjustable lumbar support cushion without having an oversized backrest. Also, most guitar stools are designed in a way as to elevate you off the ground and I find that to be annoying since I do not enjoy 'climbing' the stool. In addition, I use quite a few effect-pedals so I really need to have my feet planted to the ground. With all these specific needs it was hard to find a guitar stool that meets my needs even though there are premium guitar stools on the market.
While browsing through different guitar stools, I found the Gibraltar 9808HRTB which is geared towards non-drummers. I was quite surprised since Gibraltar is known to make excellent drum hardware and stools but I didn’t know that they also have a stool that is suited for non-drummers. Quality-wise I knew that the stool would be first-rate. Immediately, the adjustable lower back cushioning of 9808HRTB caught my attention but what I didn't like about it was that its height range (61 - 76 cm) was still too high to my liking. I decided to look and see whether Gibraltar had a similar stool but with a lower height range and then I spotted the Gibraltar 9808OS-AB drum-throne which was perfect. It fit the criteria I had mind because:
1) It has the proper seat height adjustment range (54 - 78 cm)
2) The lower back-rest is height and linearly adjustable which means that you can also move the backrest back and forth. This makes it super ergonomic.
3) The saddle is large and has a comfortable and breathable Cordura top which will prevent you from sweating if you go for those long gigs.
While it is designed with the drummer in mind it is virtually suitable for all kinds of musicians and in my opinion better than most other guitar stools out there. The item didn't come with any instructions (you can find it online though but it’s hard to make sense of and has no diagrams) but setting it up is quite intuitive.
Since I am not a drummer, I had a bit of a hard time understanding what some of the wing-screws do. The wing-screw for the bottom of the stand is obvious, after you extend the legs, you tighten it in order to firmly fix the stand in place. Mounting the saddle on the stand is easy, just place the hole on the bottom of the saddle into the threaded rod coming out of the stand. There is another wing screw under the saddle which is used to fix the chair in place so it doesn’t swivel. By keeping it slightly tight you should be able to give a bit of a swivel effect to the chair but I’m not sure if the drum throne is meant to be used like that. In fear of wearing out the materials I have deiced to firmly lock it in place since metal-on-metal contact could lead to wearing out the material in the long run. Once tightened the saddle stays firmly in place.
There is another wing screw which tightens or loosens the height adjustment clamp (black colored piece of hardware). By loosening it and rotating the saddle you should be able to easily adjust the height of the saddle. This way, you don’t have to remove the saddle anymore (essentially the saddle functions like a screw). There is also a wing-screw for the “memory lock” clamp, this is useful if you gig from place to place and don’t want to be bothered by adjusting your saddle to the right height all the time. After you found the perfect height, lock the clamp at the right height and keep it on so that next time you disassemble and reassemble your drum throne again, you will automatically have the exact same height.
Then came the actual usage of the stool for long practice hours and it was absolutely amazing, I didn’t even sense the slightest sense of discomfort and had no lumbar pain at all. The saddle is also very comfortable and stays firmly in place and if you use a foot rest while practicing guitar the ergonomics just reach a new level which ultimately means a productive practice session.
All in all, highly recommended.
