K&M 18860 Spider Pro Black

After having a problem with a traditional stand, I decided to invest in something professional, such as the Spider Pro.

I was not disappointed by the quality of the stand, but there are some quirks that should be considered when buying this item. First of all the plus.

- It is stable as a rock, even on wood stages.
- It looks impressive.
- When coupled with the carrying case, it is a delight to move. Very useful to carry it over your shoulders.
- Materials are fine, no scratches at the moment.

Now for some choices which may be relevant to you or not. The two tiers of the stand are different, the first one (the lower one in the picture) is flat and has no stoppers, while the upper one is inclined and has stoppers. The height and lengths of the arms is adjustable, not so the angle or the inclination. With my main group I play with a keyboard and a flight case with the hardware modules. This was a bit of a problem, because you need the flight case to be horizontal. The solution was to switch the lower and upper tiers (it can be done), so that the upper tier is now horizontal. Luckily my keyboard is not so heavy (88-keys master keyboard) so it fits nicely in the inclined tier. The rack barely fits in the upper tier, I have a security cable with holds my rack in place, to avoid the case sliding. The solution works well.

If you have smaller keyboard, since the angle between the arms cannot be adjusted, consider also buying additional ad-hoc pieces, which you can find in Thomann shop.

I wanted one of these stands as it’s far easier to setup/ breakdown during gigs than taking multiple or Z frame / table top stands with extra arms.

The good - it is stable and holds 2 or 3 keyboards without any issues. It is fast to setup and break down, which is what I wanted.

The bad - in order to fit a third tier, you have to remove 5 screws in the top of the stand. These were really difficult to undo and I had to get one of my sons (a massive guy) to help and even he had a lot of difficulty with these screws. There is no need for the manufacturer to put them in this tight as it’s not structural, but just to hold the top plate which is a cover.

Next, with the third tier, the stand cannot be easily closed as it’s designed for the 2 tiers that come with the stand. I mainly use 2 keyboards, so not a major issue, but if I need to take 3, I have to remove that top plate each time to attach the third tier.

I need a bungee cord to keep the stand together when folded as the top arms do not stay in the groves and will flap around without this.

I am ordering a tray for the third tier as it won’t hold my smaller synths without this. I can just about fit a Moog Subsequent 37 on the arms without the tray but something smaller like a Moog Grandmother, will not fit in the width of the arms as these are too wide.

These arms are really designed for a 49 key keyboard or larger.

Overall I do like the stand and it works well, so I’m glad I purchased one.