If you’re like me, you’ve invested a lot of money in really nice guitars. You want to take care of them. This means a nice hard case and maybe a good padded gig bag for more casual cartage. It should also mean a nice stand to hold your precious guitars securely onstage and at home.
I’ll admit it; I haven’t stepped up and invested in good stands. The ones I have are the run-of-the-mill cheap ones. Yes, they work fine, but they don’t exactly inspire complete confidence.
Recently, however, my friends at Ultimate Support sent me their Genesis series guitar stands, and brother, I have seen the error of my ways.
There are four models. The most compact is the A-frame Genesis GS-55. It features a patented leg-lock mechanism to increase stability, which also keeps the legs closed when you’re moving the stand to a gig. Speaking of moving the stand, it collapses to just 3.5″ x 14″ when it’s folded, allowing it to fit in most gig bags. As an added bonus, there are pick slots on top of the stand, so you always know where to find a spare pick when you need it.
The Genesis GS-100 is a hanging-type stand. The guitar is suspended by its headstock and leans against padded portions of the tripods legs. Like the GS-55, the legs lock open and closed, making the stand easily portable, yet completely stable when set up. The big advantage to a hanging stand is that the stand doesn’t get tangled in the guitar cord or strap, and the GS-100 works perfectly. And, like the GS-55, there are pick slots on the top for keeping spare picks close at hand.
The Genesis GS-200 is a cradle-type stand. The guitar sits on support arms on the tripod legs, while the neck is held by the stand’s upright. The stand folds quickly and has the leg-lock mechanism for locking the legs open and closed. Case-quality velvet pads protect the guitar’s finish, and yes, there are handy pick slots on top!
The final stand I checked out was the Genesis GS-1000. This is a hanging type stand that, like the other Genesis stands, has the patented leg-lock mechanism, so your axe won’t tip over. And it folds into a very compact package. But there’s an extra feature to this stand: the headstock of the guitar slips into the cradle at the top of the stand. When you place the guitar in the stand, the cradle automatically locks down on the neck of the guitar to prevent it from slipping out. When you lift up the guitar, the cradle releases the neck, allowing you to take the guitar free.
These stands all worked perfectly for me. They do their job – support and protect guitars – exactly as they should, which is about the best compliment I can give them.
If you’ve invested in great guitars, then you should invest in equally great stands to support them and to protect them from harm. The Ultimate Support GS-55, GS-100, GS-200, and GS-1000 Genesis series guitar stands are the ones you need. They’re stable, the legs lock, and they fold up into compact packages for transport. Plus, each one has guitar pick storage slots – what more do you want? All this for just a couple of bucks more than a cheapo stand. It’s a no brainer: get a good stand. The peace of mind is worth it.