I have been using a couple of different concert-height snare stands so I can play on a pad in a standing position. (A standard model, used when sitting behind a drum kit, doesn’t extend high enough.)
Both stands are adequate, but heavy when I need to transport them for, say, chopping in a nearby park on a nice day or offering a clinic at another site.
So I researched my options, and came up with this.
The Yamaha Crosstown series of stands is made primarily of aluminum tubing, with steel connecting pieces for greater stability and durability where it’s needed most.
From Yamaha:
The Yamaha Crosstown Concert Snare Stand SS-3H is an ultra-lightweight aluminum snare drum stand for standing performance. A dramatic reduction in weight enhances handling and portability, significantly reducing the burden on the player. This revolutionary snare drum stand is not only lightweight and compact, but it is also easy to set up, durable, and does not interfere with the natural acoustic tone of the drum used. By using aluminum alloy for most of the stand’s structure, its weight has been reduced by about 50% compared to steel snare stands (in-house survey). The SS-3H is also very compact when folded, providing a considerable improvement in portability. Although the SS-3H is primarily constructed of lightweight aluminum pipe and aluminum castings, steel is used in a few small-but-critical areas that enhance overall strength. The legs are made of aluminum U-channel (channel legs) with a cross-section designed to maximize strength and durability as well as stability. This also makes the stand comfortable to hold for positioning and adjustment. Specially-designed rubber feet prevent slippage while the stand is in use.
More Information
Manufacturer | Yamaha |
Model # | SS3H |
Color/Finish | Aluminum |
Hardware Type | Snare Stands |
Hardware Series | Yamaha Crosstown |
I blinked a moment at the price — MSRP $180, average retail price around $140 plus shipping — and then looked around online for any sort of discount I could find. A drum shop back east was closing out their stock and offering fee shipping, so I ended up paying just under $130.
I set it up with a couple of different pads and tried it out.
As I suspected, a lightweight pad (like, for example, the Evans Barney Beats pad) posed no issues and in fact chopping on it while in the stand was pretty nice. This is probably the configuration I’ll use most often when take the pad and stand to other places for extended chopping.
The true test came when I put my Drumslinger Marcher pad in the stand.
The heavier pad sits well in the basket when tensioned down. However, it’s a lot heavier than a simple rubber-on-MDF pad and the stand wobbled a tiny bit when I played assertively. Whether this is a matter of needing to spread the legs out a little more, or the fact that the basket was extended to nearly 34” from the floor (with perhaps a couple inches still inside the bottom half), is unclear and I’ll need to hang out with it a little longer.
The stand is solidly built. However, it’s also mostly aluminum and offers weight reduction that may come at the expense of good weight distribution. This aluminum stand weighs 3.75 pounds; Yamaha’s standard concert snare stand (model S665) extends to the same height, is made of steel and weighs over 7 pounds. Depending on how heavy then object in the basket is, you may experience some unpleasant top-heaviness. Use discretion and be conservative in your choices.
I can see this working well with a standard concert snare drum, or even an old, much lighter field drum.
I would not put a modern marching snare drum on this stand; if you need to mount such a drum on a stand for stationary use, I’d go with a marching-specific stand made to work with your drum’s carry system and built to handle the extra weight.
Full extension goes to no more than 35” tall, which is fine for a drummer of average height (I’m 5’ 7” and have no issues here.) A very tall drummer, over 6’ or more, will have a harder time making this stand work with a practice pad, but they could probably squeak by with a standard concert snare drum. I think that for the tallest drummers, an extension of some kind might be a good idea, though only with a stand whose legs extend outward far beyond the diameter of the pad or drum in use. Such an extension does not exist in the current Yamaha catalog, and would probably need to be made or retrofitted from an older piece of equipment.
I like the look and the ease of use. It remains to be seen how well the stand will travel and how durable it can be when used with a heavier, tunable pad. Bicycle frames made of aluminum tubing tend not to last as long as steel under the stresses of heavy, daily commuting. I wonder how well this hardware, intended as it is for light weight and portability, will fare in the long run.
Do I think it’s worth $130? I think that for my purposes, maybe. Probably. Your mileage may vary.
Happy drumming.
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