If there is a Guitar Center in your town, the best days to go there for cheap cymbal stands are
Memorial Day, 4th of July or Labor Day. These are big "blowout" days. There are
usually tons of out of box cymbal stands cheap.
You could also just ask them if they have any junk cymbal stands they want to
get rid of. I am sure you could find one that wasn't missing parts that would matter if you were making a table. We always seem to have a bunch of stands in the back that we would rather sell cheap instead of count out.
Check it out.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone tried using speaker stands? I'll admit that I know very little about them or cymbal stands, but I would assume that they would be sturdier (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), and I'm pretty sure that you can get an adapter for speakers that don't have a hole in the bottom. Any thoughts?

Yes, speaker stands would be sturdier but in general they are just too big and chunky. Speaker stands are made to hold up a lot more wieght.
You might be able to find some that have a smaller scale but cymbal stands or music stands are just about perfect.

Hi everyone,

Am trying to understand the context of everyone's posts here.

Are you saying the Eureka table base is a great product?

Or that it is too expensive/cheap and a cymbal stand is a better choice?

Are are they virtually the same products but Mak is renaming them?

Thanks,
Tod

I just wanted to add, be careful about getting "junk" cymbal stands.
The really cheap ones for beginner sets are extremely thin, weak, and not so well balanced, and don't hold a candle to Gibraltar (who makes great inexpensive drum haredware), DW, Tama, Pearl, Ludwig, or any of the namebrand drum mfgs.
You pretty much get what you pay for, within reason.
There are many different classes of cymbal stands.

I like Musician's Friend, but a very good competitor is
http://www.americanmusical.com/
I get their catalog quarterly.

Also, zzounds is pretty good.
http://zzounds.com

For local, it's usually Sam Ash or Guitar Center.

This thread is great.
Now we need some computer stand updates.
Like InStand.com

Looking at the instand site, they sell trays for photo tripods. Great idea.
I'm going to make myself a heavy duty tripod stand with my tripod for busking.
Thanks Docc!!!

Cymbal stands are terrible! Too easy to kick over if you clip the tripod with your foot. These speaker stands are the best! Sturdy, a perfectly flat to with rubber strips to prevent sliding. They can spin if you keep the screw loose! http://www.rakuten.com/prod/quik-lok-hei......71763018

You can still find projector screens at yard sales for next to nothing. They mack good table bases and even better back drop holders.

Sorry to resurrect and old topic, but do you think one of these would work for a table base?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessori......ic-stand

Yes, this is what I use. You need a flange to connect the microphone stand to the table:

http://www.parts-express.com/atlas-sound......242-9455

I initially used 3/4" plywood for the table but now use 3/8" plywood. As needed, the plywood can be covered in headliner foam and then plush velvet.

Ian, thanks so much. That is the exact info I needed.