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Aroma AGS8 Instrument Stand
Summary: For me, this is a gigging musician’s wet dream as far as guitar stands go. Not only is it sturdy, well-designed and well-built, it is light AF! Pros: Did I mention that this stand is light? It doesn’t seem to weigh much more than a pound if that. But don’t be fooled by the lightweight. The aircraft-grade aluminum is tough! Cons: None. Price: $16.99 – $17.99 (Amazon, depending on color) Features (from Amazon, and I assume Aroma):
Tone Bone Rating: 5.00 ~ Sometimes, even the mundane can get me excited, especially when that mundane thing makes my life so much easier. |
It’s a guitar stand for goodness sake! Who the hell cares?
I do, for one. With the number of gigs I do per year, gear weight is a factor, so is compactness when you don’t have the luxury of a road crew. And when I can get those two things plus a great design that’ll protect my investment, well, I flip out!
One of my bandmates purchased one a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was cool with its compact design and adjustable base arms. But I was most impressed with how light it was. I resolved then that I’d get one. I am not disappointed in the slightest!
Fit and Finish
The days of “Made in China” being associated with poor quality are long gone. This stand is absolutely well-built. The aircraft-grade aluminum tubing is super-strong, and the plastic ABS joints should withstand a lot of wear and tear. I got mine in blue, but you can get the stand in black, rose gold, gold, and silver. The latter three will cost you a buck more for some reason. I guess black and blue sell the best. 🙂
The design of this stand is great. It folds up nice and compact. You can see in the pictures above where I placed a quarter next to the folded stand. Nice and small.
As for its sturdiness, I have no issues with it. But if you notice how I’ve set up my acoustic guitar, I have it so it stands fairly upright. This is to make sure that the bottom edge of the guitar abuts against the end stoppers of the base arms. Plus, it will put minimal pressure on the apex pad. With a stand this short, you don’t want a lot of weight at the top of the stand. You’re just asking for trouble.
Either the weight of the guitar will make the stand tip back (not too likely – I put my Les Paul on this stand and set it up to lean back and it stayed in place), or as someone reported on Amazon, the top pad put a slight depression into the back of his ES-335. To me, it’s just common sense to let physics work for you. When you place the guitar in a more upright position, more of the body surface will contact the pads. So stand the freakin’ guitar up! 🙂 Sheesh!
Finally, I dig the bottom footpads. They elevate the entire structure of the frame, so the chance of spilled liquid contacting my guitar is pretty much nullified.
Overall Impression
I love this stand! I’m probably going to get a couple more of these. Well-made, well-designed and lightweight. A perfect combination, even it’s just a lowly stand.
Guitar Gear 
My 3,000.00 Les Paul has a permanent imprint of the AROMA logo in the middle of the back from the AROMA guitar stand. Not safe for Gibson guitar finish I would NOT recommend these stands for Gibson Guitars at all.
Wow! I’ve been using it for my Les Paul and haven’t yet seen this issue. But I also stand it up fairly upright.
I stood mine upright too. still have AROMA logo in graved in the middle of the back of two Gibson Les Paul with nitrocellulose lacquer finish.
I’ve got an R8 so it has a nitro finish. Maybe I haven’t seen anything yet because I haven’t used the stand very long. I’ll keep an eye on it, though.
I would put some socks or wrist bands or something cotton at contact points. It got both my Les Pauls. However it didn’t hurt my Eppiphones