My friends and family are tragically addicted to Rock Band. On many occasions, our tribe of friends have gotten together at one of several houses and burned the night away (and the neighbors' sanity) with our often off-key renditions of many great songs.

We have all the toys, but I was tired of playing my completely awesome Fender... um... "guitar" and needing a groupie to hold the mic for me.. so, I started looking for a mic stand. Turns put they are pretty cheap... except what kind of dork would I be if I went into a music store looking for a mic stand to use with Rock Band... I am not sure i could handle the pressure... or the ridicule of those "real" musicians! Besides, who are they to look down at me? I would not give them the pleasure! Besides, I had some cash on a gift card and some 3/4" PVC pipe laying about.

I looked at some PVC mic stand instructables, but didn't see what I wanted. The Boom designs were good, so I borrowed those pieces, but the bases always left something to be desired, so here's MY version.

First: I am NOT going to give any details on how to use PVC, or PVC Glue. If you're not familiar with PVC, there are great primers on using PVC pipe on Instructables.

Step 1: Materials: Let's Start With the Base.

You'll need about 8' of 3/4" Schedule 40 PVC for this project. about half of that is the base.

Cut the PVC into the following lengths:
1- 8" Piece
2 - 6" pieces
1 - 4" piece

Plus the following conectors:
2- 3/4" Slip T connectors
3-3/4" 45 degree elbows

And PVC Glue. Ok, you really don't NEED PVC glue, but you'll need some effective adhesive. . . PVC glue works best.

Step 2: Assemble the Base

Starting with the 2 "T" connectors, and the 4" piece of pipe, Glue them together. Be sure the two "T's" are 90-degrees to each other. Otherwise your stand won't be vertical.

Step 3: Add the Side Supports

On the "T" that is horizontal, glue on the two 6" pieces:

Step 4: Add 8" Piece, and 45's As Feet!

Add the 8" piece to the end.

Then glue on the three 45-degree elbows. Make sure they're pointing down. This elevates the stand on three points, and improves the stability greatly.

Step 5: Boom Section

For the boom and mic holder, you need the following materials:
2' piece of 1/2" Schedule 40 PVC Pipe
1/2" compression Tee fitting (threaded on the "T")
1" to 1/2" Snap On T fitting (holds microphone)
3/4" slip to 1/2" threaded fitting (top of the base pole)
1/2" threaded nipple
1/2" threaded elbow (male to female)
1/2" threaded to slip elbow

Step 6: Assemble the Boom

Open the compression T. It will have 2 rubber compression sleeves. Discard ONE.
Slide one compression nut on the 1/2" PVC Pipe, followed by the compression sleeve.
Add the fitting, and screw both caps on, like you see in the picture.
This fitting will allow you to slide and roate the 1/2" pvc pipe. To adjust the amount of friction, just tighten or loosen the nut over the rubber compression sleeve.

Step 7: Add the Mic Holder

Take the Slip to Pipe elbow, and put it on one end of the 1/2" pipe as shown. You MAY need to glue this on, depending on how tight the fit is.

Step 8: Add the Mic Holder

The mic holder threads on to the fitting from the previous step. Adding Nylon thread sealing tape will increase the friction so the stand is stable. Screw on the Snap-T (mic holder) until it is tight enough that it won't move too easily.

Step 9: Finish the Boom

The last step in the boom assembly is the mount for the vertical pole.
Starting at the bottom:

Take the 3/4" to 1/2" pipe fitting, and screw in the nipple. I didn't need teflon tape in this step, as the fitting had plenty of friction, but still rotated easily.
Screw the threaded elbow to the nipple.
Add teflon tape to the exposed threads on the elbow
Screw on the Boom assemby.

Take the threaded elbow, add pipe tape and attach to the Compression T fitting

Step 10: Final Assembly

You now have three pieces:

Base,
Pole,
Boom

I didn't use glue in this step so I could take it apart later. For now it's stable, but I may need to glue it some day.

Securely push the pole into the vertical T fitting in the base. Be sure to support the T so you don't break the base.
Push the pole into the exposed fitting on the Boom.

DONE!

Step 11: You're Ready to Rock Out With Your New Stand!

Due to the varied threaded fittings on the boom, the stand articulates and adjusts from high to low with ease. It is reasonably stable,

Author's note: The stand wiggles just a bit. If I were to do it again, I would make the 6" Pieces of 3/4" PVC 8 inches long to improve stability. You can also add plugs to the three 45 degree elbows, and then fill the base with Sand. I would follow the sand with some glue or epoxy just so the sand would not spill...

You could also use 1" PVC for the base and vertical pole, that would make it stiffer, too. For me, the 3/4" works fine.

I hope you find this useful!