by Nick Caramico

I was pleasantly surprised when I went to a local GameStop and found the Keyboard Stand for Rock Band 3 on the shelf. The store I went to had 2 stands and only 1 Keys peripheral for the Wii. This keyboard stand is universal and can be used with the Xbox 360, PlayStation3, or Wii Keys peripheral.

Not seeing any images of this stand online prior to my purchase, I didn’t really know what to expect. The stand manufactured by Madcatz is very durable looking, even from initial viewing. The box is very slim looking, which turns out to be deceiving. The packaging, unlike all the other RB3 peripherals, is dark blue and black with the traditional Rock Band tattoo graphics. It works well being as this is one of the few universal accessories, and a color other than the Red, Green, White color sceme makes it stand out.

Upon removing the inner box, you are met with several different metal rods and a small bag of screws (9), nuts, and a wrench. There is a lot of assembling with this accessory as absolutely none of it is pre-assembled. It is quite time consuming to screw in each part to the other. Try to use a more sturdy wrench than the one included as it is rather thin and not the most comfortable to use for a long period of time.

Once assembled it is immediately noticeable that there is a slight angle to the main vertical rod. There is also an angled support piece that screw to the base as well as the vertical rod. The vertical rod is adjustable with 5 different possible heights by using a metal pin. Each space is 2 3/4 inches apart. At its lowest point it is 2 feet, 3 1/2 inches tall. Completely extended it is 3 feet, 3 inches tall.

The top piece where the Keys will be has two clips on the front and a rubberized rear support. Since the store I went to did not have the Xbox 360 Keys, I am unable to currently test how it feels while playing, but the stand looks incredibly stable and durable.

The base has groved rubber pieces on each of the three ends that does not allow the stand to move. While the stand was on rug or hard wood, it hardly moved when pushed on. It seems very likely it will hold up against normal playing.  Overall, I am very pleased with Madcatz build quality on this and the longer assembly time is acceptable to me. We will have an update on this post once we have the Keys to test with the stand.

To see all of the pictures visit our flickr site.