bonzodog Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Went to Ikea recently and bought my daughter two very cheap table lamps. You put a white LED bulb in and a coloured plastic cover lamp shade shaped goes over the top and they are about 6 inches high. They were £2.50 each and I bought her a red and a blue one. Total cost with LED bulbs £12.00 I got home and put them either side of her bedroom and they looked really effective with the red and blue mixing well. It then got me thinking. Her bedroom is roughly the size of most spaces we get at pub gigs where currently we use LED par cans that cost £250. I don't really like lights flashing too much so if we used these table lamps on constant I think they would look effective. We could always place them behind speakers if having table lamps on stage looked odd. May give it a try at gig tonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 (edited) [quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1455991869' post='2984398'] Went to Ikea recently and bought my daughter two very cheap table lamps. You put a white LED bulb in and a coloured plastic cover lamp shade shaped goes over the top and they are about 6 inches high. They were £2.50 each and I bought her a red and a blue one. Total cost with LED bulbs £12.00 I got home and put them either side of her bedroom and they looked really effective with the red and blue mixing well. It then got me thinking. Her bedroom is roughly the size of most spaces we get at pub gigs where currently we use LED par cans that cost £250. I don't really like lights flashing too much so if we used these table lamps on constant I think they would look effective. We could always place them behind speakers if having table lamps on stage looked odd. May give it a try at gig tonight [/quote] Worth a pop. At Slade gigs in days of yore Dave Hill & Jimmy Lea used to have wooden steps knocked together by a roadie, like a big L shaped box about 2ft wide and 4 ft hight, just two steps. The top was thick perspex for them to stand on and inside was just a car headlight pointing up. Very effective. edit: Maybe fixed them onto wider bases for less chance of them being knocked over and of course watch the wiring safety. Edited February 20, 2016 by Big_Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 It's amazing what you can build with a bit of imagination. Before the days of LED I built some light boxes. Painted the boxes black and fitted 240v standard ceiling lamp holders and coloured bulbs. Tilt towards the band and no one is any the wiser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Fleabay sells RGB floods (with remote control) for around 12.00....lots of light, and static or change settings - I use them for shop window display, would certainly consider them if I needed cheap colour wash for gigs........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 I always thought that, in pub world, uplighting is a much more effective way of lighting the band rather than attempting to downlight where there's low ceilings. Often it's much more cost effective too; a couple of well placed par cans either side of the drum kit and behind the backline looks great and doesn't get in anyone's eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colgraff Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 I can't remember where I bought my lights from, even though it was only a few weeks ago, but I got 2x64 LED PARs and 2x48 LED PARs, four stands and a gobo for £100. I hadn't bought any lights for about 15 years and am amazed at how cheap they have become. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 [quote name='TimR' timestamp='1456004284' post='2984532'] It's amazing what you can build with a bit of imagination. Before the days of LED I built some light boxes. Painted the boxes black and fitted 240v standard ceiling lamp holders and coloured bulbs. Tilt towards the band and no one is any the wiser. [/quote] I used to use a pair of kitchen lights, the round type with three individually angled spotlights. Put different coloured bulbs in them and a length of cable with a three pin plug. One either side of the stage, one colour aimed across the floor, one colour aimed at the ceiling and the other at the drum kit, looked really good all for about thirty quid. Was ok until a drunk bloke fell over and put his hand on top of the bulbs to help himself up, the bits of skin left on the bulbs smelt horrible not that problem with LEDs nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colgraff Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Re LED heat. I love that LEDs give off virtually no heat. As I get older, I appreciate cooler stages. Having said that, it took me a little time to remember not to look directly at an LED light. Going temporarily blind adds an entertainingly random element to my playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 [quote name='Maude' timestamp='1456075953' post='2985155'] I used to use a pair of kitchen lights, the round type with three individually angled spotlights. Put different coloured bulbs in them and a length of cable with a three pin plug. One either side of the stage, one colour aimed across the floor, one colour aimed at the ceiling and the other at the drum kit, looked really good all for about thirty quid. Was ok until a drunk bloke fell over and put his hand on top of the bulbs to help himself up, the bits of skin left on the bulbs smelt horrible not that problem with LEDs nowadays. [/quote] Yes. I did get a bit jumpy at some gigs. Always worried about using 'homemade' gear. Wondering about getting it PAT tested and whether it's covered under PLI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 [quote name='colgraff' timestamp='1456078468' post='2985182'] Re LED heat. I love that LEDs give off virtually no heat. As I get older, I appreciate cooler stages. Having said that, it took me a little time to remember not to look directly at an LED light. Going temporarily blind adds an entertainingly random element to my playing. [/quote] I used to have some colour bars that were incredibly bright. I try to get them as high up as possible. I plugged a leaser in once and then pushed the stand up while it was on. Got a face full of laser effects as it went past. Thought I'd done irreparable damage to my eyes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/6-way-pod-light-n17dz"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/6-way-pod-light-n17dz[/url] [color=#606063]"Light pods detach to form various arrangements"[/color] [color=#606063]I had similar from Tandy years ago and it had a constant light function too.[/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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