Cheap Lights

[Woodinblack]

In my last band, the guitarist had a set of lights, which were 2 sets of glass 4 coloured bulbs in a box, and the same thing in LEDs (which were better). Pretty dumb, just did a chasing thing, but provided light and bolted to the PA stand.

My current group has no lights, we even played an outdoor thing recently almost in the dark (which actually went down fine) and I don't think it is good to have that.

So originally I thought I would just get a couple of lights like we had in the last group, which are like the ones they do in maplin here:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/chauvet-dj-dj-bank-n14qa

and that would be ok, but I thought that maybe I would get interested in the lights so might be nice to get something that had a dmx input, and had multiple colours etc.
So there are the PAR lights like this sort of thing

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131648909700

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131927821067

They are pretty cheap and look like they could be useful, but are they too cheap to be any use? I am not looking for anything too fancy but obviously don't want it to fall apart after 2 gigs!

[lemmywinks]

We bought two of the Stairville bundles from Thomann initially as a stopgap until we could buy better ones, however after using them they're staying. They come with good quality stands and hard foam cases which was a massive surprise as for the money we were expecting barely usable stuff. The lights themselves put out a serious amount of colour and look fantastic, they definitely don't perform like budget lights at all. They're more than enough for any gig where we do PA ourselves and to be honest would cope well in most places we play, in fact for smaller pubs we just take one side.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_clb24_compact_led_parbundle.htm
£310 for both sides, we added the controller too.

[TimR]

Yes. Spend a little bit more.

[Number6]

Thomann do some good lighting for very reasonable prices.

[bonzodog]

I would not bother with the ones you mention on eBay. We use American DJ mega tripars and they are great. To add to them we bought 2 of those off ebay and they packed up after a few weeks. I cut the plugs off the end to fit IEC connectors and I couldn't belive how thin the wires were. Very cheap quality

[blue]

We're still using 2 sets of the old can lights with colored gels. They're not cheapies and they look good.

They can get pretty hot, not as nice as LEDs. But better than nothing.

Blue

Edited September 4, 2016 by blue

[Les]

The Thomann bundle looks good. Not sure the first ones listed will cut it to be honest.

We spent a lot of time thinking about lights, DMX is good and useful but working them from a footswitch was proving complicated and costly, ours are DMX and we link them so they are in synch sound to light.

Went second hand in the end and got 4 LED par cans, 2 to light us and 2 crossed on the drums. and a couple of Acme MiracLEDS for the back cos' they add a lot of movement.

Think we spent less than 200 quid but I'm not sure how cheap you need this to be.

[blue]

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1473028267' post='3126298']
The Thomann bundle looks good. Not sure the first ones listed will cut it to be honest.

We spent a lot of time thinking about lights, DMX is good and useful but working them from a footswitch was proving complicated and costly, ours are DMX and we link them so they are in synch sound to light.

Went second hand in the end and got 4 LED par cans, 2 to light us and 2 crossed on the drums. and a couple of Acme MiracLEDS for the back cos' they add a lot of movement.

Think we spent less than 200 quid but I'm not sure how cheap you need this to be.
[/quote]

Nice! Very " pro" look Les.

Blue

[Woodinblack]

Sounds good - I assumed they would be rubbish at the price. I didn't actually realise that thomman did lights, so I think I will pick up a couple of floor Par wash lights to start with, and see what that gives us.
I am not ready to go for separate bars of lights, I can't honestly think of that many venues we play where we would have the space, but we need something, so that seems a good a place as any.

[Les]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1473028383' post='3126299']
Nice! Very " pro" look Les.
Blue

[/quote]

Thanks Blue, got to say I don't miss the heat of the traditional ones.


[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1473028504' post='3126301']
I can't honestly think of that many venues we play where we would have the space, but we need something, so that seems a good a place as any.
[/quote]

Yes, space can be a problem, at about a third of our gigs we can't fit the gantry with the lights and backdrop pictured in the 2 photo in.

[KingBollock]

See if you can find a disco equipment shop with a dark room where you can see the stuff working. Those places tend to be quite reasonably priced, too.

I am fortunate in that I don't know of any around here and I am scared to look. I have a bit of an obsession with pretty lights. I still have a bunch that I just couldn't part with when we packed up doing mobile discos (which I only put together so that I could play with the lights).

An alternative is to build your own if you only want boxes.

[4stringslow]

LEDs are definitely the way to go IMO. Other types can get very hot as well as drawing lots of power. You're probably right to start small. I started with a 4x LED bar stand but have actually only used them separately. I later added another four of these Thomann ones: https://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_led_par_64_10_mm_black_floor.htm

It's fun playing around with DMX but actually much easier just to use them in sound-to-light mode. I've not yet managed to program a light show to match specific songs - it's a lot of work!

[lemmywinks]

In terms of space ours sit nicely behind the PA speaker stands and don't take up much extra room. Our PA stands are massive things though so YMMV. The stands in the Thomann bundle go very high and the lights are powerful enough to provide a proper colour wash over the entire stage which we like.

Lights are one of the areas lots of bands cheap out on to their detriment, they add a lot to the experience from a punters' point of view and all your gig photos will look tons better with proper stage lighting, a dark room with lighting also helps fill the dancefloor earlier. It's great that it costs so little now and doesn't cook my bald head like back in the pre-LED days.

[bonzodog]

If the venue allows you to then a cheap haze machine makes the led lights so much better too.

[JTUK]

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1473028504' post='3126301']
Sounds good - I assumed they would be rubbish at the price. I didn't actually realise that thomman did lights, so I think I will pick up a couple of floor Par wash lights to start with, and see what that gives us.
I am not ready to go for separate bars of lights, I can't honestly think of that many venues we play where we would have the space, but we need something, so that seems a good a place as any.
[/quote]

https://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_stage_tri_led_bundle_complete.htm

Everyone who uses them , comments positively on them.... will probably cover a stage 5mtrs wide.

[FinnDave]

Our guitarist found our lights (4x LED) in a skip. Can't get cheaper than that!

[Mudpup]

We've invested in 2 types of lights and a hazer recently and found its raised everything up a level - we're getting more and better gigs because we're putting on a better show for the customers.

The hazer has made a huge difference - best bit of kit imho

This ADJ VBar Pak is great value - 2 x LED bar lights, DMX, auto programs, master/slave and remote control and tiny too. We use them on the floor at stage front.

[url="https://www.gak.co.uk/en/american-dj-american-dj-vbar-led-pak/105535?gclid=CIbph9n_-M4CFVQ_Gwod3esJyA"]https://www.gak.co.u...CFVQ_Gwod3esJyA[/url]

The other ones are a pair of ADJ Sweeper Beam Quads which are a chunk more expensive (although we picked them up as refurbs from Whybuynew for a great price) but are really effective. We put them at the back corners angled in a bit. They go a bit mad on sound active but left on auto are good.

[url="https://www.thomann.de/gb/american_dj_sweeper_beam_quad_led.htm"]https://www.thomann....am_quad_led.htm[/url]

The pictures below show it off quite well - just a couple of smallish pub gigs but looks much bigger

[url="http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/mudpup1/media/Yellowhouse/Britannia%2010.jpg.html"][/url]

[url="http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/mudpup1/media/Yellowhouse/Britannia%209.jpg.html"][/url]

[url="http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/mudpup1/media/Yellowhouse/vernon%204.jpg.html"][/url]

[url="http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/mudpup1/media/Yellowhouse/Britannia%201.jpg.html"][/url]

[url="http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/mudpup1/media/Yellowhouse/Britannia%208.jpg.html"][/url]

Edited September 5, 2016 by Mudpup

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='Mudpup' timestamp='1473105900' post='3127025']
The pictures below show it off quite well - just a couple of smallish pub gigs but looks much bigger
[/quote]

That would look like one of the bigger places we play!

They do look impressive and everything, probably a lot more than I am prepared to pay at the moment, but more so for us that would be completely over the top, it just looks a lot more serious than us. It would have worked well with my last group, but we are much more 'party' like, so just a bit of light would be good.

[Woodinblack]

I bought a couple of the stairville ones, multi leds, which I can connect the DMX together for the moment. I will see what that brings to the party and go from there.
Some lights have got to be better than no lights!

Thanks for all the info and pictures, some of you guys have great lighting setups.

[blue]

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1473098883' post='3126931']
If the venue allows you to then a cheap haze machine makes the led lights so much better too.
[/quote]

I saw a band called Bonzo Dog Band open for Sly & The Family Stone in the late 60s. I forgot what type of band they were.

Anyone, clue me in on this dig band.

Blue

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1473112743' post='3127123']
I saw a band called Bonzo Dog Band open for Sly & The Family Stone in the late 60s. I forgot what type of band they were.

Anyone, clue me in on this dig band.
[/quote]

you mean the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah band?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonzo_Dog_Doo-Dah_Band

[TimR]

It have 4 LED par cans. They're DMX but as mentioned above set them to sound to light.

I think mine are the DJled ones and 2 are 48 and 2 are 64. Stuck on two small tripods behind the PA speakers light the band really well.

[Maude]

You can make the most of smaller lights if they struggle to illuminate the stage well by pointing them at the ceiling above you, it's usually white and will reflect the light around much better than aiming them down at all the dark objects.

[scalpy]

Mudpup, how do you mount the sweeping LEDs please? Another tripod?

[Kevin Dean]

I have lights but a lot of pubs down my way already have lights ,So it's worth asking .