djn

I take it this is a frontage to go around your decks, its similar to one I built and used 20 years ago although mine was covered in a reflective sheeting material covered in perspex. I now use a starcloth with a tubular frame I made from trunking conduit, mainly to save weight and being easier to store. I would say make the equipment sit on a seperate platform ( a normal deckstand for instance ) this is because punters will lean on the top of the stand to speak to you, and if it supports your decks they will shake the whole set up. As for lighting, it would be best if you used a propriet

I worked a number of "ladies evenings" with a comic, DJ, and male strippers. One night I got roped in to help one of the strippers make his big entrance, he was dressed as Dracula and was carried on stage in a coffin ! We then had to place the coffin on the stage and stand back to allow him to fire a pyrotechnic charge as he opened the coffin lid. The pyro cartridge was fitted to the inside of the lid and ,you guessed it!!, he accidently fired the button before he opened the lid fully!! This caused some burns to his "upper thigh " area and a stunned audience !! To his credit he carrie

For a few modern tunes that are suitable for "ballroom" type dances try these ... Waltz .. Nora Jones - come away with me , Curtis Stigers- I wonder why Rumba .. David Gray - The one I love, George Michael- Miss Sarajevo Foxtrot .. Rod Stewart- Ive got my love to keep me warm, Michael Buble- nice 'n easy Saltsa .. Atomic Kitten- whole again, Simply Red- Something got me started Cha .. Kelis- Lil star, Gwen Stefani- What u waitin for. They all fill the floor for with the Ballroom dancers without scaring off the other punters. ...Dave

I always rated Mackie as a high quality brand, but It seems from the thread that there are some quality control issues with Mackie !!?? Nothing is 100% perfect but I would have expected a batch of powered speakers that had a tendency to overheat to be recalled and replaced. ( especially at £1000 a pair or so ) Am I being unfair ?? are Mackies generally a good buy ??

I can completly understand how this experience has affected you. I must say I find it a little hard to excuse obnoxious morons by saying "maybe they've had a bad day", Its that sort of liberal attitude that allows idiots to get away with behaving like that. Im sure youre unlikely to come across the problem again though, in 10 years of DJ'ing I only had 1 slight problem, and as others have said you handled it very well and have learnt a lot to help you if it did ever happen again. All the best.

Wonder if anyone else have tried the "Collins" range from I-Muso, ( imuso.co.uk ) I've been using the CPS 300 ( 12" / 1" plastic cab 200w rms /300 peak) driven by their 1000w "Collins" amp ( 300wpc into 8 0hms) for around 6 months. I find them excellent for medium (120 size) gigs at my residency and they cost an amazing £149 a PAIR !!! I think all these cheap Chinese plastic cabs sound quite similar and the Collins were by far the cheapest I found. I intended them to be a "starter" cab that would become spares after a few months but they have performed so well I still havent upgraded t

PASSIVE . Cant understand the point of active cabs exept for ultra compact "1 box" PA set-up's. Why add the weight of an amp to the weight of a speaker cab and have to lug both onto a speaker stand?? + I dont like the idea of long input cables, and then there's the problem with having the complete unit out of action when problems occur. I know many of the quality active cabs sound great but so can passive systems and they make a more flexible, upgradeable and easier to transport set up in my opinion.

Im lucky, I have a 6x4 double-glazed porch at the front of the house which is not used since we had an extention with a new front door on the side of the building. I can reverse the van right up to the old front door, open the rear tailgate to act as a roof and load up in any weather. If I need to check out any gear I just open the door in the living room and there it is !!

Lightness is my big thing as I have a bad back, from my reserch a pair of jbl eon1500's would be my ideal upgrade but I have yet to hear them. Trouble is I find shop demos of speakers next to useless as its so unrealistic so I'll wait untill I come across some used in a venue or maybe at a show.

A good idea without doubt, apart from cutting down time it also saves the lights getting knocked around as you mount them. I would look into making your own boxes if your at all practical though, they are so simple to build and you'll save a small fortune. You can also custom build them to suit your rig and include space for cables and other bits and bobs , and also design them to stack neatly alongside other items in your van/trailer/car. I set out the available space in my vehicle within my garage, and then planned where everything would go in order to stack neatly and take up the least

Im not technically qualified in any way, Just had lots of experience in fitting systems into venues of all sorts , (including a full range sound system in a football stadium) I've run approx 25 mtrs of phono to phono cable to get a sound signal from a SKY box to a PA amp with no problems, but I did make sure I kept away from any other cable runs. I used ready made cables bought from E.bay for about £12

Already aware of the Bose !! they look amazing. I used to use Bose 802's first time round and love the brand and the image, BUT can I justify the cost ??? To be honest Im starting out with a pair of plastic cabs that weigh only 17 kilo, handle 300 watts each, sound pretty damm good and cost about a FIFTH of the cost of the Bose L1. I can afford to throw them away after 18 months and if I choose purely on a buisness sense basis I think its hard to justify spending any more . (Id still love the Bose though !)

Thanks for all the replies, this forum is REALLY great for someone like me. Having been out of DJing for so long I feel a bit in the wilderness !! ( although I was always a bit of a loner as I never felt the need for an agent when I DJ'ed before) Hope I get to know some of you in future ( based in Kidderminster, Worcs) .... Thanks again, Dave.

Hi. Ive finally bitten the bullet and set up as a mobile again, and I must admit its a bit scarey ! I've not even used CD's before, as I gave up in 1991 after 11 years experience, laterly including a comedy mime act to the disco which was great fun and very popular. I've made a conscious decision NOT to over do the amount of equipment and most of all keep it light, as I feel that one thing that I learned over the years and in retrospect was that lots of gear does not make a great party. I wonder if people agree that many mobiles often over-do the gear and in particular the amount/size o