Lighting Suggestions for newbie

[EdBray 0]

Hi All

 

Looking to purchase some lighting, have about £200ish in the kitty at the moment. I would appreciate suggestions for some lighting that would be suitable for venues both in the short and hopefully long term.

I am not adverse to secondhand kit as long as its functional and to this end if anyone has some lighting they have upgraded recently I may well be interested in purchasing some of the old stuff.

 

I realise that £200 will not buy me much and would be only a small proportion of the cost of one of the large pro models available, but everybody has to start somewhere.

 

I was thinking of a couple of Mojo Spinmaster 1s from ebay at about £45 quid each and perhaps an Acme Falcon at about £120 from Discoworld UK, these are all DMX ready so could be used later when I have other lights as well as a controller.

 

I will of course be looking to improve both my equipment and lighting as I progress, but will have to make do with starting out slowly.

 

Thanks in anticipation of replies, I expect this topic is bit of a a minefield.

 

Eddie.

[EdBray 0]

Down to about £150 now as I have just bought this:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SOURCE-MURCHIELAGO-T...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

I have found a source of the "Broken Swing" lighting unit NEW for £149 including shipping, would this be a good starter combination.

 

Eddie.

[FrankieJ 0]

Hello Buddy

 

If you are just starting out into the world of discos, why dont you buy something like this from Terralec Here there not DMX but for your budget they will keep you going until you pick up some more gigs. Plus they would look good on the 4ft stand.

[ChrisPointon 0]

There is a lot of source equipment going new on ebay for a fraction of it's original price, due to Source Manufacturing going into liquidation some months back, and "The Bat" is an excellent purchase, the expanding / contracting gobos really do make for an original effect, and put it in the same league as the Constella Chamelon 5, but at a fraction of the price!.

 

Also consider the Source Samurai which is an effective and colourful dancefloor filler!

[centrestagediscos 0]

i use a couple of spinmasters and they have "touch wood" never let me down, also got a couple of the bats while one has been fine the other is a bulb eater for some unknown reason.

 

another thing two look at is maybe some mood lighting like the wave effects, flame effects and uv cannons which can make a room look really nice. and are avaliable at great prices i picked up a wave effect and flame off ebay which had been used for about fifty quid and they were both in mint condition.

[EdBray 0]

Looking at a "Source Celebration 250W" on offer at the moment for £104 with all 18 gobos and a flightbag.

 

I cannot find any information about this unit, does anyone have any views on this model and does this seem like a good price?

[Kane 0]

You could save up £150 more and buy yourself a set of acme dynamo party scans

HERE

[spinner 0]

QUOTE (EdBray @ May 13 2006, 11:21 AM)

Looking at a "Source Celebration 250W" on offer at the moment for £104 with all 18 gobos and a flightbag. I cannot find any information about this unit, does anyone have any views on this model and does this seem like a good price?

That's around £40 off list. However the Acme Fiesta is a similar unit and DFB Warehouse have it listed at £79 currently.

[ChrisPointon 0]

The Source Celebration is also available on ebay auctions currently for £52.00, there are also a range of additional gobos for it on ebay too.

[EdBray 0]

Thanks for the thought Chris,

 

Coudn't find any gobos for it and that price is an unfinished auction for the light unit with one gobo plus £12 for postage and no flight bag. Cheapest I could get it for would be £65 if ther were no further bids and with individual gobos costing between £5 and £18 each would be better off paying the £104 all in.

 

But, what I really would like to know, is it any good?

 

Still, it may cease to be an issue as I may well have sorted my lighting problem out by purchasing some secondhand kit from a fellow forum member.

 

 

[ChrisPointon 0]

I don't own a source celebration, so i'd be guessing if I reviewed it http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/smile.gif

 

However, I do own Constella's version, which is known as the Chameleon 3E

 

My own thoughts on these types of event projectors, is the actual quality of the projected gobo. For example, even on a flat surface such as a ceiling, wall or dancefloor it is impossible to get the outer images to focus properly.

 

So if you image the gobo - "Happy Birthday" for example, only the center images seem focused, the outer images are all blurred and hard to read!.

 

Maybe this is just a flaw of the Constella version http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/533.gif , but i've seen gobos on many moonflowers appear exactly the same on the outer edges, so maybe it will apply to other event projectors too.

 

They are still a good purchase in their right, but must admit that I was a little disappointed with the quality since less than half of the images seem to display correctly.

[dj_craigb 0]

First of all my friend welcome to the world of dj'in. When i first started out i was the kind of person who bought 1 of everything. I would now looking back advise against this as ' your show ' will not look symetrical and i personally feel this always looks better. When buying lighting you need to decide what sort of effects you require and then obviously look at your budget.

 

I know people have advise the source samuria etc before but honestly (and it's only my humble opinion) once you split a beam of light onto a prism you loose a lot of the power ( agreed you do get more coverage but dim not bright in larger rooms)

 

With the £150 / £200 my honest opinion for a starter set would be either.

 

2x Stairville

Gobo Flower

 

Stairville Gobo Flower, ELC 24V/250W Inexpensive flowereffect. Sound-controlled via built-in microphone.Microphone-sensitivity adjustable via rotary-control.Ready for connection with safety-plug. For 24 V/250 WELC-lamp. Easy lamp-exchange via service-lid. Ideal formobile use, party-rooms and small discotheques. Plug andPlay. Power supply: 230 V AC, 50 Hz, Power consumption:350 W, Sound-control: via built-in microphone, lampincluded, Dimensions (LxWxH): 310 x 270 x 140 mm, Weight:9 kg, ( Fitting lamp: Art.Nr. 168042 50h or Art.Nr. 168043500h )

Available from www.thomann.de These lights are like the Creshendo from acme 250watt of light very good starter effect

 

1x STAIRVILLE Double Derby

 

 

Stairville Double Derby, two beams are coming out of everycoloured lens and turning around the middle axis throughthe room. Sound To Light control via internal microphone.Including lamps (2x 230V/300W). Dimensions: 410mm x 390mmx 240mm, Weight: 8,6 kgs. Art.Nr. 173723 for lamp 2 x [info] 68.00 EUR

46.92 GBP (Could use this as a center piece for the show)

 

£150 3x lighting effects good little starter show.

 

Whatever you deciede mate hope you find what you want and if you need any advice i'm happy to help.

 

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/042.gif

 

 

[EdBray 0]

Thanks to all who replied to my plea for suggestions. After a couple of telephone calls to various retailers I have ended up with a set of 3 lights (to start with anyway http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif ).

 

Tomorrow I shall be (hopefully) the proud owner of a "Source THE BAT" and 2x "Chauvet Gobo Splash" all with spare bulbs and flight bags.

 

Total outlay was £225 including shipping so I did end up going over my limit a touch, dont tell the wife.

 

So now I have got the basics, I have now just got to find the £1000 a night gig twice a week http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

Seriously though I am looking to set up a private family/friends function for some more practice in a couple of weeks and also hope to tag along with a couple of the members of this forum who have offered help.

 

Eddie.

[Gary 0]

Better late than never.

 

One thing that I'd suggest, and I think that the thread suggestions have gone down this route already is; choose your lighting with no smoke or haze in use.

 

Some lights, especially barrels, flat beam effects, lasers and early moonflowers all offer great mid-air effects, but the image they can offer on a flat surface eg: Wall, floor, ceiling etc, is fairly un-inspiring.

 

Many, many venues wont allow either smoke or haze machines through their doors - both types really can set off smoke alarms.

[Steve_Mitchell 0]

Also check the size of the lamps in the lights. I personally would only buy lights with 250w lamps. You will find cheaper lights have 100-150w lamps.

 

I think datamoons are a great light at a great price.

[EdBray 0]

All of these 3 lights take 250 watt bulbs, the Gobo Splashes are long life type.

[EdBray 0]

Change of plan with the lighting. I decided in the end to buy a couple of bass bins and cut back on the lighting at the moment. I have settled for the minute for "THE BAT" and a STAIRVILLE Double Derby which is an identical spec (and looks identical too) to the Soundlab Valera but was only £46 instead of £70.

 

Any further lighting will have to wait now as I may want to buy another amp before I buy some more lights. Have an option to borrow a couple though http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/smile.gif