Did I get a good deal?

[garyvp]

I would like to know where you guys get a good condition used 6" Altman fresnel with good wiring, good porcelain socket, color frame, barn doors, cast iron clamp, correct connector, and correct bulb? In NYC used equipment is hard to find cheap. The theater equipment providers get near $100+ for one and usually not equipped the way you like it.

I have had lucky on EBAY and have paid $25 to 50$. Most of the time they have a good porcelain sockets, cast iron clamps, wire, and gel frames. Bulbs work 50% of the time. We have been lucky. I even bought some beat up older units from an honest seller for $15 a piece and then re-wired, re-paint, added new socket and clamp, and a BTL bulb, the all-in cost is about $50. A new Altman is $135 bare-bones.

Fortunately, we now have all the fixtures we need for the kind of shows that we do (9 different shows, 80 lamps to play with). We rebuild about 5 - 10 a year.

[Les]

I picked up 12 65Q's from a high school. It turns out only three are in good condition. The rest need sockets and reflectors. I'm trying to decide if it is worth it. If I come to the conclusion that it is I will probably just end up buying the $50 reflector/socket/whip assembly from Production Advantage and call it a day. Probably will do the 3 good ones too. They work but the insides are old (with the 2-piece reflector dish thing). This on top of spraying them with my favorite Dupli-Color 1200 degree engine enamel, of course AFTER I sand blast the existing brown hammertone paint off - they look like crap because the middle of each fixture has it's paint baked away and is beginning to rust.

All I know is I'm not throwing my shells away. I would one day regret that.

[lieperjp]

We just picked up 10 Old PAR64's with frames from a neighboring college for $20 apiece plus the cost of changing the plug from stage pin to Edison plug so they work on our system. All with new fiberglass shields on the wire. They're steel, so they weigh a lot, and probably could use a new coat of paint, but hey, on top of some new R40 strip lights we increased our theatrical inventory by 20%!!!