Old Gear

[stantonsound]

Ok....Let's say that you have a store room full of old scoops, or Altman 6x9's, or whatever. What do you do with it? There is ebay, online used gear sites (usedlighting.com, solarisnetwork.com, etc...), craigslist, and more. What works for you, or do you just keep it until it becomes an antique and sell it to a museum?

From the look of most storerooms, most theatres keep their gear until it rusts to extinction and the ghosts of Christmas past come and take it away.

[PadawanGeek]

I would sell it on a used gear site

[icewolf08]

Originally Posted by PadawanGeek

I would sell it on a used gear site

Try all of the above. Some people sell, some people ebay. I had a bunch of old gear that I just told my local supply shop I had. They didn't want to deal with it, but when someone came in looking for cheap working gear, they were directed to call me. It worked out great. Lots of options.

[Footer]

A lot of places, thats harder then it sounds. First, theatre people are pack rats by nature... you never know what you will need on the next show... I like to keep around a few kliegels to use as set dressing for those "show in a show" shows. Also, enless you are totally getting rid of an inventory of one fixture, you have to keep skeletons around to pull parts from.

I have sold some stuff on ebay when I can, but ebay is a hard place to sell huge lots of stuff. Solaris is pretty good. Most of the time however that I have bought used stuff or sold used stuff, its either from a rental house or another theatre, and I usually sell to other theatres in the area or sell to a local school. Board members/management types are much easier persuaded to sell local and "help out someone else" and from that cash buy half the stuff that you had before at a better quality. Management never likes getting rid of gear, half the time the really old stuff simply has to walk away on its own because if you tell anyone your getting rid of it they will raise all hell. If your at a larger place that maintains a large inventory, its easier to get rid of old stuff, but most small theatres hold onto stuff until it rusts and falls apart.

My all time favorite is telling them they need to buy new cable because the old stuff has corroded. They simply don't get it.

[drawstuf99]

Community theatre are always looking for cheap, usable gear...as you know

Seriously though, even if your instruments are a bit on the 'old side,' there are many community theatres anywhere willing to purchase stuff for a cheap price if willing. Get a tax write-off while you're at it.

I know one of our local theatres bought a hell of a lot of lights from Off Tryon when it closed--they weren't the best lights of the market, but they work and they're usable.

Online, too, is good. But I've always liked the idea of keeping things local anyway just to know you did something nice and helped people out. Plus, you'll get some money and they probably aren't being used if they're in a closet anyway.

[avkid]

Originally Posted by drawstuf99

Community theatre are always looking for cheap, usable gear...as you know
Seriously though, even if your instruments are a bit on the 'old side,' there are many community theatres anywhere willing to purchase stuff for a cheap price if willing.

A good part of our inventory came from a theatre that had an electrical fire. The founding light guy paid almost nothing for them, and kept them in his barn for years.

[avkid]

Don't forget the PSW Lab Marketplace:
http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/f/14/10203/

[PyroGoBooooom]

Amen to being a packrat by nature! I can't tell you the number of times having spare parts, regardless of how old, helped. A few places still believe in running antique lights, and having a dozen or so sure helped when they were looking for parts.

[avkid]

Originally Posted by PyroGoBooooom

A few places still believe in running antique lights

You should come see the pair of 1950's Mole-Richardson fresnels in the storage room.

[ship]

As of Monday I’m donating to my local theater two 33gal. trash cans full of around 1,500' of my own cable 14/3 to 12/3 type SO cable. This mostly in short lengths they can use, and without even a tax write off on my part. They can use the upgrade in getting beyond what for them is seemingly decent if black 16/3 SJT cable and sitting in my garage isn’t serving a purpose.

Sold off my 3.5Q5 Lekos for much the same reason - they were mine, yet not helping things sitting in my garage given I don’t have time to do shows in using them. Just traded two 10" scoops for the antique Ovalite out of the same concept. About to trade part of the second half of payment for the Lekos and dimmers I sold off for their antique box spots in bringing me up to a dozen of that type of fixture in various type. Such settles accounts and I have ideas on low voltage lighting and “Go Fres” solutions to the old box spots in giving them a new use other than rusting away in a basement - thus properly taking care of them. This however is given very much obsolete fixtures in a theater space where at least as a concept, even the radial Lekos are of use if they design with them properly. Fairly rare such fixtures get used, but they are still on the painting pallet and ready to use none the less. Wouldn't we all just love a surplus of fixtures to design with.

Concept for them being that they have something like eight or twelve Shakespeare fixtures, all seven of my 3.5Q5 fixtures that match or better the output of the Shakespeare given HPR lamps verses GLA lamps used in the Shakespeares’, some Colortran Mini-Ellipses that are crappy but still used since they are in theory modern, a bunch of 360Q’s and even more still ancient 360's and Century 4.5x6 fixtures all recently upgraded to safe condition. It’s with the 60+ 6" Fresnels, two 10" scoops, two 16" scoops, various PAR and MR-16 cyc lights - like ten banks of them, more fixtures for a paint brush to the designers than any community at best 40' wide black box concept theater has business in having.

IN a box at work I have another one or two dozen Beckley and other versions different than the Altman 65Q shape of Fresnel waiting for upgrade to safe condition. The theater has no need of them. Were it not for safety, they could easily sell such fixtures off this given them not waiting for me to at least make them safe “as is” in no asbestos, if not proper safe in being re-wired for the cost of parts to them but operating conditon.

Cannot sell fixtures if a responsible person that could be unsafe for the end user of them. Given I now have responsibility of these fixtures, they will neither go back into service, or be sold off until factory safe or better in conditon.

Don’t care about the E-Bay world, my name assocatiated with something that could injure or kill either stays in my area or doesn’t exist. Would rather trash what’s not safe than potentially risk some well meaning person using gear they don’t know how to handle.

That gear in the closet I would bring up to current standards were it me. Than either keep it as supplemtal inventory, or retail away to a good home. This be it by the net or to some needy local group that needs help. I often donate to those that need help but also track what they do with the help given for future help provided or not. Once I provide a leg up to some company that’s struggling, I had at best better see overall improvement and proper use or it’s the end of such support.

Trash, na. Letting it rust away in a basement... not if you are a proper tech person - you will find the time to maintain all the gear within your inventory for the day that it’s used or necessary. Never know, might get a retro designer that needs to have a certain piece of gear you have lovingly maintained over the years or as if supplemental to it, that you can field in a working proper condition with the rest of the gear. Lights are lights, doesn’t matter how old or un-used, all are to be care takered both for use and or for resale if that’s the option.

Best way to impress the board is to not just impress them by skill and ability but by way of no matter what is being used, it’s all cared for and in working condition. You make your warnings about funds spent at times to upgrade and care for such outdated gear, but in the end if replaced or not, all gear you supervise is cared for and in serviceable and safe condition. Gear walking away is also an affront to your ability to manage what’s under your supervision. First you take such gear permanently out of the active inventory, than it’s demise or storage is within question. Only with permission does gear slip between the serviceable active stock and that which could be trashed, sold off or just given away.

They still don’t get it in bad cable lacks the concepts in education of why they don’t get it. Those that get it, understand and trust your observation and reasoning. Short of them understanding your observations, stuff you declare as one thing or another relies upon a half trust of your ability in being cost effective verses knowing what you are doing in costing money. Believe me, even if correct, if the bean counters don’t have absolute faith in you by way of understanding what you are doing, you are on the chopping block before suspicious cable that is not understood to be bad. Have a comptroller where I work.. He gives me a hard time at times or most of the time, yet where important as with all my boss’s they trust in what I do, and at no point do I other than earn or ensure they know why I do what I do. Freedom to act only follows ensuring such freedom comes after being on the same page as those trusting in you.

These days if I want to delete a cable from the inventory due to dry rot say, my boss in after years of me consulting him about it knows and trusts my observation. It than is not questioned. Should I have started this practice without permission years ago, I would no doubt be working elsewhere. This much less if I gave away fixtures or made stuff go away without such an understanding and consultation. Cover your rear, it’s all you have in making a career.

Beyond this, you are charged to care for what you have on hand. This by way of maintaining in ready to use servicable condition what you supervise, or making sure what you have goes to a good home while in safe condition - this dependant upon the need what profit or not you make from what you as a generational care taker of the theater gear you are responsible for.

To a good home, and or ready to use.

Hate to bring back up a military or priesthood refrence but it's a calling that of a true tech peson. What you do with the gear in the end is for the best of the gear, but in the mean time you are responsible for it. In the past I was was respnsible for a .50 Cal. Machine gun that dated back to before WWII in making. It still operated as per sepecification and would always under my care. That's my generation past and future generations in caring for one old gun that it could or would last as long and function as designed.