| Preferred Mixing Board Light? is being discussed in the ControlBooth Sound, Music, and Intercom forum; I've only ever seen Littlelite. Are there any other brands? More out of curiosity than anything. I always thought it'd ... |


Littlelite makes LED versions of all their products and they are fantastic.
Matthew Haber
Visualist and Designer
www.matthewhaber.com


Kyle Van Sandt
Production Coordinator
The Egg
Van Sandt Designs
"Pull rope, push box, push button, get a banana."

We use a black light. We can light up exactly what we need to and it's not hot or bright. Perfect for our little theatre.
www.theatrexchange.factplayers.org

Ditto Littlelite. Only thing is I have had problems with the o-rings disintegrating. I also think the reflector/hood is too stiff to move/remove (also damaging the o-rings).
Elsewhere around the booth, we have a variety of small task lights (none of which are Littlelite, actually). My favorites are old Hamilton Industries HC-18 task lights that use what looks like an automotive tail light lamp (number 93 IIRC). You can see most of one in the attached picture.
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Last edited by Nelson; October 7th, 2011 at 01:45 PM. Reason: Added brand/model of task light

I don't even own any Littlelites. They're too expensive for what you get. Check this out:
http://www.music123.com/Accessories/...4000001000.sku
I have a bunch of these and I swear by them. They come with a wall transformer but will work with AAA batteries too. You can also buy little magnetic bases.
http://www.music123.com/Accessories/...6000001000.sku
I use them for lighting scripts, sound & light boards, work lights, prop table lights, stair lights for scenery, etc. I love 'em. Music123 will try to beat others on the price. I think I paid about $25 each for mine.
The company also has other lights. Their site is:
http://www.mightybright.com/
Last edited by DrPinto; September 29th, 2011 at 03:10 PM.
ack (September 29th, 2011)

Being from Michigan, I like the fact that Littlelites are Michigan made!
gafftapegreenia (September 29th, 2011)

Those are very popular in guitar tech land... nearly every work box that comes through has those.
Kyle Van Sandt
Production Coordinator
The Egg
Van Sandt Designs
"Pull rope, push box, push button, get a banana."

Littlelites all the way. Every console gets at least one.

I've tried brand-name Littlelites, but they broke way too often for their price (connector at base, O-ring holding shield on). Now I just get knockoff ones, they break a bit more than the Littlelites but at 50% the cost.
For everything else that doesn't have on-board light connectors, I just use flex-neck USB lights (my Palette has a very conveniently placed USB port for this use).
And for notes & scripts, I borrow one of the music stand lights and hook it up to an X10 dimmer. It gives a much softer and warmer light than an LED, plus it easily covers the entire page unlike some LED ones that light up one 5cm-radius area at a time.
cat /dev/urandom > /dev/tty.dmx-out

I can see why. They're a big selling item at Guitar Center.
The last time I used the Mighty Bright lights, the tech people that were doing the video for our event were drooling over them.
If you're buying them, just to be sure to get the model called Mighty Bright Duet 2. They have the brighter LEDs, the wall transformer, and the improved switches.

DIY...
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Even better, IMHO, than the Mighty Bright Duet 2 is the Mighty Bright Orchestra light. I can light up an entire good sized light board with one or large amounts of paperwork. It is pretty easy to attach some blue gel to it too if need be. Slightly more expensive than their other models but none are particularly expensive if you get them online. Amazon was the cheapest I found several months ago when I got mine.
Matthew Haber
Visualist and Designer
www.matthewhaber.com


Saw these in the Ikea catalogue the other day:
JANSJÖ Work lamp - IKEA
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80169636/
$10 and $15 each, respectively.
Here is a thread in which we talked about using a USB LED gooseneck lamp and a USB wall-wart as an imitation Littlite.
One must first know and understand the rules of theatre before one can break them.

I named it the NLR (Nim Light Rod...) and there was a thread all about it some time ago on another forum (Blue Room) but I can't find it...
So, basically this light uses tow sections of a LED strip (side emitting), works off 12VDC and attaches to the console by a magnetic base.
The bar/light angle is adjustable at the bar's support brackets pivots, as well as at the magnetic base.
Some more pictures...
The NLR in the light:
Rotated back when not used:
Close-up of one side:
Closer up at the bracket pivot:
The magnetic spring base/holder:
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Last edited by N.Webber; October 5th, 2011 at 06:06 AM.

Now THAT is cool! Construction appears to be far superior to that of many commercial lights.