Hi MikeJ:
Philip Watson here, former CEO for
ChamSys USA. We've been distributing
ChamSys Consoles in the USA since late 2012., and providing support and service. I'm moving forward with Chauvet, so for all those on this forum - I'm still reachable and read a lot here. Same numbers same emails.
[email protected] 772-410-5762
If you need some places to rent full size
ChamSys desks - get in touch I will be happy to introduce you to our rental partners in the USA. Hope you can check out the new MQ500 - we had two at
USITT 2 weeks ago, were there with our own booth and had consoles on booths across the show floor and for free training.
One area we have not excelled in is marketing. That's going to change.
Phil, thanks for the reply. I am excited to see Chauvet and
Chamsys together. I have in more recent years become a big proponent of Chauvet Products, when they really started to hone in their quality control, user interfaces, and
build quality. Having commonly used fixtures from most major manufacturers, I have seen the transition from Chauvet being mediocre a best, to actually beating performance, quality, and reliability of other companies products, and at a lower price.
My
point about not being able to find consoles was exactly the
point you made. I have had trouble trying to source a
console MQ-2/300 for A-Level act(s), who commonly tour and/or are from Europe just a year or two ago. Obviously, if LD's for A-Level artists are using
Chamsys all over Europe, it is a very nice
platform, however, popularity and distribution in the US was lacking. I hope this acquisition gives people more options, and gives me the ability to actually get the
console that a band NEEDS on a fly date. I must say, that offering your software for free WITH
artnet output, has created a lot of users who love the
platform, but cannot yet afford a
console. (probably why
Martin copied you and offers 4 universes free now). I run into a bunch of young kids who can operate
MagicQ because it was made available to them, and they could do amazing things with limited club/bar rigs because of it. Now that is good marketing and building a user
base. The users are out there, they just need the access to the consoles.
Lets
face it, MA is king. I cannot even find a Hog 3 in my market, much less a Hog 4. There are plenty of
ETC desks in the theater market, though. In its
current state,
Chamsys will never be an MA2 replacement, but it would be nice to have
Chamsys as a reasonably priced and full-featured
desk in this market, and with future improvements, it could potentially be a big player, especially by establishing brand loyalty early, maybe with a company that sells high-quality gear at affordable prices, like Chauvet.
FWIW, in the Rock and
Roll touring market I probably see more
Chamsys, than Hog's, but that is a tiny fraction of the MA2 dominated market. (I saw a
Jands vista once in the last 4 years).
Good Luck. As much as I hate learning new thing, I hope
Chamsys is I
console I will NEED to know in the near future.
Philips acquired VL almost 10 years ago,(I remember joking about getting a free coffee maker with the 
