120k rig. Worth investing in?

120k rig

  • Yes

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • No

    Votes: 10 90.9%

  • Total voters
    11

GregM

Member
I'm advising my buddy who owns a small production company on lighting and 120k rigs came up. Are they still relevant? Granted I advised adding movers to the rig as well. But we're talking for 40x40 roof systems or the occasional small to medium sized venue. His lighting inventory is incredibly small and I figured a used system would be a good starting point. A majority of the talent that comes through town for shows like this are Motown or rock and roll (80s and 90s) If it were up to me I would go all movers but there's just no budget for it. So, yay or nay? And if so what are some of the favorite gels (brands, numbers, etc) that everyone uses?
 
I'm not sure what a used 120K rig (w/dimmers) is going for these days, but I would suggest instead going for like 16-20 Chauvet R2 Washes, it would be a whole lot of bang for your buck and could cover that size stage, while still allowing for more fun.
 
I voted no, simply because, it depends. Do you have storage for it?, do you have skilled techs for it? do you have rigging for it? But most importantly, do you have WORK for it? I have dozens of lekos in the shop and don't use them much any longer. But I DID use them a lot 2 - 3 years ago. I won't sell them because chances are I'll need them and they don't consume a lot of space. But 120K of pre-rig single hung consumes a lot of space (relatively), plus dimmers, cables, etc. So again, if you can put it to work a lot (and my guess is it will go out mostly in the summer for dirt fests) and make money, that's your answer.
 
Coming from someone in Detroit, there are an awful lot of existing 120k rigs here. You're probably going to have a hard time pricing it at a place where you would make money, if you don't already own it. Send me a PM if you want to talk a little more in depth about it.
 
Lets see, big bulky pre-rigged truss, big heavy dimmer rack, and LOTS of heavy, expensive to replace soco cable. Depends on how cheap you could find a rig, but then again Kanye seems to like a 700k rig.:)
 
I work with many touring acts and I get many 120K plots. Bands like ZZ Top and STYX have ONLY a 120k plot. That's what they want and specify.
There are many benefits to both kinds of rigs and I think it would be unwise to abandon 1/2 of a potential market. LED's are getting better, but the cost of the good fixtures that can get a good 3200K white still needs to drop before you'll see a majority of moving light plots.

Eventually it may go to all moving lights, but not for another 10+ years IMO. If you can get the system cheap, go for it. It'll stay busy and pay for itself in a short time.
 
The entire rig, everything included is $65k. I guess it's a 6-1 half dozen to the other type thing. I would shoot for a hybrid between 120k and movers. Like 10 spot movers and either ACL bars or sharpies.
 
I guess it depends on what kind of and how many dimmers, if there's extras like lekos, audience lights, etc. You can get affordable Sharpie clones by Elation for a decent price.
Quality moving lights like what the big boys tour with can be pretty expensive. Vipers or Mac3's can run about 8 or 9k each. That would eat up a 65k budget quickly. Does he have a console? I've got a MA2 Full size if he even needs to rent one.
You can still find VL3000 Spots used for decent money and they're getting older but they're still relevant. I just hate working on them...
 
http://www.solarisnetwork.com/used/120k-lighting-rig/33078

This is what I was looking at. He has a few lekos for specials and I was considering used movers. Along the lines of Mac 700-2k range or VL 2k-3k range. There's some pretty decent equipment on Solaris network and I'm a sucker for Vari lite's colors. I know it's dated and it will require regular servicing but hey. That gives me a job . And remember. It's a start. I advised to get either an MA2 ultralite/lite or hog4 roadhog/full boar. (I don't want a battle in which console is better. I know the pros and cons of each. Hog holds a special place in my heart)
 
I should add that if he wants to make this jump he needs to have a budget of around 80-90k. A little cushion never hurts. But on the flip side there are a lot of other lighting system I could build for him with LEDs. I'm just looking at the used rig because it's a good start for more or less everything he would need. (Not counting consumable like lamps and gel)
 
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The multicable isn't cut to length. Keep that in mind. It's just a bunch of 100 footers. That can be fixed by cutting and soldering.
Leprecon dimmers are solid and will last for years. I used to be a Hog guy myself and still spec Hog4's on designs when they don't want to spend the money for the MA2's.

I like the VL colors too. Martin has a good red that alot of others don't get. Everything has pluses and minuses.

Another option might be to buy the conventionals and rent the movers as needed. If he buys a good console, it'll be able to handle any movers out there. You're in a good area to get rentals fairly inexpensively.
 
If you do end up going with a 120K rig I would suggest something with more faders than a Hog - most of the guys that spec 120K rigs want an Avo Pearl, in my experience. That's what I see 90% of the time. The Avo Pearl Expert with the Titan software would be a good way to go.

I voted against 120K rigs because of how much of a PITA they are to upkeep and just how much space they take up in the shop and on the truck.
 
If you do end up going with a 120K rig I would suggest something with more faders than a Hog - most of the guys that spec 120K rigs want an Avo Pearl, in my experience. That's what I see 90% of the time. The Avo Pearl Expert with the Titan software would be a good way to go.

I voted against 120K rigs because of how much of a PITA they are to upkeep and just how much space they take up in the shop and on the truck.

I completly agree with u/soundlight on this one. If your controlling 120k and a handful of movers an AVO Pearl is the only way to go. If you don't want to shell out for the expert you can pick up an older pearl cheap. And then down the line when you get more into movers then you could look at upgrading. With the Arena and Sapphire out I wouldn't be that surprised if a lot more experts started showing up on the used market over the next couple of years.
 
I ran two consoles for years. I ran an Avo Sapphire for the pars and a Hog for the movers. When the Hog would "croak", I'd still have the Avo running, and visa-versa.
Now I run wings with an MA2 Light as my main console.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong because I've never seen them before, but are the gel strings kind of the same concept as scroller gels? And thank you for that bit of information.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong because I've never seen them before, but are the gel strings kind of the same concept as scroller gels? And thank you for that bit of information.
Sorry, yes gel strings are the replacement media for scrollers. The rock and roll strings are mostly the most popular colors used for concerts.
Here is a link which has the Rosco name and numbers for Chroma-Q scrollers.
http://www.stagelightingstore.com/Chroma-Q-Plus-Color-Changer-6-Unit-Package?sc=25&category=37365
 
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Yeah, when you consider the total price of going to scrollers, it's about the same as decent LED pars.
 

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