Vintage Lighting They want an upgrade not more old gear

[Les]

@jtweigandt, sounds like you're going about it in an intelligent way! I think part of what @ship is lamenting, and what I've also observed in some situations, is one fixture taking the place of several because they technically can but sometimes shouldn't, such as a facility replacing pars and fresnels with one type of LED wash. Or, replacing 30 front lights/2 fixtures per area with 15 fixtures at 90°. Most of it probably comes down to budget. If I went with LED front lights, I could actually do three points (budget permitting; spoiler alert: it won't) since I would no longer be constrained by dimming capacity! Of course, there is more than one way to light a stage and many designers swear by 90° front lights. Who am I to say?

I don't think LED technology stifles the art in any way and in almost all cases elevates what can be done. But there is a learning curve that a lot of my local spaces are experiencing; and of course there is the age-old problem of money - spaces wanting to go all-LED but can only afford half of what they could in conventional stock, so they compromise.

 

[ship]

I have a stash of BTH, HPR, 100w halogen A-19 lamps for strips, and a lot of other legacy lamps going back to the Indi 575' in stock as per a "Don's Bulbs" source now out of business in difficult to find lamps. Off line for contact source in not doing business on-line and also not thru me.

Found out all of our scoops are going away... all three Altman versions I suspect. That's a shame I suspect - never been anything better with photo flash lamp than a scoop for lightning. But it follows 20 years of getting rid of stuff, than perhaps it comes back. Years ago we sold off most all our PAR 64 stock at huge cheap prices, with lamp when the S-4 PAR came out... than we got the WWE account and had to new buy hundreds of them. Even now, we were to recycle more PAR 64 cans, but suddenly had to pull them for a tour. The beam projector really came back in the mid-2000's and every tour wanted them. A shame we got rid of them, but luckily one of our manager's stored them in his garage, they got rented back for use as with buying more. We bought back than R&V high output beam projectors (I later saved from de-listed from inventory), and put to use all the Altmans we could find that year.

A few months ago the PAR 64 flashlight I made for a tour... they wanted to use it again. Luckily one of my assistants took those fixtures home or I would have to re-invent. But they wanted LED PAR 64. There is no real replacement at this point in LED to 1KW verry narrow spot lamp, but did spend a few hundred dollars in getting a high color temperature LED 500w equivolent version so as to trick the eye... Took some experientation for a viable... belive they went back to halogen lamp for the tour.

This year so far it seems like at least two tours want the Shadow Light fixture I invented with weeks notice for a David Byrn tour many years ago. I remember during an install in Peoria, flipping thru the TV channels and came up was video of his show. This was a light I invented doing the primary lighting for, a few of his songs being shown.... that was kind of cool.

This week I had to invent a gel frame and barn door assembly to the fixture for a tour fairly sure they will use it. Late today, another tour potentially wants 12 of them by Spring. I tried to sell them on the R&V beam projectors, or even my stock of 1.2KW PAR 64 lamps, but no go.

On 8" barn doors needed for the show... Believe I saw a pallet of them recycled during or pre-pandamic. Luckily I found one in a small stash of them remaining given the pallet of gear removed from my department during the Pandemic purge... got recycled. On the pallet was rotary dimmers and odd barn doors amongst other stuff purged. Don't know how many still exist of the 8" barn door, but last Spring an Accoutment Manager was needing them for a tour... they didn't exist in our system and nobody was making them... had to rent. Interesting in discussion abut the pallets of 8" tophats and half top hats. I noted this barndoor problem to the Account Manager that was on the tour of Purging gear, given a too much stock issue. I warned him to check if anyone is still making such things before recycling them.

While I have purged thosands of dollars of moving light lamps over the past couple of years, I am for the most part left alone in lamps. Four pallets of PAR 30 thru PAR 64 500w lamps purgeed they sit on resale pallets... Not my active stock or storage.

 

[derekleffew]

Found out all of our scoops are going away... all three Altman versions I suspect. That's a shame I suspect - never been anything better with photo flash lamp than a scoop for lightning. But it follows 20 years of getting rid of stuff, than perhaps it comes back.

You'll be making more out of stainless steel salad bowls before you know it. SkyPan ScmyPan.

 

[ship]

Thanks, I remember that project... that was early in LED neon. 659w DWE Audience blinder center with LED neon tape wrapped around the edges of the salid bowls. No not that yet, but a oh' by the way, a tour wanting some LED podiums stands for keyboards one of my assistants is doing.. In this case, getting a designer choice sucky neon digital solution, might also want to light a microphone stand.

Takes me back a few years, but I have all the tap and dies needed to convert polycarbonate tubing into a microphone stand, and COB LED's these days. As with the podiums, I doubt they will want something more over the top in what is presented that we can do.