Solutions For Mounting And Lights

[SiWatts69]

One or two of us have posted our solutions for stage space saving mounting options. These postings have often been as part of an existing topic that has no relationship to mounting solutions.

 

So, I'm creating this topic as a central point of reference in the vain hop that it might give others ideas about how to tackle the nightmare that is rigging up a small (or large!) stage where a multitude of lighting and speaker stands are inappropriate.

 

Background:

I have;

2x L3s

2x L3m

2x L2m (used for monitors)

 

I then have lighting:

4x Chauvet COREbar 4's

8x ADJ Mega TriPar mounted (4 onto each) on K&M cross bars

8x other standalone effects lights

 

The problem we most of us face is being able to adequately mount all our speakers (at optimum heights) and rig up a stage lighting rig without using up so much stage space that there's nowhere left for the band to stand!

 

I'll say that my "setup" is evolving but here's where I stand today...

 

L3s are laid flat revealing the twin 20mm screw thread pole mounts.

Into the outer pole mount, I insert a K&M 21367 Distance Rod »Ring Lock« http://produkte.k-m.de/en/Speakerlighting-and-monitor-stands-and-holders/Distance-and-extension-rods/21367-Distance-Rod-Ring-Lock-black which is then used to mount an L3m

Into the inner pole mount, I insert a K&M 21347 DISTANCE ROD http://produkte.k-m.de/en/Speakerlighting-and-monitor-stands-and-holders/Distance-and-extension-rods/21347-DISTANCE-ROD-black which is then topped with a K&M 213/3 Extension Rod to get me to nearly 2.9m from floor level. This is used to mount lights

 

 

In the above picture, I've mounted the K&M t-bar 21393 CROSSBAR http://produkte.k-m.de/en/Speakerlighting-and-monitor-stands-and-holders/Lighting-stands-accessories/21393-CROSSBAR-black direct to the top.

 

A suggestion from litesnsirens and taken up by Digital-sound got me thinking and I've spent this morning building a mod for the top of my L3m's that enables the carrying of a small t-bar which I'll use for small moonflowers, lasers and gobos.

 

 

I started by getting four squares of plywood and glued two together to get me to 24mm thickness.

Extract the two cross head bolts from the top of the L3m (also on L2 cabinets). These are the suspension eye points.

Make two countersunk 10mm holes in your squares (note I made my square a little big and had to take a couple of corners off for them to drop in) and a 37mm hole in the centre.

Mount the square blocks to the top of the L3m by reinserting the two bolts you took out.

Now mount a 20mm speaker pole connector plate onto your wooden blocks. I've used a K&M 24116 CONNECTOR PLATE http://produkte.k-m.de/en/Speakerlighting-and-monitor-stands-and-holders/Distance-and-extension-rods/24116-CONNECTOR-PLATE-black The 37mm hole in the blocks is for the back of the connector plate to drop in to.

You now have a 20mm speaker pole mount tucked away neatly into the recessed panel at the top of your L3m (or L2m).

I bought a pair of the short and long Line6 poles and these thread straight in and voila, I can now mount a short (800mm) t-bar direct to the top of my L3m's! As the poles are 35mm, you can use any 35mm compatible t-bar or as I have, a 35mm union with bolt to take the box section bars.

 

For added flexibility (because my Chauvet COREbars only have a 28mm mount), I also have a pair of K&M 24521 REDUCER FLANGE mounts http://produkte.k-m.de/en/Speakerlighting-and-monitor-stands-and-holders/Lighting-stands-accessories/24521-REDUCER-FLANGE-black-M10-x-12-mm which accept a 28mm TV-pin K&M 24519 TV PIN http://produkte.k-m.de/en/Speakerlighting-and-monitor-stands-and-holders/Lighting-stands-accessories/24519-TV-PIN-zinc-plated such that I have full flexibility to mount any of the lights wherever best suits the venue, the final piece of the puzzle being a set of American Audio light stands that have a 28mm top pole.

[scotterp]

Stealing from litesnsirens and digital-sound, I incorporated a pole mount into the top of my L3t's so that they could hold my Chauvet Colorstrip Minis. Very lightweight and they take up no additional room really. Just have to make sure that the ceilings are high enough.

 

I did have to modify the pole mount slightly to get the holes to align with the fly mount holes in the speakers. The pole mounts are made of hard plastic, so a Dremmel work well to drill out some of the mount for best alignment. I wasn't comfortable using just one screw to hold it in place, although it most likely could have. I'm sure that I did not alter the integrity of the pole mount much at all.

[SiWatts69]

Those mounts are pretty elegant and the simplest method to do what we've done.

 

The main reasons I didn't opt for that as a solution are:

The mount stands proud of the top of the speaker so I figured it might damage the Line6 bags if my compatriates didn't load the speker into the bag the right way up.

and

by utilising a threaded pole mount, I can use existing gear and it all be interchangeable.

 

Some comments I forgot to make in my first post...

 

Line6 DO NOT RECOMMEND A POLE GREATER THAN 24" (the Line6 long pole). My K&M poles are all longer than the recommended Line6 poles (though I do now have a set of them too!)

Doing anything like what I've done is "at your own risk"

Equally, when loading lighting bars/ mounts etc in this way, please ensure they are well balanced to avoid any stress off-axis on the threaded mounts on your L3s's. If you off axis load your bars too much, you stand a significant risk of the mount pulling free of the L3s and the whole lot toppling over onto some poor unsuspecting audience or band member. Certainly DON'T do it if you are not on a level solid floor. Additionally, the longer the poles you mount, the more risk from someone bumping in to them and again the mounts coming free.

[scotterp]

All good points SiWatts69, especially the disclaimer section!

 

I don't have the L6 bags so that's not an issue for me. I'm contemplating hard cases for them eventually.

 

My choice of hardware also took into account my current gear so that I could potentially interchange other light fixtures that I have if I ever wanted to.

[tinorios]

One or two of us have posted our solutions for stage space saving mounting options. These postings have often been as part of an existing topic that has no relationship to mounting solutions.

 

So, I'm creating this topic as a central point of reference in the vain hop that it might give others ideas about how to tackle the nightmare that is rigging up a small (or large!) stage where a multitude of lighting and speaker stands are inappropriate.

 

 

 

Awesome topic and suggestions, Si.

 

You are still my hero!

[SiWatts69]

My choice of hardware also took into account my current gear so that I could potentially interchange other light fixtures that I have if I ever wanted to.

If anyone is looking for the mounts used by Digital-sound, scotterp and litesnsirens, do a google search for "external top hat".

 

We're gigging a wedding on Monday and it will be with all my lighting revisions in place BUT in a venue with a relatively low ceiling. I'll try to get some pictures of the full lighting setup in relation to what I've described above.

[Digital-sound]

Awesome post. I will get some pics of my setup this week.

[SiWatts69]

As promised... the new top of L3m mod was rolled out this weekend for a wedding.

Room was an ok'ish sort of size, but with a really low ceiling and cross girders which descended down trapping sound and light, but managed to run everything as I intended. It'll work better with more ceiling height so the main stage floods don't interfere with the cross bar mounted to the L3m's

 

[bassman24]

Never really thought about lightning for our combo.... but if I ever consider to buy some lightning for our shows I now have defenately some ideas to with. But until now I don´t think this will make much sense for our acoustic combo. Most of the time we have sufficient lightning in the venues we play (most of some bars around our area). We just had to play one wedding-eve party without lightning over the last 3 years, so... 

 

Nevertheless as being just an average IT nerd I was thinking about how I could utilize a kind of pico projector with batteries for our shows. Maybe just to show a picture of our band logo.  Or maybe project little videos over the whole band (e.g. a space flight while playing space oddity or something like this). The projector could then also be placed on top of a speaker and being pointed at the wall behind the band. But on the other hand I don´t know if a pico projector will bring the desired effect if you take in account that these little gadgets don´t have phenomenal brightness...

[SiWatts69]

The light slung from the right of the L3m is an ADJ Gobo Projector LED. About £99 (UK money)

It comes with a small number of gobos included... this being one;

I've 2 of them and had a "custom" gobo made up through GoboPlus for the band logo;

(camera didn't do this one any favours as it decided to set the flash off!)

[scotterp]

That's quite an elaborate light setup SiWatts! Impressive indeed.

[SiWatts69]

Thanks scotterp. If truth be told, the chances are I'll not run all of it out for most of our gigs, likely just the corebar fixtures mounted on the second L3s pole with one or both of the gobo projectors to push the logo out. But this most recent gig was useful to check that all my inventory played well together and it did what I wanted, which was to minimise on-stage clutter. The simpler FX lights are great on their own, but too many all running together and the light show turns a bit weird. Just need to get some DMX switchpaks to be able to turn them off selectively!

 

Setup was quite time conduming but I was genuinely surprised how quick we packed down... 45 minutes with everything loaded into the correct storage bags and all of it (pa and lights with the exception of the 2 L2m's and the M20d) loaded into my car. Started pack down at 10 past midnight and I was on my way before 1am. As the rest of the band learn where stuff belongs, we'll get considerably quicker.

 

bassman24... I was intrigued by your pico projector idea!

[SiWatts69]

Stealing from litesnsirens and digital-sound, I incorporated a pole mount into the top of my L3t's so that they could hold my Chauvet Colorstrip Minis. Very lightweight and they take up no additional room really. Just have to make sure that the ceilings are high enough.

Just as a sidenote scotterp... taking up probably less room than your chauvet minis but 2-3 times the light output, have you looked at the American DJ Dotz 1.4's? 4x 9watt cob leds in a unit approx. 13. 5†x 5.75†x 5.75â€/ 340 x 140 x 140mm. and with a doughty 35mm adapter would drop straight on to your existing short top mounted poles. These new COB LED fixtures give a less aggressive colour wash and much smoother colour transitions. Gotta say, I'm eyeing up a pair for my arsenal!

[scotterp]

Just as a sidenote scotterp... taking up probably less room than your chauvet minis but 2-3 times the light output, have you looked at the American DJ Dotz 1.4's? 4x 9watt cob leds in a unit approx. 13. 5†x 5.75†x 5.75â€/ 340 x 140 x 140mm. and with a doughty 35mm adapter would drop straight on to your existing short top mounted poles. These new COB LED fixtures give a less aggressive colour wash and much smoother colour transitions. Gotta say, I'm eyeing up a pair for my arsenal!

 

Well now you've done it! Something else to add to my list. I currently aim the minis at the band to provide some front lighting. They aren't as bright as other lighting options, but also not as blinding! 

 

These Dotz do intrigue me though. Thanks for the info!

[line6jonb]

Very cool and well done guys.  You both look like you're definitely bringing the party.  Keep it up and thanks for the pictures.

 

Just FYI, if you plan on 'flying' or hanging the StageSource speakers, we always recommend using the Eyebolt Suspension Kit that you can find here: 

 

https://www.globalfulfillment.net/gfsnet/line6/10Expand.aspx?ProductCode=98-037-0005

 

And ALWAYS be sure to contact a rigging professional.  Thanks again for the pics!

[SiWatts69]

Just one last picture then for the full "balance"