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Thread: Gravity " Lighting" stands. Size matters.

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    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
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    Default Gravity " Lighting" stands. Size matters.

    On the recommendation of a colleague, I went off to Gear4music to buy a Gravity stand, in order to allow me to use my Gobo projector without the overhead. When I arrived, after a bit of discussion, it became clear that the more expensive model with three mounting holes would be of more use, and that being 35mm diameter I could also put my little RCF cabs on them for certain awkward gigs/crowds.

    So, I bought a pair, at a decent enough price, and headed off to use them at a wedding. I was surprised and annoyed to find that a 35mm laptop stand fitting I owned wouldn't fit the poles, which was a shame. Never mind, they did what I wanted, so a good trial run. Andy Neen was good enough to post me some 35mm top hats for the poles, and then the solids hit the air conditioning!!

    Nothing at all fitted the gravity poles. Top hats, brackets, and worst of all, speakers. Cue a trip off to Gear4music with a van full of kit, and a less than helpful gent on the front desk. After explaining that I didn't want to return them, I merely wanted something that was the advertised size, I was passed to the warehouse desk.

    Absolute star on that desk. What a man. Once I'd explained the problem, out came the tape measure, and off he went. Seemingly, the poles for the cheaper base were the correct size, as we hit the jackpot first time, with a genuine 35mm pole. Sadly, he then had to search through the rest of the stock to find another one even close to 35mm, which he eventually did.

    Interestingly, despite the poles being advertised as 35mm, and their own top hats 36mm, the Gravity top hats wouldn't fit the stands I had brought back!! Get a micrometer, Gravity.

    Has anyone else found this? Seems my colleague ( who shall remain nameless ) knew this, and advised fitting couplings with a hammer. Stupid boy.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

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    Imagine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    Seems my colleague ( who shall remain nameless ) knew this, and advised fitting couplings with a hammer. Stupid boy.
    Erm....I think you'll find I said I had to get the couplings OFF with a hammer - please listen properly old chap

    Oh bugger.....I'm not nameless anymore

    I gave up on top hats for Gravity sticks a while back in favour of half-couplers. They work for what I need (I know.....you're sticking speakers on top and need the 35mm diameter so slightly different case). They're still by far the best option out there at the moment though unless you're into overhead bars.

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    I use gravity lighting poles with bases & find their own top hats fit fine. The bases I have are the ones with just the single threaded hole, not the offset version if that helps any. Both are m22 thread though I believe.

    Getting the gravity top hats on & off is a breeze.. No hammer needed. The upper sections of the poles are definitely 35mm outside diameter.

    I use my poles with my mini tbars.. These are gravity top hats with an m10 hole on top, into which a global truss 32-35mm half coupler gets screwed securely and a 32mm diameter aluminium tube goes into the coupler to give me my tbar. Very elegant but alas much more costly than an ordinary tbar.

    FYI top hats are SF 36 M10 F
    Stands are LS 331B
    Last edited by Nakatomi; 06-07-2019 at 05:23 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nakatomi View Post
    I use gravity lighting poles with bases & find their own top hats fit fine. The bases I have are the ones with just the single threaded hole, not the offset version if that helps any. Both are m22 thread though I believe.

    Getting the gravity top hats on & off is a breeze.. No hammer needed. The upper sections of the poles are definitely 35mm outside diameter.

    I use my poles with my mini tbars.. These are gravity top hats with an m10 hole on top, into which a global truss 32-35mm half coupler gets screwed securely and a 32mm diameter aluminium tube goes into the coupler to give me my tbar. Very elegant but alas much more costly than an ordinary tbar.

    FYI top hats are SF 36 M10 F
    Stands are LS 331B
    Let's just say I beg to differ, Justin. My gravity top hats wouldn't even attempt to fit the poles. Not even close.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    Let's just say I beg to differ, Justin. My gravity top hats wouldn't even attempt to fit the poles. Not even close.
    Sad that you've not managed to get a good fit but I swear all my stuff is just bog-standard Gravity kit. I wonder what they've done.. maybe this is one for their tech support team Peter

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nakatomi View Post
    Sad that you've not managed to get a good fit but I swear all my stuff is just bog-standard Gravity kit. I wonder what they've done.. maybe this is one for their tech support team Peter
    Right, to put a more reasoned reply to this, now that I've calmed down to simmer, after the chaos of a normal weekend in the life of a DJ. Your remark that you've got the single hole plate is relevant, Justin. Simple souls like myself would assume that there is only one upright, and two base plates, and someone does a pic'n'mix to send the relevant items. Apparently that would be too simple, and poles and bases are assigned to each other before shipping.

    Thus, it is conceivable that there could be differences. Certainly, the first replacement pole I was brought from a single base was perfect in every respect. After that, the poor lad tried every pole left in the shop, until he found one close to the right size. It seems to me that quality control there is non existent, and if I get the third one I'm contemplating, I can assure I will simply take the angle grinder to it, and give it some metal paint afterwards to cover the damage.

    I've got to say, I'm already loving them, and can see many uses for them. Saturday saw one as a lighting gantry for the bar!!
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

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    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    I've got to say, I'm already loving them, and can see many uses for them. Saturday saw one as a lighting gantry for the bar!!
    They are indeed, the best thing to happen to lighting for a long time.

    BUT - I feel they're missing a trick or two sadly. Where are the white or chrome versions?

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    I thought it'd be prudent to test a new rig idea before putting it out on the road last week...

    My bright idea was to use 2 gravity poles & bases with my now ancient ultimax ladder truss. I can't remember what the actual length of the truss is - it might be 2.5m. I borrowed the 2 top hats from my mini tbars & set about rigging it all up.

    Well, once I had 2 big led pars & 4 gesture spots on it, at working height it certainly looked the part but... On my patio, which is more level than some venue floors I've encountered , there was way too much wobbling once the movers were doing their stuff. The whole getup was significantly lower than the maximum load capacity of even a single stand but the end result was definitely something I wouldn't bet my PLI on. Very disappointing. I substituted the gravity poles & bases for tripods.. Lo & behold it was all solid as a rock.

    Conclusion: gravity lighting stands aren't much cop for wide loads. I'm happy to keep putting them out with my short tbars on but anything wider than their base... No way!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nakatomi View Post
    I thought it'd be prudent to test a new rig idea before putting it out on the road last week...

    My bright idea was to use 2 gravity poles & bases with my now ancient ultimax ladder truss. I can't remember what the actual length of the truss is - it might be 2.5m. I borrowed the 2 top hats from my mini tbars & set about rigging it all up.

    Well, once I had 2 big led pars & 4 gesture spots on it, at working height it certainly looked the part but... On my patio, which is more level than some venue floors I've encountered , there was way too much wobbling once the movers were doing their stuff. The whole getup was significantly lower than the maximum load capacity of even a single stand but the end result was definitely something I wouldn't bet my PLI on. Very disappointing. I substituted the gravity poles & bases for tripods.. Lo & behold it was all solid as a rock.

    Conclusion: gravity lighting stands aren't much cop for wide loads. I'm happy to keep putting them out with my short tbars on but anything wider than their base... No way!
    I saw your post on Facebook, and was interested. I haven't looked carefully at the gravity bases, but I bet they have four points of contact, not three. That's the issue. Tripods will always have all points of contact touching the floor. " Quadrapods " are unlikely to, unless the floor is perfect. I wonder if it would work better with some form of " flexible" mounting, so that the poles acted more as individual ones?
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

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    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    I saw your post on Facebook, and was interested. I haven't looked carefully at the gravity bases, but I bet they have four points of contact, not three. That's the issue. Tripods will always have all points of contact touching the floor. " Quadrapods " are unlikely to, unless the floor is perfect. I wonder if it would work better with some form of " flexible" mounting, so that the poles acted more as individual ones?
    Yeah I think that's the issue precisely. A tripod's feet always have good contact with the floor whereas the gravity bases, with their four feet don't unless the surface is perfect.

    Maybe softer feet would be a solution - except not so much that they're all spongy. Or maybe, take a drill to the base plates, remove one foot & move another to the near an edge to form an equilateral triangle... Hmm.

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