Poor relation

[Retro]

Well, firstly i must say how much i enjoy reading through this forum, and how friendly everyone has been whenever i have posted anything, which is not that often to be honest, BUT - here it comes, I really dont feel anything like as professional as most of you guys, when you talk about equipment being poor, sound or lighting, i always seem to have that equipment !!!

I am kept very busy really, this Friday will be my 49th gig since the start of the tax year in April, but all of my work is in spit & sawdust pubs, small club halls, village halls etc, so i really dont feel the justification for the terrific set ups you all seem to have.

Since reading the forum i have replaced some kit, i now run 2 NJD Datamoons and a Martin Raptor, along with some other "crap" but adequate light units, I still use light boxes, but have just last week bought a star cloth, no idea how to rig it up yet though cause i dont have a deck stand, always use tables at the places i gig, so i am trying to move into "today" ha ha

Anyway, my point is....... Does anyone else have just a small bottom range set up or is everybody here really running mobile nightclubs

[Shaun]

Hi Retro,

I feel you're selling yourself short with the quoted comment below


here it comes, I really dont feel anything like as professional as most of you guys, when you talk about equipment being poor, sound or lighting, i always seem to have that equipment !!!




Who's to say what equipments poor or not, It's all just opinion at the end of the day. The equipment does not maketh the entertainer :). To feel like you're any less of a professional because you don't subscribe to the latest fad or big name brand doesn't make you any less of a professional my friend. If your equipment is doing as it's supposed to, and your keeping busy then that's all that matters. I could go even further and say that you have a shrewder business head in that your profit margins may be higher than the "gear-heads" as you don't buy for the sake of buying.

If it aint broke, don't feel the need to fix it my friend.




Oh...and post more ;)

[alexperrins]

I shouldn't worry! I have nothing at the moment so your one better than me! With regards to the raptor and datamoons, they are fantastic lights so don't put yourself down. If you read my thread on acme help you will get an idea of what I'm looking at. My budget is quite small so no moving heads for me! Or irocks for that matter!

[CRAZY K]

Welcome Retro--im also gigging in Northants from time to time although working out the County most of the time because of price problems---thats low price problems! :sad: but I mainly cover Barn Dances and Weddings.

Im based nr Kettering--where ru?

Dont worry about using tables in Halls--I worked with a disco the other week who had excellent sound, massive lighting rig behind the music---BUT set up the mixer and amp on a table purloined from the venue with a white cloth over it--and these guys were using moving heads the lot--minimum £10k of gear I would guess at least--the DJ did run a Disco shop!!

Mind you its possible to buy a DJ and light stand for £30 second hand--I did and reckon its a real investment--except of course it takes time to assemble and take down unless you shove it in the back of a large van :sad:

CRAZY K

[Candybeatdiscos]

Retro...I am a lot like you - in fact very much like you, the last set up i bought cost me £800, that was a mixer, amp, two speakers, lightbox , mic and two light effects along with all cables, the mixer and speaker were both second hand although hardley used. It was all that i could afford at the time and has served me well this year so far.
Yeah i admit I have my dream set up which will cost a lot more but at this moment in time I cannot afford a new CD Album lol...My van cost £150, a further £350 to tax & MOT it, its a two seater and my car is sitting in garden without MOT - due to well bearing needing replaced and 4 new tyres needed, i have three kids & a wife, the cars been there since feb, if i wanna take the family out i need to borrow a mates car - simply as i cannot afford to fix my own. So regarding my dream rig...well thats gonna take a long time lol But like you i keep plugging along, i do not get as many gigs as yourself hence having a part time job to help keep me going.

But i have faith and a determination to do what i want and dream and I will get there through a lot of spit, blood & pain.

Anyway the moral is if you are happy with what you have, and it serves the purpose well then why change, please do not feel pressured into buying stuff like starcloths if you haven't felt the need for them before.

[spin mobile disco]

To be honest i've been using venue's tables for last 19 years lol, never thought it was worth buying anythin else. I use a nice PVC banner thought to cover any tables I use. I do have a reinforced Foldup table I use for maquis and venues where they dont have tables for one reason or another. And with lighting and equipmnet everyone has their own opinion about what is great or not.
I still use 2 x100w technotroincs lighting effects that are over 10 years old still look great now (been rebuilt a few times though) I mean i have lightboxes as well, i maynot use them much but i have them. As well as par lighting and scanning heads. I even used unbranded speakers for years but I still got the gigs and was asked back for more. Comes down to it only opinion that counts is your own and the punters.
Only pro's ask themselves am i profetional enough.
P.S im in Northants to, just downl the road from crazy K. Its not a bad area to be a DJ in but the money means travelling most of the time.

[Retro]

Im based nr Kettering--where ru?


CRAZY K


Im near Kettering too, Desborough side

[soundscapes]

Dont worry ! I use irocks but still use the venues own tables, and i started with crap gear and worked my way up. everyone has to start somewhere and besides ive kept a budget rig for the cheaper venues. As for lightscreens, i still think they do a better job of hiding cables/mess than anything else, the only reason i got rid of mine was due to space in the car. If u ask the punters they probably wouldnt be able to tell the difference between a budget or high end lighting effect.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Well, firstly i must say how much i enjoy reading through this forum, and how friendly everyone has been whenever i have posted anything, which is not that often to be honest, BUT - here it comes, I really dont feel anything like as professional as most of you guys, when you talk about equipment being poor, sound or lighting, i always seem to have that equipment !!!

I am kept very busy really, this Friday will be my 49th gig since the start of the tax year in April, but all of my work is in spit & sawdust pubs, small club halls, village halls etc, so i really dont feel the justification for the terrific set ups you all seem to have.

Since reading the forum i have replaced some kit, i now run 2 NJD Datamoons and a Martin Raptor, along with some other "crap" but adequate light units, I still use light boxes, but have just last week bought a star cloth, no idea how to rig it up yet though cause i dont have a deck stand, always use tables at the places i gig, so i am trying to move into "today" ha ha

Anyway, my point is....... Does anyone else have just a small bottom range set up or is everybody here really running mobile nightclubs

How wrong you are!

As much as I might be talking about gear and I admit I have had rather a major upgrade in the last year or so, it is not the be all and end all.

Most comments about the bottom end gear are normally in a light hearted way and shouldn't be taken too seriously.

You have to remember also that different markets require different DJs with different equipment, and it what you do with it that counts.

Don't be ashamed of what you have as it's only one part of the service you provide.

As long as gear looks smart and presentable and sounds reasonable, that's all the punters generally will care about.

[leighinstoke]

As long as you are happy with your setup and the customers are happy - why quibble?

Leigh.....

[DJ Spinko]

Most of our clients will always remember what the music played and how good the dj was way ahead of equipment, the average guest doesn't even know what a moonflower is let alone dmx, moving heads, jog wheels, cross-faders etc...
And as for 'crap' lights, my 2 original NJD Chaos, now about £90 apiece new are absolute workhorses.
Don't feel you have to justify your equipment , be proud of it and what you can do with it.
There's always something to spend your hard earned cash on and the more successful we are the more we want that latest light or gizmo that will really set off the show when most of the time we have everything we need to give exactly what the punters want - a great evening of music and entertainment.

Cris
DJ Spinko

[DMX Will]

Don't listen to us, we're all a bunch of snobs :teeth:

[BeerFunk]

I'll echo what the others have said.. your technical and presentation skills are way more important! The main thing about being a DJ, believe it or not, is selecting the right tracks and sequencing them well.

I admit I have put down some particular equipment discussed here a few times, as have most of us, but that's why we're here isn't it - to discuss?! :)

Yeah, so, back to my point - focus on your own DJing skills. That is more likely to be a bottleneck to your success than your equipment ;)

[Have a disco]

I will admit when I started out I used some right old stuff including cd seperates from stereo systems even the decks were early citronic double decks oh how I miss those days LOL I still use retro lightboxes so dont worry change as you can afford it dont lose your name to progress even them ropelights are usefull

[Corabar Entertainment]

Definitely agree with everything said: so long as the equipment works and it doesn't sound like you're underwater, most punters would never notice the difference unless a very expensive system was played immediately after a cheaper one.

As everyone has said, it's your skills (and I include the music you play in that) that matters the most: so long as you are good and you present the equipment you have tidily then that's what really matters.

[soundscapes]

Ah the good old days. I remember my first deck, a citronic Hawaii which we removed the turntables from and replaced with tandy cd seperates and headphones made from an old telephone