Worst Kit I Have EVER Seen

[LastMinuteDJs.net]

Did a 21st Birthday tonight on behalf of another agency. Turned up and this is what I had to use...

No pitch, no mixing, no fun. And the **** cd players skipped every time someone so much as stood on the dancefloor. Embarassing. They thought it was my fault...

[Danno13]

Oh dear!! Thats the kind of gig when you wish you'd put your own console in the car!

[LastMinuteDJs.net]

I have done before - but I didn't have time today because of work - straight from work to gig to find my nice surprise...

[djgordyp]

Am I right in thinking that is an old twin turntable unit cinverted to take cd's?

[soundlad]

it looks alot like it!!! :omg:

[leighinstoke]

Of course it's a cover-over - and you can bet the 2 MOSFET slabs inside the case are burning away too! My cousin did this for a month or so with his system before upgrading - and I had to put some vents onto the top to let the heat out!

[Thames Valley Discos]

looks like a fire waitring to happen. what is that toggle switch underneath for. any PAT labels on thr gear? If not i would have said Sorry no can do

[LastMinuteDJs.net]

Toggle switch underneath was built into the dj booth of the venue. Its inactive now. System just ran into a four gang plugged into the wall. There were PAT stickers on stuff, homemade stickers with the disco company's logo on them. So they either do their own PAT testing or are just stickering things to make them look safe...

[spin mobile disco]

Yeah I would agree I had a set on technics turntables from the 70's looked very much like them, in the 80's we took turntables out and put cd players in their place and used the mixer and pre amp from the tables. Thought no one would use them these days that desk must be 30 years old at least. We binned ours in 89 I think it was they must have dug them out lol.

[magicfm]

:omg: ... theres nothing like them buying a cd and mixer package.. I mean they aren't dear.

I've seen quite a few DJs using gear like that especially Matsui CD players.

[A1DL]

the SM58 poking out of the back has got to be worth ten times the rest of that pile of poo :omg:

[leighinstoke]

If you look closely at pic 1 - you can see the power amp slabs underneath where the turntables have been removed.

So so simple but so so deadly!

[Corabar Steve]

Looks a bit like the set up of a rally DJ I've seen in action (& before we get any silly comments, I'm not refering to either Creature or Pagan Flame)

[wensleydale]

the good old sd10.
suppose this isn't a good time to remind people i have an md10 i'm selling.
this has the decks in tact though.
that is what i learnt my trade on- don't knock it too much- they were state of the art back in the day.

[Dragonfly]

what do you mean rubbish kit??? thats a shure sm58 mic.

[A1DL]

what do you mean rubbish kit??? thats a shure sm58 mic.

like I said in my earlier post Dragonfly...:teeth:

[LastMinuteDJs.net]

The SM58 was mine....

[Corabar Entertainment]

That explains it!!!!! :teeth:

[BeerFunk]

Somehow missed this thread...

I have one of those Technics CD players! :heart1:

I payed £100 for it in 1998, and it's still going strong! Have used it as a backup out on the road, loaned it to people, the lot - absolutely great player. I would never part with it now, too much sentimental value (and I'd be lucky to get a tenner for it! :D).

My Dad still uses the one and only JVC CD player he's ever owned - must have bought it around 1986 :eek:
However, unsurprisingly, it isn't still going strong, takes a few attempts to get some CD's to play - although a good cleaning of the lens would probably fix it :)

Anyway, horrific setup, I do hope I never walk into a job like that! :rolleyes:

[leighinstoke]

They are actually decent CD players - can sometimes be a touch fragile - but do the job and I recall a company modified them for broadcast use at one time.

[Dragonfly]

ive got one i cant get rid of lolol again used as backup or thankfully not used as back up.

[Shaun]

Guys...when posting images, remember to reduce them in size before attaching them. Posting images of approx 1600dpi is far too large for the forum. Try to keep them to a maximum of 500dpi width.

I've resized the images on the initial post this time. Thanks :approve:

[Shaun]

Did a 21st Birthday tonight on behalf of another agency. Turned up and this is what I had to use...



OUCH!

This is the main reason I won't do a walk in job and use others equipment. I always use my own gear (unless I've been on a site visit to test it out)

[gillo]

what was the sound system?

[Harrison's Discos]

Overall id say it looks a bit of an old mess, but if it all works properly (which it didnt because the cd's kept on jogging) then id say scrap it and get some form of upgrade :lol:

[Corabar Entertainment]

Harrison... did you read the first post? The kit didn't belong to LastMinuteDJs.net - the kit was what he found when he did a walk-in job :confused:

[soundmaster mobile disco]

Was the agency a £50 a night job.price is not allways everything when it comes to entertainment.
what was the lightshow like was it any better

[jaygees]

shocking bit of kit :eek: :eek:
glad i dont have to use one of them:)

[soundscapes]

when i first started back in 95, i used something similar ( a citronic hawaii which had been converted with 2 genexxa cd players) and ive got to say it was a million times more reliable than any of the twin cds ive ever used, only downside was the weight ! bottom line is that people obviously ARE prepared to pay for gear like this (otherwise the agency wouldnt exist), and whilst we perhaps wouldnt use gear like this anymore, plenty still do hence the low prices people are prepared to pay. Theres a market for everyone remember, and im sure those of us with "decent" gear wouldnt dream of putting gear into "estate" pubs.

[LastMinuteDJs.net]

Guys...when posting images, remember to reduce them in size before attaching them. Posting images of approx 1600dpi is far too large for the forum. Try to keep them to a maximum of 500dpi width.

I've resized the images on the initial post this time. Thanks :approve:

Oversight - but did you notice WHEN the initial post was made - many moons ago. Slipped through the net then (when the forum police weren't clamping down so much!!! :D )


what was the sound system?

Cant really remember, was a while ago now, think it was a pair of eminence speakers sitting on the floor at opposite ends of the dancefloor. As old as the kit and as in need of an upgrade.


Was the agency a £50 a night job.price is not allways everything when it comes to entertainment.
what was the lightshow like was it any better

Lighting was 4 cans on a chase. There was a twister, but it was off/busted/both....

They are a decent agency i've done quite a lot of work for, mostly with reasonably decent equipment. They do however, still have a few regular venues with installed equipment like this and the venues won't pay for upgrades....

[Shaun]

Oversight - but did you notice WHEN the initial post was made - many moons ago. Slipped through the net then (when the forum police weren't clamping down so much!!! :D )





I didn't even notice how old the topic was, shows how much I pay attention :D

[LastMinuteDJs.net]

Easy to miss.

Always getting Deja-vu reading over an entire thread thinking i've seen this somewhere before, only to find someone has dug up one from months ago thats already been read.

Easily done.

[Steve 'B']

Anyone got any more crap settup pics. Good to spill the beans if you see a crap show. Take a pic and put it up. Name and shame the riff raff.

[Corabar Steve]

Oversight - but did you notice WHEN the initial post was made - many moons ago. Slipped through the net then (when the forum police weren't clamping down so much!!! :D )

That's because I was using the laptop a lot at the time & it doesn't have Paintshop Pro.

I have now found out how ro re-size things in MS Paint.

Be warned depending on my mood any oversized images posted will either be deleted entriely or reduced to the size of a postage stamp. :evelgrin: :evelgrin: http://smilies.vidahost.com/contrib/scorchio/sgrin.gif :evelgrin: :evelgrin:

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Anyone got any more crap settup pics. Good to spill the beans if you see a crap show. Take a pic and put it up. Name and shame the riff raff.

Not sure that's a great idea really.

There are DJs who use sub standard gear who are fantastic entertainers and as we know, it's not all about the gear.

[CRAZY K]

Not sure that's a great idea really.

There are DJs who use sub standard gear who are fantastic entertainers and as we know, it's not all about the gear.

CORRECT

Last night at a Burns Night using Skytec modified cabs, 25 year old HH PA100mixer amp, KAM mixer say 15 yrs old? and 20yr old American Mixer Amp

Small venue, reasonable sound, great night--booked on the spot for next year.:D

CRAZY K

[Dragonfly]

surely a dj who relies on named branded kit to sell what he does is more likely to be a crap dj than those who go out with what we rather shamefully call rubbish and create a fantastic atmosphere and a great night..........

i maintain and ive said on lots of occasions ....

who looks at equipment pages on websites ...... djs
who cares what gear other djs have and use ..... djs

would the average joe public want to have a good time with my mates know the difference between soundlab mackie peavey ..... no!!!!!!

would they in the remotest part care if you entertained and provided the service they wanted when they booked you .... no!!!!!

and finally .......

thinking in the minds ears and eyes of the average spud on the street not......

ive got a degree in sound technology.....im a qualified sound engineer......ive been doing this for 40 years and have heard 20 different systems.........

is there any such thing as a crap set up .....or just a crap dj????

bear in mind i honestly do believe something can only be crap if you have something to compare it against and even then its only an opinion?

the other thing is with people having fronts and booths to their discos now how many punters actually see your gear? if its in a rack too ?? sure ,you know and dont get me wrong i like good names because of reliability bought my mackies for a totally different reason tho and for me my dynamos are perfect just wish acme would bring out an identically sized barrel scanner.

[Shaun]

who looks at equipment pages on websites ...... djs
who cares what gear other djs have and use ..... djs



Never a truer word spoken.

[Steve 'B']

Page 1 has a picture of a crap setup and to be honest I think it would be hard to have a successful night with gear like that jumping all over the place. At the end of the day, it’s one thing to have a 'sub standard' setup done correctly and another to have the cheapest of everything thrown together. This is what I would refer to as a crap setup.
Anyone can go out with cheaper gear and do a great job, but I would say that nicer gear enhances your performance and show. Discharge DMX lighting looks smart, good quality powered speakers sound the nuts and some people do see these sorts of things. I think it’s good to show people that you are proud of what you have achieved with your show. It’s taken me many years to get where I am now, but I would never look back to cheaper gear. The only way is up!!

[DMX Will]

Page 1 has a picture of a crap setup and to be honest I think it would be hard to have a successful night with gear like that jumping all over the place. At the end of the day, it’s one thing to have a 'sub standard' setup done correctly and another to have the cheapest of everything thrown together. This is what I would refer to as a crap setup.
Anyone can go out with cheaper gear and do a great job, but I would say that nicer gear enhances your performance and show. Discharge DMX lighting looks smart, good quality powered speakers sound the nuts and some people do see these sorts of things. I think it’s good to show people that you are proud of what you have achieved with your show. It’s taken me many years to get where I am now, but I would never look back to cheaper gear. The only way is up!!

Spot on.

[Dragonfly]

This is what I would refer to as a crap setup.
Anyone can go out with cheaper gear and do a great job, but I would say that nicer gear enhances your performance and show. Discharge DMX lighting looks smart, good quality powered speakers sound the nuts and some people do see these sorts of things. I think it’s good to show people that you are proud of what you have achieved with your show. It’s taken me many years to get where I am now, but I would never look back to cheaper gear. The only way is up!!

would agree in part and no disrespect intended but to me your post does sound a bit ego orientated "hey everyone im so successfull look ive got all this expensive set up and gear" dont get me wrong im sure youre not that type of guy just the way i read the post sure some people do see and take notice of your gear ......other djs who its always their very first question .."what set up do you use" and probably 1% of the general public, think more people take note if your gear lookstatty and rubbish my argument is that lookingcrap and being so is imho very different. if i scraped my mackies cross the dance floor every gig and threw my decks in the back of a rusty old transit every gig id say in no time at all my set up would lookcrap

but that would come down to being a crap dj and not looking after and caring for the tools of my trade.

how many people ask what make your gear is at gigs?

discount band members
discount other djs
discount the i used to be a dj guy....

this year lets all count bare in mind if jo public says wow your set up looks great they are talking about your presentation skills not your expensive gear.

not having a go at anyone hope it doesnt come across so im just one that believes its not what youve got its what you do with it that counts and one thing i try really hard not to do is bring down others gear and set up

ronaldhino was born with 2 legs just like anyone else but beacause of hard work and a flotilla load of natural talent he has turned those into a multimillion pound career.

im all for getting the most reliable and best gear you can possibly afford as ive said my setup is based around purely practical reasons but it was 18 months in the making largely on the advice of these forums. but not as a showcase as to how hard ive worked or how successful i am i use citronic decks lots of people say denon pioneer etc ive never had one issue with any of my citronic gear mixers or cd players and ive had nice comments about my sound so ive stuck with them ..... not top of the pile but for me reliable and upto now faultless....... i now actually use a numark mixer which i want to change back to a citronic as i dont think it sounds nearly as good as my previous ones but yep ..... its money.

[sleah]

Page 1 has a picture of a crap setup and to be honest I think it would be hard to have a successful night with gear like that jumping all over the place. At the end of the day, it’s one thing to have a 'sub standard' setup done correctly and another to have the cheapest of everything thrown together. This is what I would refer to as a crap setup.
Anyone can go out with cheaper gear and do a great job, but I would say that nicer gear enhances your performance and show. Discharge DMX lighting looks smart, good quality powered speakers sound the nuts and some people do see these sorts of things. I think it’s good to show people that you are proud of what you have achieved with your show. It’s taken me many years to get where I am now, but I would never look back to cheaper gear. The only way is up!!

I actually feel this is almost bordering on offensive.
A mate of mine who's been DJing for 30odd years has a set up similar to that. An old McGregor with the decks removed and domestic style CD players fitted, he even uses a laptop in place of one of the CD players now :eek:
He is good at his job and the gear actually sounds perfectly acceptable in the venues he plays (pubs/community centres etc). I covered a gig he was a guest at a while back using his gear and my laptop, it was challenging but I coped and it sounded great (large restaurant).

"Discharge DMX" is totally irellevant. My 250 halogen movers looked darn good up against my 150 discharge Scans! Punters do not notice or care about colour temperature. DMX is more for the DJ's benefit. If you are doing a syncronised lightshow, you then are more a lightshow disco than just a disco. I was operating sync'd lightshows back when DMX was being invented, using manual switches and proprietry control units. Almost nothing was automated, and the shows looked absolutly fantastic, I wish I could recreate the effect with DMX!!! No controller will do sound to light like a human!

Personally I wouldn't use powered cabs. It's a 50/50 argument. They are heavier, some over heat. You blow an amp, you've lost the whole PA. You blow a driver, you can't just beg/borrow/steal a set of speakers, you'll need an amp. They will probably never be able to sound as good as a decent separate bi/tri amped system with active cross overs.
Although perfectly OK for most mobiles pumping upto about 500W per side. It's just personal preference.

If gear sounds crap, then yes, it is crap! i.e. distorted, no bass or no top.

Otherwise I agree with Dragonfly

Worst lighting I've ever seen was in a local hotel large function room about 10 years ago, the guy had 3 standard lamps with coloured domestic bulbs in just on, not flashing. I mean standard lamps as in the one's you have in your living room!!!! - oh, they didn't even have shades on them!!!
Worst sound was over Xmas at local Wetherspoons, cowboy DJ playing from a lappy with pair of 12's, one not on (for some reason?) the other just screeching away, could hardly tell what song was playing.

[Corabar Steve]

"Discharge DMX" is totally irellevant. My 250 halogen movers looked darn good up against my 150 discharge Scans! Punters do not notice or care about colour temperature. DMX is more for the DJ's benefit. If you are doing a syncronised lightshow, you then are more a lightshow disco than just a disco. I was operating sync'd lightshows back when DMX was being invented, using manual switches and proprietry control units. Almost nothing was automated, and the shows looked absolutly fantastic, I wish I could recreate the effect with DMX!!! No controller will do sound to light like a human!Agreed, I did a gig last night with very limited space (I will go into detail in it's own thread) with one effect light nobody cared one iota!

[Pee Cee]

Wouldn't be so bad if it had some decent table top CD players sunk into the top, but mismatched domestic tack is plain dodgy for the intended use.

All I can say is WOW.

[A1DL]

Wouldn't be so bad if it had some decent table top CD players sunk into the top, but mismatched domestic tack is plain dodgy for the intended use.

All I can say is WOW.

absolutely, in fact any domestic CD player is pretty useless for DJ use, (unless it is purely for background music or emergency use when something is better than nothing)

[djgordyp]

absolutely, in fact any domestic CD player is pretty useless for DJ use, (unless it is purely for background music or emergency use when something is better than nothing)
Sorry but I have to completely disagree here. As I have mentioned in an earlier post (a few months back), I used two domestic cd players quite successfully for almost ten years. Ok so you probably can't mix with them properly but I never saw this as a problem.
I Would be quite interested to hear from anybody else who has tried using them and why (apart from mixing) they can't be used. Or is it mainly because they're not 'professional'.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

absolutely, in fact any domestic CD player is pretty useless for DJ use, (unless it is purely for background music or emergency use when something is better than nothing)

I must admit, before the first Denon twin player came out, I used 2 domestic CD players, as I didn't have any choice!

It is quite possible to use them, although I should imagine things like cueing and latency would be a bit of an issue for me now.

I'm not quite sure why people would continue to use domestic players though, when you can get a budget twin CD deck for a little over £120?

[sleah]

Sorry but I have to completely disagree here. As I have mentioned in an earlier post (a few months back), I used two domestic cd players quite successfully for almost ten years. Ok so you probably can't mix with them properly but I never saw this as a problem.
I Would be quite interested to hear from anybody else who has tried using them and why (apart from mixing) they can't be used. Or is it mainly because they're not 'professional'.

Ditto! I also used them for many years.
I had two identical Goodmans midi-size players. Couldn't get more basic.
They would do countdown, but I had to hit the time button every time I put a disk in! The main thing is they were (as near as darn it) instant start, I even wired in the remote start from my mixer.
They rarely missed a beat, even when they started to wear out and one of the LED displays kept going off. I recall a few gigs "guessing" at the track number :eek:
They never made me look "unprofessional" though. There was the odd skip but that was always to be expected, especially after vinyl :rolleyes:
I can tell you the exact point at which I stopped ever suffering from skips, and that's when I stopped useing CD's :D Oh, I was using a Denon 3500, which was one of the top end models at the time.
And I have never ever (apart from back up single deck I have now) had CD players on the deck stand or near the front, they have always been behind or to my side stood (flightcased) on the amps.

Lets face it, for "jumping and skipping" you couldn't get any worse than vinyl especially back when technics were the only DD turntable and were only for the rich and famous :D

[Corabar Steve]

I must admit, before the first Denon twin player came out, I used 2 domestic CD players, as I didn't have any choice!
There's a disco shop around here that used to hire out / send their DJs out with those Eclipse players


I'm not quite sure why people would continue to use domestic players though, when you can get a budget twin CD deck for a little over £120? the Eclipse players are £30 a pop & were readily available from Richer Sounds.

[Steve 'B']

No pitch, no mixing, no fun. And the **** cd players skipped every time someone so much as stood on the dancefloor. Embarassing. They thought it was my fault...

I am not putting the kit down purely on what it looks like. I am just saying that obviously the owner has no intention of meeting the customers needs if he/she still felt the need to use CD players that 'skipped every time someone so much as stood on the dance floor'. There is nothing wrong with having a nice show and being proud of it. If anything it shows dedication to the industry I am in. I try so hard and am constantly looking at ways to improve my show and yes, I would say you are correct in saying that the customer generally would not notice. Most, if not all people on here are dedicated to the scene and what they do and I am sure most if not all want the best gear for the job. I am sorry, I did not mean to sound a bit ego orientated "hey everyone im so successful look ive got all this expensive set up and gear". I just (as I am sure most of us on here do) sometimes get annoyed with cheap discos that go out for next to nothing with shabby gear and ruin the clients disco and any chance we as a group of professionals have of getting the work.

I had a friend of my partners the other day ask me to do a disco for here birthday and I said I will do the disco at 'mates rate' of £250 (that’s quite a big show she wanted with trimmings). My partner heard nothing back and found out from someone else she had booked a DJ for £125.

How do I compete with that? I think I will pack my bags now.
:o Also I have to say again, I did not mean for my post to sound so BIG HEADED. I just read it again and see what you mean.

[Dragonfly]

know exactly what you mean steve im not even quoting 250 and getting knock backs because so and so quoted 110 yes 110 for a wedding!!!!!! and we all remember the i want to spend 1000 on my whole wedding call....

interestingly tho those that come on a recommendation always book as do those who have seen me.???

[Steve 'B']

interestingly tho those that come on a recommendation always book as do those who have seen me.???

Under normal circumstances this is always the case but I think the friend has money issues, therefore did not have the funds to pay £250. She admitted that she would have rather gone for the more money option but money was the key issue!! Or should I say lack of.....!!!

Anyway Dragon, No offence taken. I am sure you could see what I meant. Just I could have worded it slightly differently.:)