Upgrading some bits, recommendations please.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Hi all,

Got the call I have been waiting for since last August yesterday so in the next few weeks I will be eventually receiving a nice wad of money that I am due. The majority of it will be put away, pay off some bills etc but I may put a small chunk of it to the side so that I can upgrade some of my equipment. I've decided on around £3k but it depends.

Just wanted some recommendations really...

Sound wise - I am happy with the different speakers I use (Mackie & DB Tech for Active and JBL for Passive) but I have always said that I want some new bass bins. I'm not bothered whether they are 15's or 18's to be fair but I want a pair of them and they must be at least 500w each. I currently use (every now and then) some Peavey Pro Subs which are passive and not that powerful but I've always used them to fill out the sound a bit.
Judging on what I have read on here in the past, I will be steering clear of Mackie (although my 450's are awesome and have never let me down).

I'd be interested in your recommendations please...I've been window shopping online this morning already and seen some nice looking JBL, EV and DB Tech bass bins, all active. Once I have whittled it down to a couple, I will go and demo them.

Lighting wise - Quite happy with my lighting too in reality but I quite like the idea of some small LED Moving Heads. I see ADJ do some and they look ok but I'd be interested to see what some of you use. I have lots of different lighting so don't really want to go over the top.

Playout wise - More than happy with my Denon HD2500. It's never let me down. I use VDJ too on a laptop with a DJ2Go controller. I could possibly invest in another controller but would it be wasting money when I can do what I want to do with the DJ2Go? I have a new mixer which I am happy with so that doesn't need sorting and I have back up mixers too.

I do want to get a couple of Mirror Ball type effects. Whether I go for the real deal or effects, I don't know?

As I said, probably around £3k on equipment. I may invest in a newer van too, not sure yet. I'm getting a nice wedge of money and want to use some of it to improve.

I have lots of equipment stored away which I use for hire and also back up.
The idea is to improve my system so that I have the best sound & lighting I can have for my rig and then have a really good system for back up and hire. This then means that I can look at the rest of the stuff and maybe sell it on?

Any recommendations would be good. Put yourself in my shoes for a moment and imagine you have at least a £3k budget and with that you want to get a few items to upgrade.

Thanks in advance.

[Leicester Ben]

If I had £3k to spend I don't think I would buy more disco kit as I doubt it will allow you to charge more.

I would buy something that you can hire out as an addition to the disco or on its own so that you can earn more money in a day!

Dosent really matter what it is or if you like it personally, you just need to be able to upsell it to existing clients and new clients!

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Thanks for the comments Ben.
I am actually happy with everything else to be honest. I have upgraded my Uplighting over the months so that doesn't need touching. I have an excellent Dance Floor supplier (remember, I did say I was going to invest in a Dance Floor or two along with a mate but knocked that idea on the head).

I've tried a few other things and wasn't really happy with them so I can't really think of what else I could do to be honest. I want to be happy with the stuff that I take out and also be capable of taking on larger bookings without the need of worrying if I have enough sound etc.. As I said, I have lots of equipment (for a sole operator) and just need to tweak it here and there and then I'll be satisfied.

[wensleydale]

If you go down the LED moving head route I really like the ADJ X-Move LED's- I think they've upgraded them since I got them but I have been really happy with mine.
Bright enough for use when relatively light, fit perfectly in a 12" record flight case, and have a small footprint when in use.
All good.

[WWDJ]

Depends where you want to go with Moving Heads. I've just bought the Imove 50sr which is still 'relatively' compact but is powerful with a 50w LED, 3 Facet Rotating Prism, Replaceable rotating gobos.
I don't see these a 'extra' effects, recently they are my main effects along with a Powerbar for wash.
I did have some quality problems with the initial units but that was quickly sorted and i've done a couple of gigs with no problems

Sound wise I hear that FBT is awesome. I've had good results from RCF. I use the 902s, but would probably recommend the 905s if you have the space as for 200 people I think you need more than the 902s

[ppentertainments]

3k - couple of nice holidays with that.

Is thid money your personal money or money to your business ? That would have a major factor for me, especially if you are happy with what you have.

If you were to invest your money I would look at what I could buy to improve my income, not spend it on stuff I like/want but won't gain extra bookings or higher fees.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

PP - To answer your question regarding the money.
It is my personal money. It's money that I am owed. Most of it will be put away and pay off some bills. I have said that I will have a chunk of it to do what I like with (Disco equipment improvements, new(er) van etc..) and then there will be some that will just get spent...simple as that.

The last line of your post - My fees have gone up quite a lot and I am happy with the amount of bookings that I have. As I said, I am happy with the other services I provide, I don't want to expand the business just yet so I am content in plodding along doing what I am doing. Plodding along is probably the wrong description but at the end of the day, I'm on my own 90% of the time and happy with how it's all going.

That's why I cut down advertising and also some subscriptions because I was more or less passing work on.

Thanks for the comments anyway.

[Charlie Brown]

RCF subs are fantastic, look out for some second hand 705's!

I would invest a grand of that money in a new website and then command higher fees.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Charlie, as I said....My fees have increased anyway over the past few months and the enquiries and visits to my website have increased too so I will leave them as they are.

I'm all for improving the business etc and if my plans were different, I'd be going all out to do different things and coming into the money wouldn't make any difference because I would have been working on that already. I am happy as I am at the moment.

You know what it's like when you buy something new, you can't wait to use it. It's a while since I bought new stuff so that's what I want to do, hence the post. I get a new found enthusiasm when I go out with some new equipment. It may sound silly to some but it doesn't to me.

[ppentertainments]

From what you have said why not just invest the money ??

[Pe7e]

From what you have said why not just invest the money ??

Who's offering a rate that will even keep pace with inflation? I think Bens is the best advice to date.

[Charlie Brown]

Or get a decent adviser? I know what I'll be doing if/when I ever get some dosh.

By increasing your fees, I mean £500+ a night. I think you're worth it and if you've got the website to go with it, you're a winner! If anything, you'll slowly turn into a 'agency' than a jock. Trust me - look at http://www.makeitahit.co.uk/ - best website around IMO

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Sub wise...i recommend RCF. I have the 705AS but the 905 is awesome.

[Charlie Brown]

:agree:

The RCF need that extra kick.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Or get a decent adviser? I know what I'll be doing if/when I ever get some dosh.

By increasing your fees, I mean £500+ a night. I think you're worth it and if you've got the website to go with it, you're a winner! If anything, you'll slowly turn into a 'agency' than a jock. Trust me - look at http://www.makeitahit.co.uk/ - best website around IMO

Charlie, with respect mate (if you get a chance to see this and haven't departed as yet?), I am achieving the figure you mention above most weekends now. If you remember, a while back I mentioned that I wanted to increase my earning potential by offering additional services at a discounted rate where possible such as Uplighting, Photo Projection etc..and that's what I have done. To be totally honest, £500+ is easily achievable.

Not that it matters at all but I'm not sure what you think I am charging. I have always said I don't mention prices.

It doesn't look like you've read my earlier posts on this thread....
I don't want to "slowly turn into an agency" mate. That's not on the cards at all. I also don't want to be a multi-op either. I do pass on work and I do have double and sometimes triple bookings but that's a bit different. Maybe when my time to finish DJing comes around, I will look into something like that but it's a long way off.

With reference to my website....Well, I could possibly get a professionally designed website but to be honest, mine does well for me. I get lots of hits each week and I update it regularly. I'd say that 99% of the enquiries I get via my site are converted into bookings and that's being honest.

I do have one idea regarding another service that I want to provide and have made enquiries today regarding that. We'll see what happens I guess.

So, someone mentioned RCF's....A couple of 905's would be pretty powerful wouldn't they?

[Charlie Brown]

Hi Gary,

Apologies - I understand what you want to achieve now. :beer1:

They would be superb. Normally, you'd only need one sub but two will give you that extra punch for larger events. In summary, you'll have more flexibility. RCF all the way for me now. I thought my Mackie's were good until I recently made the change to RCF tops. Best speakers I've had to date.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

No need to apologise Charlie.
Cheers.

[Shaun]

So, someone mentioned RCF's....A couple of 905's would be pretty powerful wouldn't they?

I use a pair of 905's at most gigs. Plenty of ooomph. I rarely turn mine up past the '9 o clock' on the pot.