Chauvet gig bar.

[Dj brummie]

I'm thinking of buying a chauvet gig bar. Would anyone recommend them. I want a nice easy light setup. Info would be great. Thanks

[Excalibur]

Young Mr Neen ( Deltic ) has one, and is so impressed with it, he's contemplating buying another one. If he sees this, I'm sure he'll give us his views.

[MikeW]

I'm thinking of buying a chauvet gig bar. Would anyone recommend them. I want a nice easy light setup. Info would be great. Thanks

I am hearing lots of good reports on these. The jury is still out for me at the moment. I am just slightly worried that they are a bit "Mickey Mouse". I would like to be proved wrong and will watch with interest to see how they do perform of the next few weeks.

[Excalibur]

I am just slightly worried that they are a bit "Mickey Mouse". I would like to be proved wrong and will watch with interest to see how they do perform of the next few weeks.

So was I. I saw the Chauvet swarm first, and loved it to bits. I believed the gig bar would lose out to it, but I have to say I can understand why users are raving about it. Very impressive in the flesh I'd strongly recommend seeing it live.

[deltic]

I concur with what has been said,have had mine quite a few weeks and it does what it says on the tin and provides adequate lighting for my gigs,it's never going to fill a stadium but for what it is absolutely bang on.

For the purpose of symmetry probably going to invest in a second one.

The gig bar is my lighting of choice at the moment although I do have a selection of other lighting to choose from if I fancy a change but at the moment and the functios I do the gig bar is definitely doing it for me,but I do understand it may not be everybody's cup of wotsit......horses for courses I suppose.

[Imagine]

I concur with what has been said,have had mine quite a few weeks and it does what it says on the tin and provides adequate lighting for my gigs,it's never going to fill a stadium but for what it is absolutely bang on.

For the purpose of symmetry probably going to invest in a second one.

The gig bar is my lighting of choice at the moment although I do have a selection of other lighting to choose from if I fancy a change but at the moment and the functios I do the gig bar is definitely doing it for me,but I do understand it may not be everybody's cup of wotsit......horses for courses I suppose.

[:agree:]

Got mine last week and done 4 gigs with it now (from the standard village hall to a social club with 200 people) - it's a brilliant bit of kit and I can't fault it.
I too am looking at purchasing a second one for symmetry and for backup. They look even better if you can get a little haze going over them - it just makes the Derby's and the laser look so much better :). What's even better is that it's out of its bags, up and lit in little over a minute.

Like Deltic - it's the rig of choice at the moment for me too (I've got loads of lights in the store and they haven't seen the light of day since I got the GigBar).

[MikeW]

Thanks for all the information guys. I do need to see one live first. As I have said I have made up my own at the moment which does take slightly longer to set up. I have a slight problem with it in as much as it doesn't quite go as high as I would like it. Could someone confirm the max height that the bar can be raised to please.

[Benny Smyth]

The Gigbar does look good. I just wish that it didn't have a laser...

[Imagine]

Stand is 1.5 to 2.5 metres.

As for the laser - you don't have to have it running (there's a key and an override toggle you need to operate to even turn it on)

[MikeW]

Stand is 1.5 to 2.5 metres.

As for the laser - you don't have to have it running (there's a key and an override toggle you need to operate to even turn it on)

Thanks for that. I take it you just raise it manually?

[Benny Smyth]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2i5dap5ARk

In case it's useful for anyone.

[Imagine]

I saw that video before I got mine - doesn't even come close to what the Gigbar looks like in real life unfortunately.
If you can get some smoke blowing in front of it - it's absolutely awesome considering the lights actually look cheap and plastic like close up.

I'll try to get some footage of mine this weekend, although I've only got kids' parties so might not be a lot of cop.

Yes - it's raised manually (it's not heavy) and it's supported by the usual thumbscrew on the upright and a lock-bolt through the tripod.

This one's not mine - but gives a rough idea of what it's like in the dark


https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152451094976254

[MikeW]

I saw that video before I got mine - doesn't even come close to what the Gigbar looks like in real life unfortunately.
If you can get some smoke blowing in front of it - it's absolutely awesome considering the lights actually look cheap and plastic like close up.

I'll try to get some footage of mine this weekend, although I've only got kids' parties so might not be a lot of cop.

Yes - it's raised manually (it's not heavy) and it's supported by the usual thumbscrew on the upright and a lock-bolt through the tripod.

This one's not mine - but gives a rough idea of what it's like in the dark


https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152451094976254

Thanks for that. It does look very good with smoke/haze. Does anyone actually dmx theirs? Or do most people just plug and play?

[Imagine]

I just plug and play. TBH - the bar has its own inbuilt DMX programmes to talk between the lights on it anyway (keep pressing the pedals on the footswitch and it cycles through several different lighting setups)

[MikeW]

I just plug and play. TBH - the bar has its own inbuilt DMX programmes to talk between the lights on it anyway (keep pressing the pedals on the footswitch and it cycles through several different lighting setups)

:like:

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Horrible.

Take a couple of dotty led effects and a couple of pars, bung on a refraction laser that looks very dated and voila!

If you really wanted to, you could make something like this yourself and probably a lot cheaper.

Good for hire I suppose.

Looks tacky and not a great deal of output or coverage by the looks of it.

[Excalibur]

Horrible.

Take a couple of dotty led effects and a couple of pars, bung on a refraction laser that looks very dated and voila!

If you really wanted to, you could make something like this yourself and probably a lot cheaper.

Good for hire I suppose.

Looks tacky and not a great deal of output or coverage by the looks of it.

Have you seen it in action, in the flesh? Until I did, my views coincided exactly with yours. I thought it was cheap and nasty ( and if I'm honest, it's not high end gear ) but see it working, and it comes to life.

One or two of us wonder if a " Pro " version may appear, with higher grade fittings? Who knows? They'll struggle with a price hike though, I feel.

It's not the answer for every function, but it adds what the powerbar lacks, variety. I still prefer the Swarm, but it's even more of a niche unit, and far less controllable, apparently.

[Imagine]

Have you seen it in action, in the flesh? Until I did, my views coincided exactly with yours. I thought it was cheap and nasty ( and if I'm honest, it's not high end gear ) but see it working, and it comes to life.

One or two of us wonder if a " Pro " version may appear, with higher grade fittings? Who knows? They'll struggle with a price hike though, I feel.

It's not the answer for every function, but it adds what the powerbar lacks, variety.

:agree:

It does look cheap and nasty. The lights "look" flimsy on the bar, but believe me they're sturdy little things
The laser does leave a lot to be desired - the non European version is tri-colour whilst we only get green for some reason.

As Peter says, it's not the answer to every function. But for the majority of stuff some of us do (i.e. Xmas/New Year in a pub, birthday in a local village hall) - it's ideal and makes setup a lot quicker. Plus once it's dark, you don't actually see the fixture itself.

I rocked up to a large hall on Saturday for a golden anniversary with only the Gigbar (I'd previoiusly been to a kids party and not had time to go and fetch my other lighting rig). On seeing the size of the hall (holds 200 dancing easily), I panicked and thought I'd made a big mistake for the sake of the extra 15 mins it would have taken me to re-load the lighting. Turned the Gigbar on though and the panic disappeared very quickly. OK - it wouldn't be the same for the same number of people at a 21st rave or something, but for what I was doing, it was actually more than enough (I've booked a wedding off the back of that particular party for next year as well, so the show can't have looked too bad)

The videos are deceptive. The fixtures on those things will cover a hell of a lot of ground in bright light. OK, Derbies and PARs aren't to everyone's tastes, but for the vast majority of run of the mill gigs, it'll serve the purpose more than admirably.

I'd suggest seeing one actually running in the flesh....it will surprise you ;)

[funkymook]

Horrible.

Take a couple of dotty led effects and a couple of pars, bung on a refraction laser that looks very dated and voila!

If you really wanted to, you could make something like this yourself and probably a lot cheaper.

Good for hire I suppose.

Looks tacky and not a great deal of output or coverage by the looks of it.

Like this? Ok the sum of it’s parts are more expensive than the gig bar (ADJ Dotz TBar and 2 x Cheetahs), but it’s lighting I had anyway, takes a minute to set-up and controlled by a footswitch for the Tbar and a 6 channel battery DMX controller for the Cheetahs - gives me plenty scenes.

16943

Two led pars and a Swarm 5 would give a similar effect to the gigbar and be even more compact - and even the cheapest of lights look great in haze.

I think the real attraction of the gig bar, apart from it’s quick set-up, is it’s programming, DMX is still seen as a kerfuffle for most DJs so this is a synchronised lightshow without the DMX headache. I’d like to see what it could do with no haze and for a first dance though.

[Excalibur]

Two led pars and a Swarm 5 would give a similar effect to the gigbar and be even more compact - and even the cheapest of lights look great in haze.

.

My flight of fancy is even simpler. Two swarms on a bar, and there you go. Can't see it ever happening, but I can dream. :D

Martin, after many views, I realise what you've done there. Very clever, well done. Took a long while for the penny to drop. Only negative for me is circular pars. Much food for thought, though. Hmmmmm................

[funkymook]

My flight of fancy is even simpler. Two swarms on a bar, and there you go. Can't see it ever happening, but I can dream. :D

Martin, after many views, I realise what you've done there. Very clever, well done. Took a long while for the penny to drop. Only negative for me is circular pars. Much food for thought, though. Hmmmmm................

Yep, just popped the two end pars onto the fittings for extra lights on top, even without the Cheetahs I prefer to use it like that now, breaks up that ‘all in a row’ look.

I know what you mean about the Dotz circular pars, I wasn’t sure myself at first, but I really like them now.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Have you seen it in action, in the flesh?

I don't need to. I can see the effect it produces and the way it looks already.

Nasty.

[Excalibur]

I don't need to. I can see the effect it produces and the way it looks already.

Nasty.

I repeat. I thought exactly what you've said there. Exactly. Then I saw it in action. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I repeat. I thought exactly what you've said there. Exactly. Then I saw it in action. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Very patronising.

I have my own opinions thank you. I can see what it looks like.

[Excalibur]

Very patronising.

I have my own opinions thank you. I can see what it looks like.

Never intended to be patronising. Not my style.

Just trying to make it clear how much of a " Road to Damascus moment " seeing it in action in a venue is.

My views were just as strongly held as yours, but I had to change my mind. It happens. We may disagree on this. It happens. No blood will be spilt.

[Corabar Steve]

I have to say, I'm with Darren on this one.


Martin's "home made" one is far more aesthetically pleasing (& probably more effective)

[Excalibur]

I have to say, I'm with Darren on this one.


Martin's "home made" one is far more aesthetically pleasing (& probably more effective)

I disagree entirely. I hate the round pars. Awful looking. Like Renault Twingo headlights. It is of coure, undoubtedly more powerful, with four pars, and two very bright moonflowers ( I often use the Stairville and the same flowers, in a very similar fashion. )

Different strokes for different folks, obviously. Be a dull old world if we all agreed.

[Corabar Steve]

Would now be a good time to point out that pars are traditionally round (& have been since their inception)? It's only over the last few years that square ones have started showing up.

[funkymook]

Strange as it may sound I have considered getting one - I thought for the non-wedding ‘favour’ gig where mainly chart music is required (got one tonight as it happens) or kids parties it’d be even quicker and easier than my own creation (which does take a bit of assembling and needs more than one bag).

I’ve no doubt the punters would be more than happy with it as they don’t really care about lights as much as we do but I need to think it’s OK too. At the moment I’m convinced it’ll just look like a pair of Derby’s, a couple of pars and a cheap laser and strobe, but perhaps the programming elevates it above that. For the cost of less than one gig and if it gets used 4 or 5 times a year and saves me time and effort (which I’m really keen on) it might be a goer.

But no point in me discussing it further without trying it out - so I’m going to go and hire one now for tonight and will report back with my findings (venue is literally 3 minutes away from me so an early set-up and test still gives me time to nip home for my other lighting if it’s seriously lacking).

[Excalibur]

Would now be a good time to point out that pars are traditionally round (& have been since their inception)? It's only over the last few years that square ones have started showing up.

Luddite. :p Embrace technology and get up to date. :D

[funkymook]

I’m going to go and hire one now for tonight and will report back with my findings (venue is literally 3 minutes away from me so an early set-up and test still gives me time to nip home for my other lighting if it’s seriously lacking).

Interesting!

It easily filled the room and the programmes certainly made the best use of the lights. Just had the pars on as people arrived, they lit up the whole ceiling and were ample for the space (a full power bar would’ve been too much). A press of the footswitch and I had a synchronised lightshow that looked good from the the back of the room without haze as the Kinta’s had a wide enough spread to hit the walls next to me - I could use haze tonight and with it it did look impressive.

So have to agree with those who say it’s a bit more than the sum of it’s parts.

It’s lightweight so getting it on the stand and raising it is a doddle, the stand is basic, but also lightweight and a decent quality. The wifi footswitch worked well, that’s one less lead to plug in, it just needs a mains lead and that’s it. I reckon I had it set-up and running in about a minute, and equally as quick taking it down - that to me is a massive plus.

Tonight it took 30 minutes from the end of the last song to driving away, and that included chatting while picking at the last of the buffet, I usually load out in about 50 minutes.

It is what it is, but the clever programming does make a massive difference.

So all in all it does enough lighting wise, saves time and effort and means less boxes and leads to carry - so I’ll keep it as I’ll be happy to use it for certain gigs (and I honestly didn’t think I’d be saying that).

[Excalibur]

Interesting!
It is. We're on tenterhooks waiting for the review.


It easily filled the room and the programmes certainly made the best use of the lights.
Owners have commented on how the coverage exceeds their expectations.


So have to agree with those who say it’s a bit more than the sum of it’s parts.
What a good turn of phrase. Must remember that. :)



So all in all it does enough lighting wise, saves time and effort and means less boxes and leads to carry - so I’ll keep it as I’ll be happy to use it for certain gigs (and I honestly didn’t think I’d be saying that).

I rest my case. :D

If it didn't cost £400, I'd have one. a full light show* with one cable and a tripod, fully wired and cased. The concept's cast iron. The execution is open to debate. For a certain type of event and venue ( and in all honesty, quite probably nearer the lower end of the market than the top, but that was never in dispute ) it's a winner.



* Yes, it's a full lightshow. No, it's not a pair of 50w moonflowers, a powerbar, and four moving heads. ;)

[Benny Smyth]

The concept's cast iron. The execution is open to debate. For a certain type of event and venue ( and in all honesty, quite probably nearer the lower end of the market than the top, but that was never in dispute ) it's a winner.

Chauvet are pretty good at coming up with concepts, but other companies will catch on and do it better. Imagine an ADJ Gigbar...

[Imagine]

Martin - welcome to the GigBar owners club....they're something else aren't they :)

Lower end of the market? Only if you're planning on using it on it's own methinks. For things like pubs, village halls etc. (regardless of the function), it more than serves the purpose and provides more than enough light for the "average" function (or the sort of average function that I do and bear in mind I book weddings from kids parties where my lighting rig contains 1980's Showtec lightscreens because the little cherubs can't pull 'em over!)

For things like weddings - depends on the sort of wedding. My market is the evening reception (i.e. a Saturday night in a village hall/pub/the function room over the Co-op funeral parlor but with the all important first dance, and before the wedding specialists knock that...I've got 20 weddings booked for next year already based on what I do...there's a market out there for it and I'm hitting it hard :) ). However the bit that worries me (and the reason I tend to carry other lighting as well) is what happens if something blows internally in the bar? Does the whole thing stop working? Just one light? Could be a tad embarrassing at any party if that happened (which is why I take spare stuff anyway).

Personally, I love Chauvet lighting because it just works for me and the type of gig I do. In fact apart from a couple of ACME ImpossiLeds (which are also a brilliant bit of kit), all of my lighting is Chauvet.

I'm actually looking now at getting a couple of the Swarms in the next week or so to compliment the GB, so I'd have the GB behind me as it is now, and a pair of Swarms either side on poles for bigger stuff (the laser in the Swarms is a lot better rather than just dots). It'll be a hell of a lot easier and quicker to put up than the overhead truss which is being used less and less.

The big question being.....can I link the Swarms and the GB together and let them run the show automagically........

[funkymook]

Martin - welcome to the GigBar owners club....they're something else aren't they :)

However the bit that worries me (and the reason I tend to carry other lighting as well) is what happens if something blows internally in the bar? Does the whole thing stop working? Just one light? Could be a tad embarrassing at any party if that happened (which is why I take spare stuff anyway).



I’ve used it three times now - it’ll never be my favourite lighting but it certainly does the job.

If it blows - just get someone to flick the house lights on and off in time to the music!