LED lighting.

[Al Krow]

@JPJ interesting about putting out too much light - was the iColor adjustable on brightness? I guess another would be an extension plug with built in dimmer switch. (Although dunno if that is going to set off any safety issue alarm bells?)

Edited September 3 by Al Krow

[gazhowe]

4 hours ago, JPJ said:

So at our last gig one of my old iColor 3’s took a stage dive and is no longer with us 😪 Having hummed and haa’d about upgrading for some time, I have finally bit the bullet and gone for a pair of LEDJ 211’s. They put out quite a bit less lumens but we never ran the iColor’s at full power anyway so I am hoping these will serve well as stage wash lights. I will report back once I’ve tried them out in anger. 

We are using the two original LEDJ Q Colour filters for stage wash. Those new LEDJ fixtures you've just purchased are more powerful so I suspect they will do the job nicely. 

[Al Krow]

Another band I know well have been using a Stairville CLB5 for their gigs. What seems particularly neat about this unit (although my mate's band are not using it this way) is the ability to set one or two of the units to light up the stage area in white with a steady beam, but have the the remaining two or three units in colour to light up the dance floor with sound to light, and manage to do that all without DMX.

 

That provides a relatively budget one-stop solution to enhance both the stage and audience lighting for the band. It's also a lot more compact than my Chauvet GigBar2 and therefore will be a lot easier to take to gigs and consequently likely to get more use!

Edited September 4 by Al Krow

[Phil Starr]

On 26/08/2025 at 20:13, Al Krow said:

What are folk using for stage lighting to light up the band members?

 

Ideally a single bar floor uplight would be good if they don't blind and are not unflattering - does such a set up exist?

 

Hi Al, I know that you've heard this already via a pm, but the PixelBar Switch has a swap-able front which diffuses the light and works well on the floor uplighting the band. You can set the colour and intensity via DMX or with the controls on the unit and they will work in master-slave mode so you can link them with a DMX cable and have them all the same without having to program each separately. I found the other LED bars to focussed to use in this mode as they dazzle you every time you look down. 

 

I currently use them in a vertical position on stands. This lights up your whole body more evenly and is more flattering than an uplighter. I'm no great beauty so need all the help I can get

 

I've recently spotted these and fortunately one of our local music pubs has bought a set of 4 so I've seen them in action. At just under £30 they look good value and for just under £50 they also do a rechargeable version (12 hours light) which will cut the leads needed and set up time. Brightness isn't exceptional but plenty for my use and a set of four would light up the whole stage without distracting from you lightshow

 

 

[Al Krow]

On 03/09/2025 at 10:31, Al Krow said:

A mate's band has been using this to good effect for up-lighting, which I've recently seen in action: 60W RGB 24PCS LEDs Wall Washer 

 

I've taken a punt on one for my crew, and at just £36 inc P&P - not too much downside!  

 

Thanks Phil. I did consider getting a couple of the bars that you bought, but I ended up going for one of these as a floor up light due to ease of set up and being relatively inexpensive. I'd seen them in action at a mate's gig (he has four around the stage) - they work really well to light up his singers, and don't seem to give the band any issues in terms of getting blinded - which, as you say, is quite key!

Edited September 6 by Al Krow

[Woodinblack]

On 03/09/2025 at 10:31, Al Krow said:

A mate's band has been using this to good effect for up-lighting, which I've recently seen in action: 60W RGB 24PCS LEDs Wall Washer 

turned up today, amazing for £36!

[Al Krow]

3 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

turned up today, amazing for £36!

 

Weirdly, so did mine!

[Chienmortbb]

Those are now sold out but I have ordered something similar for £33🤞

[Phil Starr]

As a result of all of you posting I think I have GAS. Damn you all 🤣😂

 

I was about to recommend looking at U'King for absurdly cheap Chinese made LED lighting. My mini laser projector came from there, as did a couple PAR cans that proved too powerful to use. 180W of LED, that has to be a mis-print or bull***t?! Possibly as I've no way of measuring but the only venue I've found them useful is outdoors. I was really sceptical about anything this cheap as we probably all are but they've always been really good in the sense of as described and delivered on time. Anyway I digress, whist checking out a link for them I found an led bar that has a moving head for £28 on eBay, so I've ordered one and will get a second if it is any good. I'll report back on what I find. Can anyone go lower than this for a usable led bar? This is getting silly, in a good way

 

Here

[Stub Mandrel]

47 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

As a result of all of you posting I think I have GAS. Damn you all 🤣😂

 

I was about to recommend looking at U'King for absurdly cheap Chinese made LED lighting. My mini laser projector came from there, as did a couple PAR cans that proved too powerful to use. 180W of LED, that has to be a mis-print or bull***t?! Possibly as I've no way of measuring but the only venue I've found them useful is outdoors. I was really sceptical about anything this cheap as we probably all are but they've always been really good in the sense of as described and delivered on time. Anyway I digress, whist checking out a link for them I found an led bar that has a moving head for £28 on eBay, so I've ordered one and will get a second if it is any good. I'll report back on what I find. Can anyone go lower than this for a usable led bar? This is getting silly, in a good way

 

Here

 

That price is the dmx controller.

 

The LED bar is much more expensive.  Misleading listing... always check the drop downs.

[JPJ]

On 03/09/2025 at 12:01, JPJ said:

So at our last gig one of my old iColor 3’s took a stage dive and is no longer with us 😪 Having hummed and haa’d about upgrading for some time, I have finally bit the bullet and gone for a pair of LEDJ 211’s. They put out quite a bit less lumens but we never ran the iColor’s at full power anyway so I am hoping these will serve well as stage wash lights. I will report back once I’ve tried them out in anger. 

So the LEDJ 211’S arrived this week and I used them last night when I was “Dad’s Disco” at my youngest daughter’s 30th birthday party (wife’s suggestion, an upstairs hump 😤). Unlike my old iColors, the LEDJ’s use five-pin DMX and you need a minimum 6-channel controller so more expense buying a new controller and three five-pin to three-pin adapters. Anyway, I’m very impressed with the lights, they filled the dance floor beautifully and were bright and colourful. Interestingly, they are almost as heavy as the iColor’s they’ve replaced which I was not expecting, but the level of built-in control more than makes up for this.