For want of a light bulb

Gandalfe

Gandalfe

Striving to play the changes in a melodic way.
Staff member
Administrator
The last time I was in a pit (two years ago and probably my last time) two fellow musicians borrowed my two spare stand light bulbs. They didn't return a replacement. I know, I know, I should get over it but damn.

So at the last Big Band gig, I was lending stand light bulbs again. I'm just sayin...
 
How many light bulbs does it take to screw a sax player?
 
Those darn long skinny light bulbs are expensive and fragile - the filament must be two inches long. I've been buying the standard 25 watt appliance bulbs like you would put in a fridge or oven. They last much longer, and provide good light.
 
I've been using normal light bulbs for the past few years. I tape a blue gel over them to soften them up. My roommate has since switched to LED's *he's a drummer*, and they are working well for him, so I might jump over to that. He's an electrical engineer, so we build a converter to allow 4 LED's to be put in, instead of the normal light bulb.
 
Why not use a LED reading light? A couple of them would probably do the trick nicely.
 
Ed Svoboda said:
Why not use a LED reading light? A couple of them would probably do the trick nicely.
Click to expand...

I've done shows with them in the past. They are fine.
 
Not for these old eyes. I've tried LED music lights and other LED lights, and while they are fine for general illumination, they do not shed enough light for me to read by or read music by.

I have recently acquired an Ikea solar powered LED reading lamp which has proven to be brighter than any of the other LEDs that I've used, so I may try it and see how it works. It's a clever design, with a removable battery pack/solar panel that can be set out in the sun separately from the rest of the lamp. The extremely bright LED module is mounted on a goose neck - all in all a very neat design.
 
All of our stand lights have the compact fluorescent bulbs. You just have to get the small ones.
 
Let there be light!

At REI you can get an LED headlamp pretty inexpensively. Lightweight, 4 bright white LEDs, and runs all night on 3 AAA batteries. Yes, I've used mine much more for hiking than pit playing (haven't had the opportunity to play a pit for years), but they are definitely bright enough to read by. Also good for plumbing problems in dark cabinets :-D The one I have has several settings, with decreasing brightness (saves on the battery life). I use rechargeable NiH batteries, and get quite a few hours between charges. (Also, it is easy enough to carry a spare set with you.)

OK, even though you're pretty much invisible sitting in the pit, you may be sensitive to looking a bit goofy wearing a headlamp. If teased, you can set the lamp to the "strobe" setting, which flashes in an extremely annoying manner :emoji_rage:

Just don't look directly at the director...
 
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