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Author Topic: What to buy for the stage power?  (Read 4263 times)

Jeff Bankston

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Re: What to buy for the stage power?
« Reply #10 on: May 06, 2020, 05:15:52 AM »

If it aint broke dont mess with it. However it is a good idea to have a licensed electrician preferably and old guy with decades of experience to check receptacles, and all ground and neutral busses in panels. If theres a transformer have him check that the XO is wired correctly. I was sent to help a guy finish a warehouse job and the companies BEST electrician didnt ground the XO. I am a retired commercial electrician. 

Also that audiophile stuff is mostly crap. A friend worked at 3 different audiophile stores here in lost angeles in the late 80's and early 90's. The amps, preamps, speakers, turntable were awesome but the super dupper power cable, $50,000 speaker cables, $20,000 cord plug are all BS.
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Ike Zimbel

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Re: What to buy for the stage power?
« Reply #11 on: May 06, 2020, 09:29:00 AM »

But there are times when something on the stage is humming we move it to another outlet or try a different cable. Something usually works. I do have one guy that plays fairly often and his box of guitar pedals always hums somewhat. I've just always wondered if something "cleaning" the power would help.
One habit I got into a long time ago was to always look at the AC plugs on back line equipment. First, to check to see if the ground pin hand been broken off (bad!) and secondly to see if a replacement plug had been wired in. In the 2nd case, very, very often, the wiring was incorrect and needed to be re-done.
WRT your question about "cleaning" the power: If everything normally works and then the occasional set-up is noisy, the problem is with the set-up and not with your power.
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~Ike Zimbel~
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Mike Monte

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Re: What to buy for the stage power?
« Reply #12 on: May 10, 2020, 10:23:23 AM »

I've inherited the soundman position at our local 55+ community's theater, apparently because I'm the only one who read the manual for our Soundcraft GB4-32 board. I did help out the former soundman and learned a lot and basically I can handle the tribute bands that we tend to book.

I was reading an interview in the Sweetwater mailer and he casually mentioned the importance of line conditioners on the stage power, and I've always considered that the stage power outlets weren't the cleanest. I don't know what other things are on those circuits but I'm thinking maybe it would pay to put something between those old stage floor outlets and the various keyboards, amps, guitar boxes, etc.

I started looking through Amazon for electric line conditioner and don't know what would help, if any would. We don't need rack mounting (the rack has a conditioner) and that would likely create problems physically plugging things in so I'd stay away from rack mount stuff. So what do you recommend I do? We don't have much of a budget but most of the serious items are around $100 and I can do that for one or two.

First of all I am wary of most anything put out from a vendor: You definitely need "this".... (means watch-out to me)  Most of the time it's an "upsell"...just like going to a restaurant, ordering a meal and asking the waiter "Do you know what wine pairs well with this?" When asked, the waiter n-e-v-e-r recommends the house (least expensive) wine.....

Assuming that the room is not a 500 seater, IMO to be very accommodating the bands should get three dedicated 20 amp circuits; one for PA, one for stage power, and one for lights.  All outlets should be stage-side. 
Bands usually bring their own extensions, etc.
If you want to be really nice you could get two of these:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PDX430--hosa-pdx-430-power-distribution-cord-30-feet?mrkgadid=3274464262&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=gpla&mrkgbflag=0&mrkgcat=livesound&lighting=&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=92700046938738817&lid=92700046938738817&ds_s_kwgid=58700005283820807&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=411569127080&product_id=PDX430&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&locationid=9002142&creative=250341283160&targetid=pla-411569127080&campaignid=953755110&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_rP0yrmp6QIVwZyzCh0aowwtEAQYAiABEgLv4vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
and run one across the front of the stage and one along the back wall of the stage.  This, however, will increase your liability as there will be more things to trip on....

Not knowing the room, the best investment (already mentioned) would be to hire a licensed electrician to verify that the power is on the up'n up.  This way you'll know what you have to work with on the get-go.

If you mention to the manager of the 55+ Community that you have some safety concerns about the stage/room power (voice your thoughts in an email to the manager) you can get every breaker/outlet labeled during the inspection and it may not even come out of your budget.

safety first.....

 
« Last Edit: May 10, 2020, 12:20:07 PM by Mike Monte »
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Re: What to buy for the stage power?
« Reply #12 on: May 10, 2020, 10:23:23 AM »


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