By now, everyone knows I'm a nut case when it comes to backups. I have a backup everything. Backup keyboard, a couple backup laptops, back up mics, backup vocal processor - you name it and I probably have more than one of them, especially when it comes to music gear. Hell, I even have three tuxedos and two pair of patten-leather shoes - just in case.

Until recently, the only thing, other than my wife and van, that I didn't have a backup for was my custom console. So, last week I went to the local welding shop, took my console with me, and told them what I wanted. The console is constructed from 1/8-inch heavy duty aluminum, has a lexan shelf on top, and a lexan covered sign on the front. Inside, there's a 10 port surge suppressor with a ground fault indicator, TC Helicon Harmony-M, power supply for the laptop and power supply for the keyboard. The sign on the front is lighted with a strip light, and the keyboard is lighted with an identical light. You can find detailed instructions on the construction at PSR Tuturial.

On my previous console, the lights were under the cabinet strip lights that I purchased from Home Depot for $18.99 each.They're 18 inches long and incandescent. All the crap about global warming made incandescent bulbs illegal and obsolete.

Fortunately, I was able to find LED strips that were much brighter, easy to install, but twice the price. The lights are guaranteed to last 55,000 hours, which is probably a bit longer than I'll be on the planet and playing music. The intensity of the lights blew my mind - just unbelievable. I found them at Elemental LED The total cost, including shipping for 36 inches of strip was $82. When I'm finished the project I'll shoot some photos and post them.

Cheers,

Gary

Gary,

Sounds like a very cool project. I'm a visual person, so I would LOVE to see some photos of the finished product / your gig rig with the new LED lights on it. In the PSR Tutorial article, I didn't really get a good sense of how you access the controls on the Harmony M once it is mounted.

Regards

Way cool, Gary. So these things come in a 16.4ft spool? Do you just cut off the amount you need? How does that work re. plugging the thing in? Look forward to the photos. Cheers.

The intensity of the lights (and sound) that blew my mind at the same time has to be the Model 950 Leslie, the big brother to my Model 900 that I sold this past summer. Worth a look. See link.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J1XqxabUmkA

The video shows a stock Model 950 Leslie, ultra rare and comes with built in black lights. Not very portable, I think over 300 lbs., but definitely visually and sonicly mind blowing. Would of loved to hear this thing hooked up to my Hammond.

Anyway, interesting info on your custom made console and the lighting.

Marcus

I'm in the final stages of completing my backup custom console, the lights and sign are now installed, and the laptop is in place. Still have to mount the stuff inside, but I ran out of Industrial Strength Velcro so it will have to wait to the weekend to be completed. Here's some photos, however, just to give you an idea of how it looks.

1. With just the office florescent light on this is the view from the back.



2. With just the office light, which is a standard, ceiling panel florescent light that is the same as a shop light, you cannot see the sign on the front of the console.



3. Next, I turned the office lights off, therefore, the only light showing on the keyboard and console are from those tiny 18-inch strips of LEDs.



4. The view from the front with no lights other than the LEDs clearly lights the sign and the floor directly beneath the keyboard.



I sincerely believe this setup would be very beneficial to someone working in a dimly lit area such as a restaurant/bar/club situation. You can easily see the keyboard, the sign, and the reflected light from the top of the keyboard lights the player up with a great, soft light that puts forth a wonderful mood for dancers.

The console fits nicely on the top tier of my Quick-Loc QL-642, double-braced keyboard stand. The top of the console is just 2.5 inches above the top of the keyboard, therefore the 11-inch laptop does not obstruct the view of the audience to the player at all.

The main advantage of the console is that it holds everything that would normally either be sitting on the floor, and because of the way I have it set up, all the wires stay plugged into the laptop, vocal processor and power supplies. Even the foot pedal for the vocal processor stays plugged in and the pedal is attached with Velcro inside the console when it's being transported. I've built about 10 of these, and decided that I'm not going to build any more. When I built the first one, the cost of the aluminum was under $20 including the labor to have it bent into the shape I wanted. The same piece of aluminum today is $50.

When I finish mounting all the other items inside, I'll shoot some additional photos.

Cheers,

Gary

Gary, Thanks so much for the pictures!!!

I really love that setup. It looks functional and professional. Instead of using aluminum, why don't you use all plexiglass? Would that be cheaper? I really have to look into doing something like this. I would store my mixer in there as well, so I would like to put a shelf in there if I could.

Gar, very impressive 1st class looking setup.
Thanks for sharing.

Scott

Smooth looking rig there, Gary. Thanks for the pics.

Al, my first one was made of Lexan, and it held up for about two years, then constant exposure to temperature changes made the Lexan brittle and it eventually began cracking. The first aluminum one I made is still going strong after a decade of handeling every day.

When Don Mason was using his, he had a mixer mounted on the top next to his laptop.

Gary