Stand or Truss???

Ron said:

I generally like to setup my T-Bar real close to one of my speaker stands. Less overall equipment footprint.

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Don't fool yourself, it takes up the same footprint. Get your tape measure out and see for yourself when you add up the totals. On the contrary it looks more congested and conspicuous when everything is all clumped together. Take a photo and see. :triwink:

sightsandsounds said:

We looked into getting a truss last year. Thought it would look better than the than the stands we were using.

But after giving it serious thought, we realized that there were some venues that a truss simply can not fit in where the stands can. Unless you are doing large gyms and massive banquet halls with high ceilings, I would avoid the truss.

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Truss will fit in most venues where you can use stands , you just have to be smart about how you're using it. When the ceilings are too low to use 10 foot sticks of truss then you use crank stands and put the stick of truss across them instead of a full truss setup. Having both setups i recommend buying your stands first, and THEN look into getting your truss next. There is a HUGE benefit to having both options to fit whatever event you may have, but stands are the more versatile option to start and definitely easier to manage.

Ausumm said:

I play in too many small venues that simply do not have the room for truss
or a DJ

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there I fixed that for you! :tribiggrin::triwink:

Trusses became extremely popular about ten years ago. They afforded you the real estate to mount several different types of lights, neatly, and orderly, and gave a somewhat professional appearance.
Please keep in mind that whether you use a totem set up or a truss, the same footprint for your set up is required.
That said, things have changed dramatically.
New innovative LED light fixtures, and compact lasers, cause today's DJ to need less fixtures.
For example, the new LED Moving Heads , ie. Q Spot 260, Torrent 90, produce gobos, spotlight, wash light, all in one fixture. The small compact Micro lasers by American DJ produce vibrant color images.
Most professional DJs have now adopted Totem Pole set ups. You can cover the totems with scrims and illuminate them, producing a light show in and of themselves. Coupled with a fabric style front board like my FaCIEd ™, or the Dragon board, or DJ Lite Board, you can now produce a terrific image, in which you can hide all those unsightly wires with ease!

For these reasons, I have discontinued using my trusses and have opted for the Totem "CIE Tower" design.View attachment 24785