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Fred Wright

Fred Wright

Administrator
Staff member
Aug 7, 2006
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Delaware, USA
www.nwedj.com
Welcome, folks.

This forum is specifically for those of us who are hustling to make a buck in the DJ/KJ biz. If you've ever been presented with Radio Shack, Pyramid or Gemsound gear and told to work with it, this is your forum.

If you're starting out and wish to ask some questions, feel free to post 'em here. No one will censure you for asking honest questions and posting your thoughts.

If you can't afford the big name-brand stuff, don't feel alone. And don't feel left out.

Welcome to ODJT and the Wildcatter's Lounge. We are all wildcatters at heart. :)
 
I like the name! :) I've worked with some real garbage equipment in my time. Bars typically provide their own equipment and find the cheapest possible.

The past two bars I've worked have had Fisher 5-CD changers for decks, no pitch control and they'd envitably freeze up after about three hours of play. They aren't made for constant open/close, seek & search. I left one bar due to the owners refusal to at least upgrade to no frills pro-grade equipment. The following season he "caved in" and bought a single CD players but still consumer grade. :rolleyes:

Always remember, especially when equipment is provided to you. If the equipment fails it looks bad for you!
 
One of my local DJ buddies plays a regular Legion gig in Maryland. The house system is all Pyramid gear. Not sure about the turntables... but the rest ~ mixer, amps and speaker cabs ~ is all Pyramid.

For my part I worked with RS gear for many years. Still have the little console-style Realistic mixer. 14 years later, it still works. :)

Still have the first mic I ever owned... an unbalanced Ampex corded mic I found at a flea market for $5.00. Put a foam windscreen over the head and it did the job. :)
 
I still use a seven band per side Fisher equalizer. It is the only piece of equipment remaining from a six piece stereo system that my mother bought in 1987.

Believe it or not, I was the first kid in my neighbourhood to have a CD player. It did not have the center rest. The CD's rested on little ledges around the outside.
 
I started out with an MTX mixer and one single Carvin Speaker! Now I got an American Audio Mixer and JBL Speakers.

I have come a long way. :)
 
I think when we start out, we all start on 'lesser' quality gear. Personally, I started out with a Pyramid 19" mixer, a few Technics Tape decks, and some home audio speakers back in 1989. My light show was a home made box with 16 colored flood lamps (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow) and 4 rocker switches to turn them on and off. Those were the days!

Bottom Line is, we all have to start somewhere!
 
chaos said:
I think when we start out, we all start on 'lesser' quality gear. Personally, I started out with a Pyramid 19" mixer, a few Technics Tape decks, and some home audio speakers back in 1989. My light show was a home made box with 16 colored flood lamps (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow) and 4 rocker switches to turn them on and off. Those were the days!

Bottom Line is, we all have to start somewhere!
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And look where you are now ;)
 
I started working for a company with all Cerwin Vega and EV speakers with Mackie, Crown & EV amps. (I miss those 1400i amps)

Now I have all EV speakers and Crown amps! I always told my self that when I started my own company I wasn't gonna start with crap. So I saved until I could get the good stuff!
 
Those old Radio Shack PA amps did a great job for smaller venues. I started doing the street festival in Madison with those things. Worked with that system for 7 years. :)

Didn't have the RS pro-lookalike cabs, though. Had three pairs of the Mach III home stereo cabinets. :)

I gave one of the amps to Shirl's son and sold the other on eBay last year.

Are they still made by GemSound?
 
Fred Stewart said:
Those old Radio Shack PA amps did a great job for smaller venues. I started doing the street festival in Madison with those things. Worked with that system for 7 years. :)

Didn't have the RS pro-lookalike cabs, though. Had three pairs of the Mach III home stereo cabinets. :)

I gave one of the amps to Shirl's son and sold the other on eBay last year.

Are they still made by GemSound?
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It sure is a different world now Fred..

I spent a lot of years travelling with a Nikko amp that was 240/side and a set of Cerwin Vega MV15s A rostech mixer with a 5 band eq and playing venues that I wouldnt dare go in to now with double that power and processing gear.

The sick part is it sounded really nice back then

At that time I had no subs but the old CVs saved me there they reprodouce Bass very well. They are still on the go I recently leased them to a small Kids club with the same amp and mixer. They still dont sound bad in the right spot

I think alot of it comes down to the fact that the music has changed since most of us were using that gear it requires more to reprodouce the newer stuff than the older stuff properly
 
I sure remember that, Jeff.

The RS Mach IIIs were great for the VFW, Moose and pool parties. I worked with 'em for a few years at the street festivals as well.

There I was playing mostly Country music and the volume was at listening to dancing level. It wasn't in-your-face bass rumble. I gotta admit that those cabs did a decent job at the venues I worked. The lows really shined. But man, they were a lot of weight to load. I affixed casters to 'em to make the transport easier. In some cramped venues I stacked 'em.

It took a few middle school dances to cause me to realize that putting fans on the RS amps and pushing the system to the limit all night wasn't enough. 300 watts per side wasn't gonna do.

I had to get divorced to invest in decent equipment... but that's a topic for another time. :)
 
Fred Stewart said:
I had to get divorced to invest in decent equipment... but that's a topic for another time. :)
Click to expand...

I think Divorces and decent gear must come hand in hand Fred same here with me
 
Jeff Romard said:
I think Divorces and decent gear must come hand in hand Fred same here with me
Click to expand...

I guess I'm lucky. My wife is pretty cool about me buying new gear. When I told her I was going to upgrade from the 1501 I had just purchased, she said "Well, you have to have something that's going to be reliable." :walkman:
 
jfactor1 said:
I guess I'm lucky. My wife is pretty cool about me buying new gear. When I told her I was going to upgrade from the 1501 I had just purchased, she said "Well, you have to have something that's going to be reliable." :walkman:[/QUOTE

Wow what a woman..!!!!
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My wife says that she'd rather I buy gear than pay taxes.. :0

In the 15 years we been together never once has she said anything about anything I have bought or going to an expo or anything work related!
 
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