Dark stages - what to do?

[Oddly]

I agree about the stage lights, but sometimes that's simply out of your control.

Luminlay fret markers

I'd go with this for those times where it's needed.

 

[bulldean]

I played with a drummer that had obnoxious bright disco lights around the bottom of his drums. If you looked at the neck of your bass it would blind you.

 

[Fathand]

Some reflecting tape on the fret positions should do the trick.

But you could also go this route: I'm pretty blind without my glasses, which I don't use on stage (also no contacts, too much hassle) so I just simply learned to put my fingers on the correct places based on the location and distances from the nut/0 fret and 7th fret positions. Sometimes I did cheat and put some duct tape on the 7th fret, just to find it quickly. This is one reason I don't really got outside the classic 34" scale live... it messes up my muscle memory.

Frees you from looking at the fretboard - more time for headbanging! Unless you play country or R'n'B, then you might want to skip the last part...

 

[turf3]

Just get a regular clamp on light and put a 25W or equivalent bulb in it. Even 25W is plenty enough to be able to see a fretboard. Clamp it to something convenient and up high. Use AC. Carry a long extension cord and 3-in-1 divider. Personally I use music stand lights (the real kind, AC powered, not the battery ones that run out midway thru the third set) because I've got five or six of them, but you can probably find all kinds of useful lights at a well stocked hardware or home furnishings store.

 

[catcauphonic]

Just get a regular clamp on light and put a 25W or equivalent bulb in it. Even 25W is plenty enough to be able to see a fretboard. Clamp it to something convenient and up high. Use AC. Carry a long extension cord and 3-in-1 divider. Personally I use music stand lights (the real kind, AC powered, not the battery ones that run out midway thru the third set) because I've got five or six of them, but you can probably find all kinds of useful lights at a well stocked hardware or home furnishings store.

Ha ^ this post just reminded me of a story that's kinda funny in hindsight...

Most of the places we play here in Seattle are actual music venues constructed with the intent of having live bands, so we've never had to deal with jenky electrical wiring or dark stages unless a performer requests it.

Our first trip out of town however, was at a place that was just starting to have live music, and I guess we came early in their 'learn as you go' journey. It was an odd lineup of us playing post punk in between a gothic sounding electroclash duo and a metal band.

After realizing that the large stage was darker during the first act than the dimly lit dancefloor, I approached the guy working sound and asked if he had ANY kind of lighting he could hook us up with, to which he replied "Sure."

When it was our turn to go up there and set up, he disappears in the back and returns with two worker clamp lights with one 25w red bulb each and places one on each floor corner of the 35ish' stage. Now my bass has a bare fretboard with only the tiny side dots on the top side of the neck, so when I'm looking at it all I can see is a vague outline of the neck barely bathed from the bottom in red which really didn't help all that much

Luckily I often attempt to practice with my eyes closed, and at some point early on I did manage to locate a sweet spot where a reflection of something else was casting a very tiny beam of red light to the top of the neck if I stayed there and didn't move around too much. If I recall we ended up playing a pretty good set that night.

Since then I've been considering ordering something like those glow in the dark stars that were kinda popular to put on your bedroom ceiling a few decades ago, to put atop the side dots or on the fingerboard and then just peel and Goo Gone them off after a show, but since we've not played many unknown venues since then I never actually followed thru with it.

 

[Jimmy4string]

FIRE!!

 

[Winslow]

EL wire suits for the whole group!

 

[andawun]

I keep a couple of these in my car for such occasions. https://www.amazon.com/Remon-Waterp...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

[bulldean]

I keep a couple of these in my car for such occasions. https://www.amazon.com/Remon-Waterp...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

That looks like a good idea, but wouldn't it be on the floor pointed up blinding you?

 

[andawun]

That looks like a good idea, but wouldn't it be on the floor pointed up blinding you?

I've only used them to light the whole band when BL thought the club had lights but there was none. Put them on top of mains, on the handles of mains and stage railing. Got the idea from the "Weekend Warrior Stage Lighting Discussion" in the Live Sound forum.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Get yourself a Chauvet light bar or two.
These take no time to set up, are lightweight m, come with the stand & carrying case. Lights are LED’s so they give off no heat.

I just got a gigbar 2. $500 comes with stand, case, remote and footswitch.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=chauvet+..._9456383&tag=hydsma-20&ref=pd_sl_6h2sso1egd_e

 

[nixdad]

I just got a gigbar 2. $500 comes with stand, case, remote and footswitch.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=chauvet+..._9456383&tag=hydsma-20&ref=pd_sl_6h2sso1egd_e

Nice! Congrats!

 

[murph7489]

I have this problem too, I have a maple neck and fretboard with small black side markers and we have lighting bars and whatever but it seems like everytime I need to look at the dots ( usually before a song starts) the lights are off..I can see them with my glasses but I hate wearing them while gigging, I look like a geek..

Thinking seriously about the led side markers..then I can play without the glasses..they are around 100 bucks US but probably worth it..However right now I have to either buy a new cab or a new speaker for the cab I have because the LS in my band let another band that was playing before ours use my rig without me knowing it..and when I went up after they were done I noticed the guy had my amp up way louder than I've ever had it..
so I didn't notice it at the gig but at the next practice a week later I hit a B on the E string and this rattling came out of my cab...So, I guess thats it for the cab..funny that it only happens on that note..but..I think that is a good indicator of a ruined speaker..

LED lights for the win..

 

[Michedelic]

Finger Beam Lights | Oriental Trading

 

[micguy]

I stand on the back of big stages all the time, and for some reason they don't light us much (the singers get the light) - most of what hits us is from the front, and my fret markers are on the back of my neck. I use sharpies to make big ugly black marks on my necks - those little dots are too small. I have used fluorescent spike tape at times as well. One weekend, we were providing the music behind a video (no singers), and the only light on my instrument was what was reflected off the screen. At times, the screen went black, and the only recourse I had to figure out where I was was to count frets from the nut. Somehow, I didn't tank the thing, but it was a very real possibility at times.

 

[catcauphonic]

Finger Beam Lights | Oriental Trading

I remember seeing a gothic inspired solo artist use a version of these on some sort of a homemade metal glove way back over 25 years ago... I remember thinking how cool it was, and the most memorable part of his set!

 

[TNCreature]

I recently started playing with an original band that had gigs booked right away. I had no choice but to use charts on stage for the first gig.
The Guitar Player had all of the Chords written in red, so of course, every time a red stage light was used, the chords...disappeared.

 

[tomilchik]

Been there had to use ear.

True that, ultimately.
There are gotchas, tho, with ear + muscle memory:
* sometimes gotta hit the main note spot on, no time to wiggle or slide into it; ear will tell you later if the spot was truly on, but not in that moment;
* some of us play diff basses regularly (I do); muscle memory glitches a bit.

 

[dalkowski]

When I find myself in a dark stage, a long walk in the woods is a helpful tonic.

+1 to china marker

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Yeah, I'm with you. I recently bought a new bass that has a very dark roasted maple neck. First gig with it was such a stage.