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I recently inherited a 21 piece big band and I am trying to streamline many of the things that have bugged me for the past 15 years playing in the group. The first thing I did was to purchase a small (5' x 8') trailer for the band's equipment. This is way easier to load in and out than the former leader's conversion van. I put a tailgate ramp on the back of the trailer and rebuilt 4 institutional laundry baskets with casters for hauling stuff. We can load the whole band in with just three trips to the trailer. One basket holds all of the stand fronts and two sound system monitors. Another basket holds the PA speakers, stands, mikes, cords and amp. A third basket carries the keyboard & amp, stand lights, trumpet music stands (folding full desk Hamiltons) and various cords. The other basket is for rehearsal stands and various accoutrement. This beats dozens of trips in and out carrying suitcase sized things.

The other big gripe I had was the spider web of extension cords used to string the stand lights. Not only did it take a long time to set up and tear down, it looked stupid and was a tripping hazard. I bought 60' of 12-3 cable with a black jacket and 15 grey outlet boxes with covers. Then I wired the cable through the outlet boxes so that every two stand fronts could share a double outlet. The stand on the end of each 5 man row had an extra outlet. I also made a shorter cable with four double outlets for the rhythm section lights. This can be plugged into the extra outlet on the end of any horn section row. Now we string the single cable, plug in the lights, and we are good to go.

My next project is to build a mike cord snake so we only have to plug in the solo mikes in each section, instead of running a whole cable back to the PA mixer.

bloke wrote:' would be pretty interesting if PICTURES were included.

will do... but not tonight, I have a headache.

Carroll wrote:

bloke wrote:' would be pretty interesting if PICTURES were included.

will do... but not tonight, I have a headache.

Now, I've heard that excuse before....

Carroll wrote: The other big gripe I had was the spider web of extension cords used to string the stand lights. Not only did it take a long time to set up and tear down, it looked stupid and was a tripping hazard. I bought 60' of 12-3 cable with a black jacket and 15 grey outlet boxes with covers. Then I wired the cable through the outlet boxes so that every two stand fronts could share a double outlet. The stand on the end of each 5 man row had an extra outlet. I also made a shorter cable with four double outlets for the rhythm section lights. This can be plugged into the extra outlet on the end of any horn section row. Now we string the single cable, plug in the lights, and we are good to go.

I really like this idea. I think I'll build one of these for my band. Thanks for posting it.

An extra idea that has worked for me when I make custom cord sets is to color code them. Get some plastic electrical tape, available in about six colors at hardware stores and put a ring of color on each end of like type cords. If the cord you use for the upper riser is longer than the one for the saxes on the floor, distinguish it by putting a red tape ring on each end and a blue ring on the shorter one. Or whatever color you want. You get the idea.

Carroll wrote:

bloke wrote:' would be pretty interesting if PICTURES were included.

will do... but not tonight, I have a headache.

Main set up... not with stand fronts but with my regular band room stands. I think you will get the idea anyway.

The plug for the Rhythm Section

The plug part of the cord with extra outlet for singer's lights, etc.

And finally, an exploded view to show how it all goes together without cutting the main wires. I just stripped back the insulation and wrapped the contact posts in each box.

Neat job. I played in a big band years ago that used risers. Someone had put receptacles in the risers to do the same thing. Sweet, if you always use risers. There is a quality battery light that I use that would preclude the need for cords altogether, but it would cost close to $1500 to outfit the entire band.