End of an Era. Philips discontinues all Strand Luminaires

[tfolsom]

There were many sins commited by the owners between 1997 and 2005 when the sale to Genlyte started the long march back and now Philips

I beg to differ. Before the Genlyte acquisition, there was some very interesting development work going on concerning what was going to be the new software for the Palette consoles - I know this, because I was one of the testers for this software (I signed a non-disclosure agreement at the time, but seeing as this was with a company that now doesn\'t exist I think I\'m probably safe to mention it! ). Bill Richards and the team were doing some very interesting work on developing the software, but when Genlyte entered the equation they obviously didn\'t see the point in continuing this development when they already had Horizon in their product portfolio. That was the only \'sin\'.

 

 

Assumng you are willing to ignore that the prior management obtain (more correctly were given) the company by Rank. In 1997 the turnover was 45m GBP. By 2005 when Genlyte stepped in, the number was down to 23m GBP. It takes much more than clever software to operate a business.

[gareth]

It takes much more than clever software to operate a business.

Another thing it takes is a willingness to support past customers (by, for example, carrying a stock of spares for a discountinued but very popular product so that those examples already 'in the field' might be kept in service for a reasonable lifespan). It also involves answering their questions (if they should ask, for example, whether the aforementioned stock of spares is in fact going to be readily and easily available, in the required quantity, to UK-based owners of a particular product).

 

I know nothing of the turnover of the company, neither then nor now. Frankly, it's of no interest to me. When I buy stage lighting products, I don't care what the annual turnover of the manufacturer was/is - what I care about is whether those products are going to be supported by said manufacturer, in terms of both software development and availability of hardware spares.

[Selecon]

If anyone is having problems with 'sticky' lamp focus knobs on Acclaim Fresnels - it is down to there being a red washer between the focus knob and the body of the lantern. We have corrected this and we no longer use the red washer instead we us a white teflon washer.

 

This does two things; 1) you do not have to over-tighten the focus knob. And, if you do 2) it will still move smoothly without any juddering.

 

If you need any, please contact me and I will be more than happy to sort you out rreed@seleconlight.com

 

AS for the Acclaim F being bigger than the Quartet . . . outside dimension of the Quartet F is 249mm wide and the Acclaim F is 217mm wide. Beam angles Quartet F 10-40 degrees, Acclaim F 6-60 degrees. Again if you are having trouble using any Strand or Selecon fixture, please feel free to contact me.

[tellyman]

It was only a matter of time ... back when the last acquisition happened, all the Strand products were barely given any space at all on the re-launched website, and the bottom of each of their pages featured a very prominent link banner taking the viewer to the page listing the equivalent Selecon product. I reckon the writing was on the wall right from the word go.

 

As to how much life there is left in Strand as a whole - well, I guess that's something that we'll have to wait and see. No more Strand lanterns, and their range of lighting controls (which has been their main strength up until the demise of the 500-series) is being pretty much blown out of the water by ETC and others. I've got a Galaxy 2 and a Duet stashed away in a dark corner - 'living' proof that back in the day Strand were really driving the development of lighting consoles forward, and were at the cutting edge. Another wall/writing interface scenario on the cards, I feel. It's a real shame - in my younger days, when lighting was a schoolboy hobby, the name Rank Strand was synonymous with the British stage lighting manufacturing industry (which was pretty dominant back then). Scary to think that that was a quarter of a century ago (makes me sound like a right old git when you put it in those terms - I'm not, really!) - but evidently that's more than enough time for the driving force of stage lighting manufacturing to totally lose its way. It's a real pity to see it go this way.

 

A Galaxy stashed away in a dark corner??? They are still in use in most of the UK's TV studios (BBC TV Centre and Elstree, Teddington, Pinewood, Granada Manchester, Riverside, MTV etc) as no manufacturer has come up with a newer console that does the job as well as it does. However, most studio centres are desperate for spare parts so would probably be very interested in buying yours!

[Pattern123]

Only down side to codas is the annoying breaking down of the lamp bases (though not that often on the mk 2's)

 

Having bought and repaired three Selecon Lui 1K Floods in the past few weeks in which one side of the lamp base had literally exploded, showering the safety glass with molten metal, don't expect any better from Selecon. The replacement parts appear different, so fingers crossed.

 

Selecon products have undoubtedly improved, but they are still poor compared to ETC, and their floods have gone backwards, the Acclaim Flood was far better than the Hui.

 

For the poster who asked about CCT, they are alive and well and still producing Minuettes and Sils as well as Freedoms - but not many suppliers sell them for whatever reason.

[tony g]

Philips is doing what Philips has done for decades absorbing several different companies in a particular field and merging them by cherry picking bits, I would expect the individual branding of Strand & Selecon to be completely gone within a couple of years.

 

Sadly Strand themselves had for one reason or another never really got back on top after they separated from Rank, they seemed to loose there way in the 1980s and never fully bounced back, particularly with regard to spares and service, whilst they did have good products in their line (Quartet) they also had some shockers like the SL (IMHO)

 

It's intersting to note the curse of the Rank Organisation, few of their industrial operations have survived as stand alone operations after their divestiture:-

 

Strand (stage lighting) - On the way out/ merged

Bush (radio & TV) - Simply a brand name

Murphy (radio & TV) - Gone

Kalee (Cinema equipment)- Gone

Taylor-Hobson (lenses & metrology) - Still in operation

Bell & Howell (AV) - Brand name

Hilger & Watts (Surveying) - Gone

Aldis (projectors & naval signalling) - Gone

Deluxe (colour film) - Merged

 

(Rank-Mamiya, Rank-Nikon & Rank-Xerox were simply agencies that got taken over by their overseas parents)

[Renny]

whilst they did have good products in their line (Quartet) they also had some shockers like the SL (IMHO)

 

An interesting take on things. As someone who uses these lanterns on a daily basis I would say that the quartet (profiles) are a piece of crap in terms of maintenance and have some "interesting" problems in terms of focusing. I can't see how a lantern that you focus to a sharp edge without shutters yet doesn't give you a sharp shutter edge when you place one in the beam can be considered good. The SL is a fantastic piece of design let down by by development. In terms of user friendliness as someone at the business end it pee's all over the Source 4 but sadly the development of the optics and ruggedness was insufficient.

A well maintained SL is a good profile, the quartet never was.

[tony g]

whilst they did have good products in their line (Quartet) they also had some shockers like the SL (IMHO)

 

An interesting take on things. As someone who uses these lanterns on a daily basis I would say that the quartet (profiles) are a piece of crap in terms of maintenance and have some "interesting" problems in terms of focusing. I can't see how a lantern that you focus to a sharp edge without shutters yet doesn't give you a sharp shutter edge when you place one in the beam can be considered good. The SL is a fantastic piece of design let down by by development. In terms of user friendliness as someone at the business end it pee's all over the Source 4 but sadly the development of the optics and ruggedness was insufficient.

A well maintained SL is a good profile, the quartet never was.

 

I guess its all down to personal opinion, but mine is that whilst the quartet answers the brief as a lower priced small range for smaller applications and had some of the kinks in its design ironed out (for example the clip focus levers were replaced by knobs on later 22/40s) The SL fails for exactly the reason you mention and other posters have mentioned, it is undoubtedly a good design, but it's lt down by poorly considered materials particularly on the reflector and burner - a stage light needs to be rugged to survive the life it has to lead, and it must survive a reasonable length of time which involves not only strength of product but an efficient spares & service network - latterly Strand has really fallen down on this. To have gone from a company that would design and install the electrical system for the entire venue and maintain it 30 years ago to what they became is really sad.

[Rowan]

If Strand are stopping supporting their old lanterns, how hard would it be to start making some parts ourselves. There must shutter blades of the same size, or of a similar size that could be cut to fit. I'm sure that somebody on the blue room has the ability to machine some replacement parts, which if not exactly the same will do for most of the jobs.

There could be a thriving industry here making bits for obsolete lanterns of all makes and models.

[the kid]

If Strand are stopping supporting their old lanterns, how hard would it be to start making some parts ourselves. There must shutter blades of the same size, or of a similar size that could be cut to fit. I'm sure that somebody on the blue room has the ability to machine some replacement parts, which if not exactly the same will do for most of the jobs.

There could be a thriving industry here making bits for obsolete lanterns of all makes and models.

 

I am actually getting a load of spare frames, gobo holders and shutters made up by our engineering department as a side project for students. I currently have a very small run being done of things for me and a few friends, they can't do barn doors they are just a bit too intricate which is a pain as I REALLY need another 1 quartet and 2 harmony's.

But if people are particularly desperate for certain items I would suggest a local school or college.

[tony g]

If Strand are stopping supporting their old lanterns, how hard would it be to start making some parts ourselves. There must shutter blades of the same size, or of a similar size that could be cut to fit. I'm sure that somebody on the blue room has the ability to machine some replacement parts, which if not exactly the same will do for most of the jobs.

There could be a thriving industry here making bits for obsolete lanterns of all makes and models.

 

I am actually getting a load of spare frames, gobo holders and shutters made up by our engineering department as a side project for students. I currently have a very small run being done of things for me and a few friends, they can't do barn doors they are just a bit too intricate which is a pain as I REALLY need another 1 quartet and 2 harmony's.

But if people are particularly desperate for certain items I would suggest a local school or college.

 

I second that, the metal shop at my local college have made me replacement colour lugs and forks for patt123/23, they have a little sand casting pit and can copy pretty much anything, Colleges often have a laser cutter which makes short work of colour frames and shutters

[jexjexjex]

As far as floods go, I'd happily pack up my CODA 1s, 3s and 4s; cart them over to the far east and say to some enteprising oriental gentelman "please make lots of these".

[Pattern123]

I'd also suggest we have an 'amnesty' thread on here where we can post any old bits & bobs we have lying around that other people might be desperate for - not sure how the format would work best, but I'll be everyone has one or two odd colour frames & spare parts lying about for lanterns they no longer have.