Blue backstage light bulb

[peelie1970]

Hi, Does anyone know where I can get a blue backstage lighting bulb from. Im new to this and have been given the task of getting hold of one for a show in 3 weeks?? does it just go into a normal bulbe holer etc.

Thanks all. Neil

 

Moderation: Moved to "The Next Generation" which is our forum for simple "beginner" questions. Bob/Mods

[Bobbsy]

I assume you just mean a low wattage blue bulb for a slight general illumination backstage during a show?

 

If so, when I was in the UK I used to buy these at my local Homebase. They had a choice of blue or a couple of other colours at about 25 watts if I recall correctly. I used to use them in an anglepoise lamp above my sound desk.

 

Yes, they had a standard base--I think in my case I used a screw in (ES) type.

 

Bob

[LukeDR]

Hi, Does anyone know where I can get a blue backstage lighting bulb from. Im new to this and have been given the task of getting hold of one for a show in 3 weeks?? does it just go into a normal bulbe holer etc.

Thanks all. Neil

 

Moderation: Moved to "The Next Generation" which is our forum for simple "beginner" questions. Bob/Mods

 

Depends what the light is for? For LX / SD an angle-poise or clip on lamp with some blue gel over it usually does the trick, I have seen some with painted bulbs. I know some places are going more down the LED route these days too.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clip-Light-Mains-Metre-length/dp/B000NVRCM0/ref=pd_rhf_shvl_1 One of these and a bit of gel around it will do the trick or find somewhere to buy a bulb to fit in it. Probally the lower the power the better in this case.

 

 

 

[peelie1970]

Thanks for the replies, ill do that.

[andrewg112]

Maybe something like this? from your local maplins

 

Or a low energy bulb, which doesent generate nearly as much heat, with blue gel wrapped around it!

 

Andy,

[dbuckley]

One can purchase glass paint at craft shops, and (I was going to say I, but that would be a lie) my beloved paints ordinary bulbs (25W) with it. You're supposed to bake on on after applying, but we never bother. Works on CFLs too, but they are just too damned bright!

[TomHoward]

You can get 15W fridge & oven bulbs from most supermarkets and DIY shops, which are a nice low output light to start with if you're looking at a bulb to cover with gel.

[peelie1970]

Thanks everyone, really helpful im off to buy some bulbs tomorrow.

[adam2]

As posted above, blue lamps or the means to colour them are readily available.

The blue CFLs may be too bright for this application.

Another option would be an LED golfball lamp, these are 1 watt and roughly equivalent to a 15 watt incandescent. They last almost indefinatly and use very little power.

Although blue light is traditional, I believe that low intensity light of any colour would be suited. The 1 watt LED golfballs are available in red, blue, yellow, green and white.

The green is the brightest, and yellow the dimmest.

[jonathanhill]

Blue is used in 'low-light' conditions because it has the shortest wavelength and therefore suffers the most attenuation.

[richb]

Just going to pop this link in http://www.gds.uk.com/blues-system.php in case it's of any use for people searching for this thread down the line. Obviously they're better suited to longer term installations, but seem to be a good solution to avoid having to contantly scrabble around to fix something up last minute.

 

No vested interest, just heard good things about them.

[willdoweuk]

we just use blue gels inside our lamp enclosures. They work fin with a few 60w lamps.

[fennell-p]

LEDs are the way forward. If you make a chain of them on around your backstage area, you can dim them from the Stage Managers desk. That way you can have bright 'working light' during the get-in, rehearsals, and get-out, but also dim them down during the show.

[bigclive]

Note that most mains powered LED lamps do not take well to being dimmed at all. They usually use a capacitor based dropper inside and the sharp repetitive switching of phase angle control will cause continuous high current spikes through the LEDs and high dissipation in the internal series resistor. Many burn out or go dim quickly on dimmed circuits.

 

For standard switched backstage blues you can also get bayonet-cap or Edison to GU10 adapters and then use GU10 style LED lamps in ordinary fixtures.

[Smiffy]

Not really that appropriate for the OP as it's more of an install thing, although I believe that there are a couple of systems that have been modded for rentals purposes.

 

However

 

http://www.gds.uk.com/blues-system.php

 

Could be useful as a future reference for anyone that manages a search of the forums.

 

 

Cheers

 

Smiffy