Minuettes

[sunray]

One of the AmDram groups I help with are planning to get some more profiles, so far they have a random mix showtec's, strand and CCT's being 6 in total.

Some Minuette 22/36's have been offered. Other than getting LED units are there any views on their worthiness?

[sandall]

Does the offer come with a price tag ? Not a bright as Acclaims or Preludes, but small & light, & perfectly adequate for small halls.

[sunray]

I think he said £50 each.

[sandall]

Sounds reasonable, assuming they come with lamps, etc. & aren't too scruffy.

[p.k.roberts]

I had a few of these. Fairly easy to service and spares are available. I'd check that the rear lenses aren't cracked (I had that happen to a few) and for that price, I'd probably expect the shutter blades included as well.

[xllx]

I think he said £50 each.

 

£50 seems steep unless they are in excellent condition

 

I liked the Minuette back in the day, but they are quite an old lantern now.

 

Check the shutter blades, at that price you should have 4, with nice straight edges, not buckled by heat. Check the lenses, particularly the rear one, which can crack. Will usually be fine with a crack, until you try to project a gobo!

 

If they are ex hire stock, they might well have been resprayed multiple times, so look for original paint as a sign of how rough a life they have had.

 

They do come up fairly often on ebay, so don't rush to buy the first ones you get offered.

 

Consider the Selecon Acclaims which in my opinion are a more robust unit, or if you can find he money, some source 4 Jr zooms.

[pritch]

They're a pretty decent, reasonably tough little lantern. I found they had pretty good focusability, and did gobo duty pretty well.

 

I inherited a bunch a while ago that had damaged lamp holders due to the lamp pins getting welded in place; that was a bit of an awkward fix and I seem to recall it involved drilling spot welds out (it's been a few years though, someone correct me if I recall wrongly).

 

The other criticism is that they don't half make a racket when they're cooling down, which was especially noticeable in a small space!

[sandall]

I inherited a bunch a while ago that had damaged lamp holders due to the lamp pins getting welded in place; that was a bit of an awkward fix and I seem to recall it involved drilling spot welds out (it's been a few years though, someone correct me if I recall wrongly).

 

The other criticism is that they don't half make a racket when they're cooling down, which was especially noticeable in a small space!

I don't remember having to do any drilling-out to change lamp-bases, but it's also been a few years..... Also never noticed a cooling-down racket, though their small size does mean they get very hot, especially with 650W lamps, but maybe my venues were noisier than yours....

 

By "lamp, etc." I was assuming hook-clamp, 4 shutters (with handles !!) & no cracked lenses, though I would imagine there are still plenty of spares around.

 

Slightly off-topic - if anyone has Zero-88 queries, don't expect the usual instant response from Cwmbran - there seems to be an IT issue stopping them logging into their BR accounts.

[sunray]

Thanks all for the comments so far, generally I've seen nothing that's saying don't get them and £50 is OK if the shutters are flat and complete. I haven't seen them at all, in fact I suspect the guy who's asking me about them hasn't either. Hook clamps and safeties are not a concern as there is a dusty boxfull of them under the stage.

 

The other criticism is that they don't half make a racket when they're cooling down, which was especially noticeable in a small space!

Not sure which but one or possibly two of the existing profiles creak when they cool down and the Minim 23's certainly do too.

[sunray]

I think he said £50 each.

£50 seems steep unless they are in excellent condition&lt;br /&gt;I liked the Minuette back in the day, but they are quite an old lantern now.<br />Check the shutter blades, at that price you should have 4, with nice straight edges, not buckled by heat. Check the lenses, particularly the rear one, which can crack. Will usually be fine with a crack, until you try to project a gobo!<br />If they are ex hire stock, they might well have been resprayed multiple times, so look for original paint as a sign of how rough a life they have had.<br />They do come up fairly often on ebay, so don't rush to buy the first ones you get offered.<br />Consider the Selecon Acclaims which in my opinion are a more robust unit, or if you can find he money, some source 4 Jr zooms.

 

It turns out the original set of 4 were on Ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4X-CCT-Minutte-Profile-21-gt-36-Spotlight-Theatre-Stage-Lighting-Generic-/293070384125?ul_noapp=true&nma=true&si=8gGL9xu3gWT5iMixpDsU4PsneWI%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557  and had been sold by the time he tried to purchase.

 

On that basis which fittings should we particularly be looking at or avoiding.

 

There seem to be a number of Strand Preludes recently.

 

Edit: I'm now struggling to get rid of formatting, any advice?

Edited July 2, 2019 by sunray

[sandall]

Preludes are noticeably bigger & heavier than Minuettes (which may or not be a factor in your venue). The big issue we had with them was that the catches on the lamptrays had a habit of spontaneously coming undone (invariably over audience !!), leaving the lamp shining at the backs of heads :(

 

Can't help with formatting - the "Remove formatting" button doesn't !!

[kgallen]

Prelude F and PC any day of the week for me. They are the TH workhorses in my stock. 500W and 650W no problem. Prelude profiles are pretty good too - certainly my preference over the Quartets, although I do find they can have saggy tilt locks, so worth a bit of service attention there. Some models of the Prelude profiles have slide lids above the lenses which is handy for cleaning. Prelude profiles take B gobos (rather than M for Quartets) so that is more convenient if your other stock is Source 4s or 1k profiles like Cantatas.

 

Quartet F and PC are ok too unless you need to replace the captive cable!

 

Quartet profiles Mk1 are impossible to clean without fully dismantling - if you can get the long screws out. Quartet profiles Mk2 have better light output (they have bigger lenses) and better lens lock knobs but maintenance is still a pain - and you don't see many around.

 

Just my 2p worth.

 

Kevin

Edited July 2, 2019 by kgallen

[CPlater1]

My stock of lanterns is predominantly Acclaims, though with profiles I do have 2 Zoomspot, and 2 Axial, so they have different output.

[gyro_gearloose]

I would be amazed if any Preludes still around these days have decent reflectors anymore! Chrome plated Aluminium next to a heat source doesn't give the reflectors a long life. The same can be said for the bigger Strand fixtures too.

 

Also, I've had to replace the lamp bases on a few of our Preludes. Rather than fannying about trying to drill through spot welds, I found it easier to drill the lamp base rivets out of both the old and new bases, and use thin bolts to fix the new lamp bases into the old trays.

[kgallen]

Rather than fannying about trying to drill through spot welds, I found it easier to drill the lamp base rivets out of both the old and new bases, and use thin bolts to fix the new lamp bases into the old trays.

 

Yep ditto, I've done quite a few. Ends up a nice job

 

I would be amazed if any Preludes still around these days have decent reflectors anymore!

 

I must be lucky then, all of mine are in really good condition - and I have quite a range of model years! I have done a round of replacing the internal earth bonding though, the gn/yw insulation does go a bit crunchy over the years!

 

What am I doing - promoting them as solid lanterns will just push up the price for when I want to buy some more!