freak jury opinions sought. WIDE (will light up TWO pages) rechargeable multi-LED clamp-on stand lights

[Colby Fahrenbacher]

I've never seen the first one you listed, but I like it. I like the second one better than the first simply because I think it would do a better job of lighting two pages of manuscript. I have provided the 3rd option for my fellow church musicians at my own cost, and I did this when they were cheap ($15 each). The third option works fine. They have the option of being AC current powered through a USB connection, but the provided power cords on mine were all too short. Three good AA batteries will last quite a while though. Or you could just do like many of us in our church group do now and use a tablet. No light source needed for a tablet.

[bloke]

The first one I would tend to assume offers a lot of - I believe the word is - lumens, and a ton of people have chosen to buy, with high reviews. I decided to hurry up and get something, because my daughter has talked about not renewing her Amazon Prime (for which I don't blame her a bit), and it was December 1st. I ended up getting it for something like 28 bucks - paying her state's sales tax, which is lower than mine - due to them being taxed so highly on other things.

I hope I picked something that's good. I'm pretty sure that - compared to it the Mighty Brite which sucks (well, mine does) it will be an improvement, and - for the price, being sold as a generic item rather than a music item - maybe it's worth the risk.

To the previous, they're still up there spinning like a top, are they not?

[Colby Fahrenbacher]

The Vekkia's are very good. We have a different version than Bloke shared, and our musicians have been very happy with them. We've had them long enough to have the version that used a micro-USB, but we are slowly transitioning to the new version that is USB-C, which is much more convenient for charging. They put out a ton of light and provide a ton of options for intensity and color of light.

[Schlepporello]

I remembered the tablet topic when I was up in the balcony in Pittsburgh, and I didn't see any evidence of use of tablets on stage. I looked around the sections throughout the concert, saw pages being turned, and no screens being touched.

If you use a Duo BT-500 AirTurn pedal, once you've got your music reading app opened, you don't have to touch the screen. Just hit the forward or backwards pedal with your foot. This could be an issues for people who like to keep time by tapping their foot.

[bloke]

I remembered the tablet topic when I was up in the balcony in Pittsburgh, and I didn't see any evidence of use of tablets on stage. I looked around the sections throughout the concert, saw pages being turned, and no screens being touched.

If you use a Duo BT-500 AirTurn pedal, once you've got your music reading app opened, you don't have to touch the screen. Just hit the forward or backwards pedal with your foot. This could be an issues for people who like to keep time by tapping their foot.

Most music is printed in consideration of page turns. It baffles me that a certain percentage of it isn't. As far as string players are concerned, they don't need foot pedals, because they've got their standmates.

[Schlepporello]

Most music is printed in consideration of page turns. It baffles me that a certain percentage of it isn't. As far as string players are concerned, they don't need foot pedals, because they've got their standmates.

Yeah, very little of what our church literature is printed that way. I just hope the people who arrange this music eventually have to play what they wrote on a tablet that can only display one page at a time.

[bloke]

That half page turn feature - that tablets offer - is something that I "invented" a long time ago:

I've taken more than one original publisher copy of a piece of music and very carefully folded-and-torn or cut with scissors a page so that I could turn the top half of the page, and then the bottom half. Of course, I always examine the back carefully so that I don't screw up the back side when I do that. (and no, of course I didn't "invent" this; hundreds if not thousands of other people have done the same thing.)
Again, I view the tablet thing as using technology for technology's sake, and risks knocking something off of a music stand (or knocking a special tablet stand with a tablet mounted on it over) that costs a ton of money (just as does a lyre holder which is designed to hold a cell phone).
Which one of us has never-ever accidentally knocked their sheet music off their music stand?

[bloke]

The one Colby linked is another affordable one.

I never tend to get the latest and greatest, because I tend to be the cheapest and cheaperest.
(I'm also the type that when I'm told that my computer is no longer going to be "supported" after a certain date, my reaction is "big whoop"... and - yeah... - I eventually begrudgingly go pick up a 200 buck wiped/used laptop from one of these little mom and pop shops when mine no longer does the few things I ask it to do. (My Windows 10 laptop features a "shell" I installed which makes it look like Windows 7, because I don't like my laptop looking like it's a video game or a cell phone, and I'm used to what I'm used to. I've blocked it from installing Windows 11.)

... but (BACK ON TOPIC) when one of my freeway philharmonics started supplying the new rechargeable ones with a whole bunch of little lighty things in them that do such a good job of lighting up the sheet music, I knew that my Mighty Brite thing needed to be replaced... and that thing is so mediocre that I am not even sure that it's worth donating to Goodwill or the Salvation Army or something like that.

... Someone might expect me to be more consistent (ie. "Old stuff is good enough", etc.) and claim that the 110 volt corded stand lights work just as well, but - though I don't see those really as a fire hazard, I view them as a TRIPPING hazard - with all the wires running everywhere, and I just don't think it's a good idea to have wires running all amongst the feet of people who are carrying instruments that cost anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000... so I like the rechargeable lights that are also nice and bright, and obviously I like the fact that the orchestra has two complete sets of them.

[York-aholic]

Just hit the forward or backwards pedal with your foot. This could be an issue for people who like to keep time by tapping their foot.

“How come you guys are still playing? I finished this piece like 3 minutes ago.”

[York-aholic]

Just hit the forward or backwards pedal with your foot. This could be an issue for people who like to keep time by tapping their foot.

“How come you guys are still playing? I finished this piece like 3 minutes ago.”

I'm glad that SOMEBODY got that.

[Mary Ann]

the battery will need to last 14 hours or so as with a stand light.

Most (all?) vehicles made in the last 10+ years have usb charging ports -- you can recharge while driving to/from/between gigs. And I repeat my Jackery quip - as long as I already have it, might as well use it.

[bloke]

Yeah, I don't have vehicles made in the last ten years. I don't need to because I have Toyotas. But those things that plug into the cigarette lighter with a USB port ... there's two or three of them rolling around in each car, so this isn't an issue.

[arpthark]

But then you run into the often-found issue of trying to light your stogies while charging your stand light!

[bloke]

But then you run into the often-found issue of trying to light your stogies while charging your stand light!

The last time I smoked a nice Cuban cigar, I realized that it had been too long since I had smoked cigars, and ended up getting nicotine poisoning, because I was no longer accustomed to them. I use my cigarette lighter for my Valentine radar detector mostly, but there's a splitter for charging phones and such. There's also a second cigarette lighter thingy in the console, but shorted out years ago. I'm sure I could get it fixed for not much more than $1,000 - paying someone to track down the short. My horn and dome light have also shorted out. Big whoop.

[arpthark]

My horn and dome light have also shorted out. Big whoop.

Exactly -- roll down the window and if you make a big whoop, you don't even need a horn.

Okay, I'm done derailing.

[bloke]

My horn and dome light have also shorted out. Big whoop.

Exactly -- roll down the window and if you make a big whoop, you don't even need a horn.

Okay, I'm done derailing.

truth/discovery:
"No horn" actually encourages patience and forgiveness of the stupid. Honking it does nothing other than to elevate one's own emotions, in the same way that yelling at someone does.

No dome light encourages me to keep track of my sh!t, because it's dark as hell in a car at night without one, and I've never even bothered to figure out how to access the light feature on this Android phone that I've had for a fairly good while.

My cars feature five manual gears, doors that lock, engines that go, brakes that stop, and they have onboard luxuries - which include heat, air conditioning, radios, and - yes - 12 volt plugins.

[the elephant]

I have the smaller Vekkia and love it. One of my quintets bought about a dozen lights from various makers and then passed them around for about a year to test them. We all liked this one the most.

This is the same link as your second one but with the *other* selection.

Two years in and so far, so good, regarding construction. I have to use this thing everywhere nowadays, and I like that I can use the included cord to charge it in the car. It has a long life, and sometimes I forget to charge it when I get home. If I have another gig the next morning I just plug it into the cigarette lighter of my Jeep and it gets enough juice for the gig during my hour-long commute.

Mine came with a crappy velveteen bag and a USB-to-USBC cord. I already had the charging adapter, and I bought some charging cubes from Amazon for cheap so I could keep one with the cord in a ziplock baggie in the velveteen baggie with the light and my readers.

Light
https://www.amazon.com/Vekkia-Rechargea ... 32527?th=1

Cubes
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HQ ... =UTF8&th=1