American Stage-Mobile

Re: American Stage-Mobile

Dick,

Havent' seen one in person yet, but "world leading" i would think otherwise. I am weary of the units that use the fabric/vinyl tops, like the american stage-mobile and the marshall austin units as the fabric could be damaged in transport and day of show. Watching the youtube setup video of the L model, I would be concerned about how the 2 "roof" wings" are actually stabalized/secured in the wind as there are no corner posts. There are 2 of the similar Marshall austin units here in NM, and i have personally seen one have the roof lifting system fail in action during a load out. These units are much less money than say the SL-100 or a Apex unit but those hydrolic based units are superior in many ways, specifically in the safety aspects. It also appears that it is very tall even in the closed up position for a draw-bar style unit, which in the wind, in transport could blow over easy since it doesnt seem to have much weight to hold it down (5600lbs) verse the side wall surface area.

Something that has boggled me, is these units are claimed to be built in Germany, but brought to the USA. I cant find anything about the manufacturer in Germany.. The videos, and vehicles are definently German.. Makes you think

David
 
Re: American Stage-Mobile

David Buehler said:
... these units are claimed to be built in Germany, but brought to the USA. I cant find anything about the manufacturer in Germany
see, link posted by bennett
Click to expand...
... The videos, and vehicles are definently German.
Click to expand...
is this bad? maybe the in no niche for stages like this in the US.

... and yes, these types of stages are pretty common in germany/europe.
... and no, i have no ties with this company or others, nor have i ever used a product from them, there are several companies in europe in this product area, like kultour.
 
Re: American Stage-Mobile

The local Budweiser distributer here has one of the Marshall Austin stages. Build quality is good and goes up pretty fast, built in distro, stairs, ramp, sound wings hell I wish it was mine.
 
Re: American Stage-Mobile

I have done shows on fabric-sided trailer stages and also own and operate a solid stage. The big disadvantage of fabric sides is that they generally feel less solid and flap around in the wind. It is possible to get mesh fabric, which in theory keeps rain out and lets wind through. This reduces the wind resistance but it means that there is very little shelter on stage, so you definitely want windscreens on all the mics, plus is can be pretty uncomfortable for the performers too.

The big advantage with mesh sides is that you can have a roof which winches up. This gives you more operational height whilst keeping the size down when towing. It also means (with some models) that you can hang lighting and drapes etc. at ground level and then winch it up into place.

A solid stage is generally nicer to work on, but with limited headroom.

One important thing to check out is whether any stage will meet the requirements of whichever local authorities have jurisdiction over you. Our stage had to be tested to 5kN per square metre, i.e. 500kg of static weight. According to the council inspector who oversaw the testing, another local company had purchased a fabric-sided trailer pretty similar to the model that Dick links to. It fell pretty far short of the required capacity, and required some quite expensive strengthening work before it was passed for use.
 
Re: American Stage-Mobile

We use the XXL and its good. Its a great, cheaper alternative the SL250 which IMO is a pain in the ass!. The downfalls are the trim height (15') and the fly capacity is quite a bit less, but you can fly boxes off the goal posts and a decent amount of lighting off the truss without having to bring additional. And it goes up really fast
 
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