Singer / Guitarist with eye condition

[Music Wolf]

Our front man has a problem with his vision, specifically with light levels. Last night we rocked up for a gig in a pub / club and discovered that there was ample stage lighting so, being basically lazy blighters, we left our own lights in the cars.

Everything good until second spot when DJ turned up and decided to create more of an atmosphere by being creative with the lighting and, to be fair to him, he did a pretty good job. The only problem, our front man was having problems seeing his guitar (he'd also been having problems seeing the set list throughout the night). It only became an issue when he started one song, where he was playing bar chords throughout, one semitone flat. Ironically the song in question was one of the best received numbers of the night (why do I bother agonising over which amp model to use in my Helix when the audience can't tell, or don't care, that the band have started the song in two different keys?!).

Anyway, before I lash up an improvised LED reading light strapped to a mic stand thing - has anybody encountered any neat solutions?

[Drew Stephenson]

Is the main problem being unable to see the fret markers on the side of the neck? Or just generally being unable to see what's happening around him?

[Music Wolf]

He just needs to see the fret markers and the set list. Judging by his timing and dynamics I'd say that being aware of what else is going on around him, i.e. the rest of the band, is of little interest

I have seen some light up mic stands (lights for visual effect) so I'm thinking maybe a strip of LEDs stuck to the boom?

[Drew Stephenson]

I remember reading a while back, it may have been in SoS, about a company who installed leds in the fret position markers. It was a very positive review and really the only reason I've not followed up on it myself (i struggle with this as well) is that i'd need it doing for three guitars.
Being tied to the mic stand does make it very difficult to move around and shift the lighting on your guitar.

I'm now wondering if i could make something...

[Sam Spoons]

Luminous side dots on the guitar and an iPad for the setlist?

Just found these https://fretfx.com

[AlecSp]

A number of luthiers will add LED markers to your guitar, albeit at quite a price.

The FretFX LEDs linked to above are cheap (ish - under £100) add-ons. SIMS is established for doing this rather more neatly, but it'll cost more like £500. You'd probably want side LEDs, rather than conventional fretboard LEDs, as it's for function, rather than show.

But, keeping things simpler, why not try some LED strip on the mic stand facing the guitarist. And a tablet for setlist/notes, definitely.

Even lower cost option: headtorch.

Although, as a sanity check, are you likely to encounter these circumstances enough to warrant the hassle/expense?

[Rhodesworks]

I think the problem is simply solved. Memorize the set list. Surely you don't change it that much night to night. If you do the same show a couple of times it should be easy besides you should be doing dress rehersals to get the set flow down anyway.
As to the fret positions, I certainly have never found the need to look. It's all relative to the length of the fretboard, and certainly if you position your hand for an open E chord you should be able to put your hand on say the 5th or 12th fret without looking.

[Sam Spoons]

As someone who plays guitars, basses and mandolins with a wide range of scale lengths (14", 24", 24.8", 25.5", 26.5", 34" & 41") I do find I need a visual reference sometimes.

[Drew Stephenson]

Likewise my gigging guitars have different scale lengths, and that's before we get to the double bass.
Also, i'm not a very good guitarist.

[Music Wolf]

Memorize the set list. Surely you don't change it that much night to night.

Some of it is fairly fixed, and I have it committed to memory, but we do change things about a bit.

As to the fret positions, I certainly have never found the need to look. It's all relative to the length of the fretboard, and certainly if you position your hand for an open E chord you should be able to put your hand on say the 5th or 12th fret without looking.

In this case he should have been playing bar chords on the 8th and 10th (but he started on the 7th). To be fair he played it faultlessly, but a semi tone flat.

[Bob Bickerton]

You said everything was fine until the DJ turned up. So this is a situation where you simply need to take control and specify non-negotiable lighting requirements on your technical rider.

If you play gigs where there is insufficient light full stop, you’d best have your own simple lighting rig you can use so that the band as a whole can be seen.

A few par cans or 300w fresnels can make all the difference.

Bob

[CS70]

For the guitar playing, practice is the key! Not even much practice: it's quite easy to get very precise in wide neck movements simply by muscle memory, if one actually tries that a little - we ain't talking Steve Vai practicing regimes here. A good trick for lead lines is to try to hit the same note on the same string at two octaves.. you start slow and get progressively faster. For chords the shoulder and the guitar position on the belly are more relevant so you've gotta be aware of your posture, but that's a great thing anyways.

Easier if you use the same guitar type (scale) for the same song, but even if not the muscle memory serves as a reference..

While I share Bob's idea to take control of the stage, I've learnt the hard way as a a singer-cum-lead-guitarist that the best way to relax at a gig is to be able to handle all the crap that may happen, because anything that may happen, will happen!

For reading, now being on the wrong side of the middle forties, I am resigning to have to actually memorize the damn lyrics and write set sheet in 48 caps font

[Drew Stephenson]

Yeah, I pretty much have to memorise the set list now for the same reason.
I still like to have one printed out though, so I can leave it on the stage for the next band in the hope that someone comes on, looks at it, and goes, "Crap! I don't know any of these songs!"

[BigRedX]

The best see in the dark fret markers you can get without going the whole hog and getting Sims to retro-fit you LEDs is the Luminlay.

[Drew Stephenson]

That looks like it might be the ticket BRX.
Though I currently have another idea in plan...