Some Days You Just Can’t Give Valuable Things Away

Or how I found an otherwise unavailable Godox SL-60W carrying bag

By Stephen Pate – Some days you just can’t give valuable things away. And other days, you’re glad you didn’t. After trying for 6 years to sell an LP Bongo bag, I re-purposed it as a travel/storage bag for Godox SL-60W LED studio lights in a eureka moment.

I tried without success to find a carrying/storage bag for Godox SL-60W studio lights. I’ve also been trying for 6 years to give away or sell a $100 LP Bongo bag. The obvious recipient of my largesse was the jazz musician who bought my $350 LP bongos that came in the bag. I forgot the bag in PEI when I was living temporarily in Halifax. Offered for the cost of shipping, he passed.

Trying to improve my luck, I put the bag on Kijiji at a small price. Again, no takers. Well, a girl from Quebec was interested if I shipped them for free. The problem with free shipping is it costs about $20. Not a lot but I never heard from her again.

In September I decided to downsize my music studio one more time and put the ad on Reverb.com for $80 with free shipping. I guess there aren’t many bongo players left because only 110 people looked at the ad.

I was beginning to give up hope of ever selling the dang bongo bag when I had a eureka moment today. Cleaning up the garage, I found an even older bongo bag. I’ll admit to being a bongo freak in my past, even making my own pair in high school shop. Zap eureka, it dawned on me: the bag was the perfect size to hold one of my Godox SL-60W LED studio lights.

Bongo bags re-purposed for the Godox SL-60W, the Latin Percussion LP533-BK Pro Bongo Bag is on the right,

I have two Godox lights and they badly need cases. They’re too big to put on a shelf and there are too many accessories. There is nothing available that fits them under photography equipment on Amazon, B+H Photo or Adorama.

Until now they were left on mic stands converted to light stands or put back in the cartons they came in. Neither of those choices is ideal. Each light comes with barn doors, light filters, a remote, and adapters for stands. It’s a lot of little pieces to give a home.

The Kijiji and Reverb ads were deleted and my lights have a new home.

The take-away is obviously bongo bags make great cases for video lights like the Godox SL-60W. And never throw stuff away.

For the record, bongo bags go from low cost about $49 to the best LP bags the Latin Percussion LP533-UT Ultra-Tek Touring Series Bongo Bag the newer version of mine.

The need for semi-pro studio lights

The world has come a long way from snapping iPhone shots of your used gear and posting them on eBay or Kijiji for sale. The new standard is ultra white backgrounds which is harder than I imagined. My first ads on Reverb looked amateurish. I watched dozens of YouTube videos on how to get a white background. It’s essentially over light the white background by 1 or 2 f-stops until it disappears.

That’s harder than it seems but the real secret is bright LED studio lights and white background paper on a sturdy background stand. To get it right, I’ve bought and returned white backgrounds and LED lights to come up with my perfect kit: 2 x Godox SL-60W LED studio lights; 2 x Aputure AL-F7 LED lights; YONGNUO YN216; Polaroid Pro Studio Telescopic Background Stand Backdrop; Savage Background Paper; batteries, clips, and numerous adapters.

To keep or sell music gear – that’s the question

Brian Mitton, my salesman buddy from Maritime Music and later Long & McQuade, told me he keeps all his musical gear and never sells anything. There are days I wish I’d followed his advice. Who has an original Gibson Robot Guitar or a Gibson EC-20 Starburst with the gorgeous star inlay from the bridge to the head? I had those guitars along with dozens of others I bought and sold over the years.

Guitars are like lovers, loved and lost. There’s always a reason we parted but I still remember the good times.

Thanks to all those videos I watched to learn about studio photography especially Adorama TV for technique, DSLR Video Shooter, and Amazon Seller App for photo manipulation. I had to learn that not everything DSLR Video Shooter recommends is the best. He reviews and recommends low-cost lights that won’t work, then skips over to the super expensive Aputure 300D Mark II while ignoring the similar and much less expensive Godox SL-60W. Thanks, Amazon for the generous return policy.