American DJ O-Clamp 1.5 Review

Hi!

Not everything that I review for Rex and the Bass has to be expensive or high-zoot, but most all of it is very good gear. The American DJ O-Clamp 1.5 is another winner, and it will not drain your life savings to add a few of these to your lighting set-up.

Some folks do not mind using C-clamps to affix lighting elements to their trusses, but I prefer the security of O-clamps that go completely around the truss tubes when heavy stuff is dangling over my head. American DJ sells three different versions of the O-clamp to fit 1-inch, 1.5-inch and 3-inch truss tubing. Actually, they are all 2-inch clamps, but the smaller sizes use plastic inserts to bring them down to the proper diameter. So, I can use my extensive collection of 1.5 O-clamps with either 1.5 or 2-inch trusses.

The ADJ O-clamp is made of injection-molded plastic with a swing-out bolt that secures the two halves together with a wing nut. Each clamp comes with a standard-thread bolt that fits most lights, and they also include a wing-nut and washer in case your light base is not threaded. As these are plastic the weight limit is 28 pounds for each clamp, so you are not going to be able to mount heavy speakers with these.

For my set-up I use O-clamps to mount all manner of things to my On-Stage lighting truss. This includes Chauvet 4-Bars, pin spots, a mirror bar mount, and (on occasion) small powered speakers. For the 4-Bars I needed to use longer mounting bolts, but I did not have any trouble finding the right size at Lowe’s. It was simple enough to pop the adapter inserts out and replace the bolts, but you have to get small-head bolts so they fit into the slot and allow the inserts to go back into place.

I have seen a few of my fellow internet pundits complaining that these clamps do not fit well, and that they wish the adapter inserts were made of a softer material instead of hard plastic so they can grip the truss better. This has not been my experience. I have always been able to mount my equipment at whatever angle is needed without slipping. Maybe they have different brands of trusses with slicker finishes or slightly smaller diameters tubing. Either way they work fine for me, and if I ever had any problems I would just use a bit of gaffer tape to take up the slack.

Thus far I have experienced no problems with these clamps damaging my truss tubing -- no matter how hard I crank them down they have not caused any scratches, scuffs or dents!

So, the American DJ O-Clamps are pretty much the best thing since canned beer, and as I said earlier, they are not terribly expensive. In fact, they have a list price $7.95 and a street price of $5.95. If you do not need to hang heavy equipment, these are all you will ever need!

Mahalo!