Anything and everything Lectric Lites - post it here!
Skip, hook us up with some history of LL.
Skip, hook us up with some history of LL.
Official Lectric Lites thread
- Thread starter Pimp
- Start date
Were these used during concerts for this band?
My Lectric Lites Mini Bar XMB:
Wheels' and my Lectric Lites Mini Bar XMRs:
I purchased this Lectric Lites Ranger XLR here on eLb from Chris (Simpson?) out of Cincinatti, OH. Another member (grfd711) was nice enough to pick it up for me! I think I have since sold it, but can't remember. I know I haven't seen it lately. . .
I do not know the history of the bar's service.
Wheels' and my Lectric Lites Mini Bar XMRs:
I purchased this Lectric Lites Ranger XLR here on eLb from Chris (Simpson?) out of Cincinatti, OH. Another member (grfd711) was nice enough to pick it up for me! I think I have since sold it, but can't remember. I know I haven't seen it lately. . .
I do not know the history of the bar's service.
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crescentstar69
Member
ex416
Member
kitn1mcc
Member
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The front turn signals are hill lights! :lol:
JennyCop
Member
Thanks for starting the thread, Pimp. A lot of nice response so far. Haven't seen so many Lectric-Lites lights in a very long time. I mentioned in the other thread that I still have a pair of their big 7" lollipop lights where are similar to Federal's original LL4 lollipops that had the single bolt mount. The only way you can really tell the difference between the two is that the Federal model had a round base while the L-L model had a square base.
As to the history of Lectric-Lites,here goes. The company was established in the early '70s in Lubbock, TX (home of the Texas Tech Red Raiders) by brothers Freddy and Ronnie Johnson. Since the mid-to-late '60s they had operated a company called Lubbock Light and Barricade, where they built barricades and eventually their own barricade lights. By 1970 they had started building lights under the Lectric-Lites name. As I've mentioned before, I got a prototype of their magnetic-mount "beehive" light, which was one of the earliest portable light to use a donut-style magnet. In 1969 the C.B. REACT club of which I was a member had started a first-aid team, and we ended up working at the local car races, and was given use of the track's old ambulance. For a number of years the track had an ambulance driver hired, but for some reason on the first day of races in 1969 the guy didn't show and they had the first-ever fatality on the track. I had been trying to talk the track owner into let us work the races. That Sunday night I was called and we were "in" by the next weekend. We had use of the old ambulance, a '60 Chevy wagon, but that first season we never ever transported. It was in that time period that I got the beehive light from the Johnsons. And after the big tornado in May of '70 we were given the old track ambulance, which we had to "put together" because it basically had nothing but a red beacon on top and a stretcher.....period. With the Johnson brothers help we found some other lights and I had an old Mars DL8 "figure 8" light that went on board, and we found other equipment in Hobbs, NM, and we were in business. One of our members had a Ford station wagon and we pressed it into service as a backup unit...employing my original Lectric-Lites beehive light, and a small underhood siren and a set of red grille lights.
It was during that time period that the Johnsons developed the first prototype Ranger Strobe Bar. I always wanted to drool all over myself every time I saw that pretty red bar at the Johnson's place, but never could quite talk them into "forking it over" at a price our little group could afford. They began building the Ranger bars in that small Lubbock facility, but initially they were slow sellers. But the strobes then were like today's LEDs: they were the new "best thing" on the market, but it took some time for people to get used to them. I'm not absolutely certain on the timeline of when in the '70s they moved the operation to Fort Worth, but I know that I visited their plant there around 1977 and they'd been there for some time; and that was still long before they sold to PSE/Code 3. I know it was sometime in the mid-70s when they came out with their lollipop lights. By then Federal, Dietz, DoRay and Unity were marketing big 7" lollipop lights, so they got in the action as well.
Here in Texas there were two ambulance manufacturers in the early 70s, with Modular Ambulance Corp. coming along here in Texas about that time, too. The Gordon K. Allen Co. of Dallas was the longtime Superior Coach dealer in the Southwest. They also built ambulances in-house, originally from sedan-delivery and station wagon platforms, and eventually low and high top Suburbans. GKA was the parent co. of Modular Ambulance. When GKA started building on station wagons and then low top Suburbans, the standard set up was a center-mounted Q siren flanked by either two or four lollipops and a Federal beacon in the rear. For quite some time, most of those conversions included DoRay lollipops in the mix, but they would build according to whatever the customer wanted. So with Lectric-Lites right "next door" in Ft. Worth, area customers began to specify Lectric-Lites lollipops in place of the DoRays. This also applied to GKA's sole competitor, Summer Coach in Duncanville, TX. Summers also built on station wagons and Suburbans, but in the early '70s they also built high top vans and Suburbans. Where GKA used DoRay and L-L lollipops, Summers used mostly Unity and eventually added L-L lollipops. Summers was also the parent co. of the very short-lived Trinity Coach Co, that built hearses and ambulances on Buick platforms. Once-upon-a-time here in TX, the way you could tell the difference between the ambulances built by GKA and Summers was by seeing if they had DoRay or Unity lollipops. Then L-L came on the scene and it was an all new ballgame.
I'm not sure when Lectric-Lites sold to PSE/Code 3 as I said above, but it seems to me that during my last stop at their plant in Ft. Worth was in 1981 when I bought a '71 high top Suburban in Dallas, and the Johnson were still there then. To me, the sad thing about their sale to PSE was that once that was all complete, they were converted to marketing on for the amber market. I felt that to be quite a loss.
I was hoping you were going to say that you had one, and I could talk you out of it!
As to the history of Lectric-Lites,here goes. The company was established in the early '70s in Lubbock, TX (home of the Texas Tech Red Raiders) by brothers Freddy and Ronnie Johnson. Since the mid-to-late '60s they had operated a company called Lubbock Light and Barricade, where they built barricades and eventually their own barricade lights. By 1970 they had started building lights under the Lectric-Lites name. As I've mentioned before, I got a prototype of their magnetic-mount "beehive" light, which was one of the earliest portable light to use a donut-style magnet. In 1969 the C.B. REACT club of which I was a member had started a first-aid team, and we ended up working at the local car races, and was given use of the track's old ambulance. For a number of years the track had an ambulance driver hired, but for some reason on the first day of races in 1969 the guy didn't show and they had the first-ever fatality on the track. I had been trying to talk the track owner into let us work the races. That Sunday night I was called and we were "in" by the next weekend. We had use of the old ambulance, a '60 Chevy wagon, but that first season we never ever transported. It was in that time period that I got the beehive light from the Johnsons. And after the big tornado in May of '70 we were given the old track ambulance, which we had to "put together" because it basically had nothing but a red beacon on top and a stretcher.....period. With the Johnson brothers help we found some other lights and I had an old Mars DL8 "figure 8" light that went on board, and we found other equipment in Hobbs, NM, and we were in business. One of our members had a Ford station wagon and we pressed it into service as a backup unit...employing my original Lectric-Lites beehive light, and a small underhood siren and a set of red grille lights.
It was during that time period that the Johnsons developed the first prototype Ranger Strobe Bar. I always wanted to drool all over myself every time I saw that pretty red bar at the Johnson's place, but never could quite talk them into "forking it over" at a price our little group could afford. They began building the Ranger bars in that small Lubbock facility, but initially they were slow sellers. But the strobes then were like today's LEDs: they were the new "best thing" on the market, but it took some time for people to get used to them. I'm not absolutely certain on the timeline of when in the '70s they moved the operation to Fort Worth, but I know that I visited their plant there around 1977 and they'd been there for some time; and that was still long before they sold to PSE/Code 3. I know it was sometime in the mid-70s when they came out with their lollipop lights. By then Federal, Dietz, DoRay and Unity were marketing big 7" lollipop lights, so they got in the action as well.
Here in Texas there were two ambulance manufacturers in the early 70s, with Modular Ambulance Corp. coming along here in Texas about that time, too. The Gordon K. Allen Co. of Dallas was the longtime Superior Coach dealer in the Southwest. They also built ambulances in-house, originally from sedan-delivery and station wagon platforms, and eventually low and high top Suburbans. GKA was the parent co. of Modular Ambulance. When GKA started building on station wagons and then low top Suburbans, the standard set up was a center-mounted Q siren flanked by either two or four lollipops and a Federal beacon in the rear. For quite some time, most of those conversions included DoRay lollipops in the mix, but they would build according to whatever the customer wanted. So with Lectric-Lites right "next door" in Ft. Worth, area customers began to specify Lectric-Lites lollipops in place of the DoRays. This also applied to GKA's sole competitor, Summer Coach in Duncanville, TX. Summers also built on station wagons and Suburbans, but in the early '70s they also built high top vans and Suburbans. Where GKA used DoRay and L-L lollipops, Summers used mostly Unity and eventually added L-L lollipops. Summers was also the parent co. of the very short-lived Trinity Coach Co, that built hearses and ambulances on Buick platforms. Once-upon-a-time here in TX, the way you could tell the difference between the ambulances built by GKA and Summers was by seeing if they had DoRay or Unity lollipops. Then L-L came on the scene and it was an all new ballgame.
I'm not sure when Lectric-Lites sold to PSE/Code 3 as I said above, but it seems to me that during my last stop at their plant in Ft. Worth was in 1981 when I bought a '71 high top Suburban in Dallas, and the Johnson were still there then. To me, the sad thing about their sale to PSE was that once that was all complete, they were converted to marketing on for the amber market. I felt that to be quite a loss.
I was hoping you were going to say that you had one, and I could talk you out of it!
Have one what? All of my Lectric Lites collection isn't photographed and posted on here yet...
Oh, and thank you for posting the history of the company! I knew if anyone here knew it, you knew!
Oh, and thank you for posting the history of the company! I knew if anyone here knew it, you knew!
JohnMarcson
Administrator
Here is a different branding of a "Lectric Lights" product.
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I have a pair of those bigazz Lollypop lights in Amber ///// strobe. I get some photos up in a day or two..... also been trying to acquire a Ranger strobe lightbar in all amber for months now, but the guy is jerking me around. :Banghead:
That remark when in the wrong spot. I had intended to link to the post of that Trooper siren. That comment remains!
This light is one of the early barricade lights that they made. The lollipops I referred to are the 7" lollipops like seen on some ambulances and other emergency vehicles. The L-L lollipops had a slightly squared base with a single threaded hollow bolt that went through the roof of the vehicle and was held in place with a hex nut. Federal's original LL4 lollipop looked the same, except theirs had a rounded base. DoRay and Dietz lollipops required four bolts or sheetmetal screws to attach.
This light is one of the early barricade lights that they made. The lollipops I referred to are the 7" lollipops like seen on some ambulances and other emergency vehicles. The L-L lollipops had a slightly squared base with a single threaded hollow bolt that went through the roof of the vehicle and was held in place with a hex nut. Federal's original LL4 lollipop looked the same, except theirs had a rounded base. DoRay and Dietz lollipops required four bolts or sheetmetal screws to attach.
Photos.............
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I think it's supposed to be a smiley face barricade light with a bow-tie?
If you ever want to sell those lollipops, Holler at me!
Now that's more like it. These are the lollipops I've been talking about. These came from the plant on Vickery in Ft. Worth, which is the one I've been to. Seems like they moved across town about, or just after, the company was sold to PSE/Code 3.
Very nice. I have a pair of these lights: one is red/blue and the other red/amber.
If you look at the base of these lights, you'll note the square shape I've been talking about. The base on Federal's original LL4s had a round base like on the barricade light shown above. I seem to remember a few of the earlier L-L lollipops with the round base, too.
Very nice. I have a pair of these lights: one is red/blue and the other red/amber.
If you look at the base of these lights, you'll note the square shape I've been talking about. The base on Federal's original LL4s had a round base like on the barricade light shown above. I seem to remember a few of the earlier L-L lollipops with the round base, too.
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I want to know what the "remote jack" port was for... Anyone know?
Nice power pack, Pimp. Can you tell if this is one that they made themselves, or something that might've been outsourced? I think in the earlier days that they built their own; but after their association with PSE/Code 3 (even before the sale) that that's where some of them may have come from.
I would hazard a guess and say that it was for mounting a switchbox, etc., if the power supply is mounted under the hood, in the trunk, etc.
I would hazard a guess and say that it was for mounting a switchbox, etc., if the power supply is mounted under the hood, in the trunk, etc.
I'ts got the FW address and no markings or signs of PSE on it. I'm going to say it's a true LL product. Plus, I'd think any other strobe manufacturer would have AMP plugs.
I would guess that these features were exclusive to L-L, then, Pimp. I still think that remote jack would be for mounting the power supply somewhere at a "distance" as in the trunk.
I've never been much into strobes: theirs or anyone else's, but I would think that putting one under the hood as has been mentioned would be problematic due to engine heat. Many years ago we used the large heavy alternating flashers that were used on some school buses: the kind that would go "thunk, thunk" as the lights were flashed. For the most part we never had problems with mounting these flashers underhood, until we put one on a 1964 Pontiac combination which was totally dressed out in ambulance mode. The flasher was used to flash four DoRay lollipops, which was not a current issue. But when the flasher was mounted underhood, it kept freezing up. Thankfully with the zippered headliner in that big combo, we were able to move the flasher up into the headliner, mounting it on a cross-member, and it never gave us a problem thereafter.
Pimp: I'm so glad about what you've done with this thread so far. While I was in a position to be in on the ground floor of what L-L did in their very early years in Lubbock, I gradually lost out after they moved to Ft. Worth, with the exception of the couple of visits I got to make to their office there. Once they were settled in there, about all I could do in keeping up was in what I was seeing in their ads in some of the professional magazines for law enforcement, fire fighting and EMS. The people who bought out their original Lubbock Light and Barricade, which became Barricades Unlimited as I've mentioned, managed to keep up with the Johnsons (I wonder if that was like keeping up with the Joneses) and would let me know what they were doing here and there when he came into our store and I got the chance to ask.
The one thing that saddened me after the sale to PSE was the conversion to mostly the amber market.
I've never been much into strobes: theirs or anyone else's, but I would think that putting one under the hood as has been mentioned would be problematic due to engine heat. Many years ago we used the large heavy alternating flashers that were used on some school buses: the kind that would go "thunk, thunk" as the lights were flashed. For the most part we never had problems with mounting these flashers underhood, until we put one on a 1964 Pontiac combination which was totally dressed out in ambulance mode. The flasher was used to flash four DoRay lollipops, which was not a current issue. But when the flasher was mounted underhood, it kept freezing up. Thankfully with the zippered headliner in that big combo, we were able to move the flasher up into the headliner, mounting it on a cross-member, and it never gave us a problem thereafter.
Pimp: I'm so glad about what you've done with this thread so far. While I was in a position to be in on the ground floor of what L-L did in their very early years in Lubbock, I gradually lost out after they moved to Ft. Worth, with the exception of the couple of visits I got to make to their office there. Once they were settled in there, about all I could do in keeping up was in what I was seeing in their ads in some of the professional magazines for law enforcement, fire fighting and EMS. The people who bought out their original Lubbock Light and Barricade, which became Barricades Unlimited as I've mentioned, managed to keep up with the Johnsons (I wonder if that was like keeping up with the Joneses) and would let me know what they were doing here and there when he came into our store and I got the chance to ask.
The one thing that saddened me after the sale to PSE was the conversion to mostly the amber market.
Very nice! Are you going to keep it amber or make it red/blue like one of mine? What is the unusual plug? Haven't seen one like that.
Pimp: I missed your comment about that plug. Most of those that I saw with the magnetic base had a simple cigarette lighter plug. Easy to find.
After looking closer at that plug, it reminds me of the setup we had on our Mars Skybolt bar years ago. Since we used it on a Chevy station wagon ambulance that served also as my POV at the time, we had it rigged with a pull-apart plug connection that helped when I kept the bar off the car when not in ambulance mode. But I can't imagine someone using this light like that, since it has a magnetic base.
Pimp: I missed your comment about that plug. Most of those that I saw with the magnetic base had a simple cigarette lighter plug. Easy to find.
After looking closer at that plug, it reminds me of the setup we had on our Mars Skybolt bar years ago. Since we used it on a Chevy station wagon ambulance that served also as my POV at the time, we had it rigged with a pull-apart plug connection that helped when I kept the bar off the car when not in ambulance mode. But I can't imagine someone using this light like that, since it has a magnetic base.
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Pimp: The lenses from the original Federal LL4 lollipops used the same Stratolite lenses as the L-L lollipops. I can't remember for the moment who else used those lenses. The DoRay lenses will work, but they require a shorter mounting screw than those on this light, as the Stratolite lenses protrude a bit further. I don't have any loose lenses, but I'm sure they're out there and still available. What won't work are the lenses for the Dietz and later Federal lollipops, as they slide into place, rather than being screwed on.
Thank you for that helpful information! I might would pop on some if I saw them but I'm not actively seeking any.
I'll keep my eyes open for some. They pop up around here ever so often. I had almost forgotten about the magnetic lollipops until you showed this one. I'd like to have a pair to use on my POV in red/blue. That would freak someone out, seeing something like that on my little Saturn! :lol:
Stay tuned, more LL stuff coming up soon! I'm not through digging yet!
I recently located and acquired a full color booklet of the 1992 product line of Lectric Lites. Also included was the distributor net pricing list, and four fleet buyer pricing lists. These appear to be uncirculated copies of the documents. I will be sharing them here, a little along. Enjoy!
Here's the front cover!
Here's the front cover!
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CodeMan
Member
Eventually. My shop is not air conditioned and I live in Louisiana and it's summertime. 
I do have a few videos of some LL stuff on Youtube.
I do have a few videos of some LL stuff on Youtube.
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But, Pimp, you don't get the heat, like we do....just the humidity! :lol: Here lately, it's been both. You might also want to put that '92 catalog on the catalog thread, too.
Boy, did I goof! I've mentioned a couple of times that I had a pair of L-L lollipops. They're not! Looked at them closer this weekend, and both of them are original Federal LL4s. :crazy:
Boy, did I goof! I've mentioned a couple of times that I had a pair of L-L lollipops. They're not! Looked at them closer this weekend, and both of them are original Federal LL4s. :crazy:
Forgot to post one yesterday so I'll post two today. Maybe they will spark some interesting conversation!
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JohnMarcson
Administrator
Later LectricLites
The "late" LectricLites
The "late" LectricLites
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