Midwest P.A. System Rental Costs?

Jayce Bass · #1 01-20-2009, 11:42 AM

I'm looking at purchasing a full carvin TRx p.a. system. At 10,000 watts, it's certainly more sound than I will ever need, but my guitard player and I are looking at starting a local sound company, (to help pay for the system and something to do on off weeks). Just wondering what people in the midwest, e.g., Tulsa, K.C., Omaha, etc. are getting for setting up and running live sound? I was guessing around $500-$1000 a night depending on how elaborate, and how much lighting. Anyone have any figures?

GregShadoan · #2 01-20-2009, 12:46 PM

While there is probably nothing wrong with Carvin PA gear per se, it will disqualify you from getting any REAL sound company work. You will be able to do bar bands, weddings, and the ilk, where PA rider's are not really a concern. Not being in the midwest, I really have no idea what that market will bare, but my guess is more like 200-300 per show with complete setup/tear down and operator. 10K watts isn't really all that much in todays "sound company" environment. It can be more of a hobby PA, serviceing hobby stuff, and maybe some one off events. You would be better off getting some used Meyer, or Appogee pro pa boxes. They will be accepted better, and last longer, as well as sound better. Lots of Meyer MSL3's and Appogee AE series boxes out there on the used market. In this econemy, its a buyers market. Buying Sound gear is like buying a boat. Its a money sink. Good luck.

Barisaxman · #3 01-20-2009, 07:33 PM

Omaha area, 2-600 per night for bar band ($2-300) and festival/street dance ($5-600) type work, depending on the venue and the band. Good bands make more and can/will pay more, but many also own their own gear. There's a bunch of sounds guys in this market fighting for gigs as it is. You'll have plenty of work to do just marketing yourself and your service. Don't figure on making big bucks right away...reputation is everything. More and more bands around hear that play regularly (cover bands) are just buying their own rigs and only hiring out for the biggest gigs. Tough market to say the least.

Jayce Bass · #4 01-21-2009, 02:55 PM

I appreciate the responses. We're looking for a system to do mainly bar gigs, street festivals, etc. I was wrong about the specs...actually a 20Kilowatt system. For speakers, we had actually considered a small line array system, but seeing as we'll never fly the equipment, the carvin seemed a better option for us. Of course we designed a flatbed trailer that fold out from the center to the sides to form a stage as well, and adding everything up; dmx lights, truss, snakes, wiring, generator, etc...beginning to look VERY expensive...potentially cost prohibitative. We'll have to do a bit more research before a decision is reached. I don't want to have to mortgage the house to get a good system. Especially if about $500/per is about what you can expect for rental... seems like that wouldn't hardly cover maintanence expenses.

realbadgroove · #5 01-22-2009, 12:27 AM

Its tough in the streets. There are tons of sound companys around KC and they all have top of the line stuff. If you plan to make money and gigs dont top 1000 very often you had better have a 50000 dollar system. IE JBL SRX, Allen and Heath, Crest, shure, AKG, T.C. electronics, DBX, QSC, Also you will need atleast 32 channels for FOH and MON plus a split snake and the list goes on. If you are serious about it start with what you need and work your way up.

Vinny D · #6 01-22-2009, 08:40 AM

I like a lot of Carvin gear but there TRX line of PA cabs is not one of them. I owned a pair of the TRX153 cabs and they take a LOT of EQ'ing to make them sound good for *live* music.
You will also take a beating on there resale value.
My suggestion is to take a look at Yorkville *Ellite* series cabs, they are pretty well accepted in the Pro Audio world as being the best bang for the buck out there.
I doubt very much that you will get many sound gigs being fresh out of the box in the $1k price range, a more realistic price range for an average bar/club setup is $250-350 a night.

Jayce Bass · #7 01-22-2009, 09:35 AM

We were talking last night about the mains. I guess we assumed that the TRx line would be the same as the older lines, just a bit lighter. Good to know that there is a difference. I also think that folded horn subs might be the way to go, as they seem to project further into the crowd and into the back of venues better than just say an 18" speaker in a box sub enclosure. I think that we're going to hold off buying an elaborate setup as there seem to be quite a few sound companies around the area...e.g., Manhattan, Topeka, Lincoln, NE.... I think that there is probably a market for a smaller scale operation, though, and that may be more towards what we're considering. I'm thinking maybe 4 CV Earthquake subs, and 4 TRx215's to start with. We already have a decent board and E.Q. rack, so we can concentrate mainly on just building our p.a. up from what we own now. One thing I do have to say about our p.a. system the way it is now, is that it is way reliable. We have yet to burn up any speakers, and aside from a few mic cables over the years, hasn't been a problem at all. We did melt a passive "crossover" but it was very low quality to begin with.