PA System Rental for Live Bands & Small Venues | NYC

A band PA has one job the others do not: it has to put vocals clearly on top of a drum kit and two amplifiers that are already loud. That changes what we send.

The problem with a band PA

At most small gigs the guitar amps and the drums are already producing plenty of volume on their own. The PA is not there to make everything louder — it is there to lift the things that cannot compete, which is almost always vocals, and often keys, acoustic guitar, or a kick drum. Treat it as a vocal system that occasionally does more, and the whole thing gets simpler.

The second problem is that the people who need to hear the vocals most are the singers, and they are standing behind the speakers. That is what monitoring is for, and it is the part that gets forgotten until soundcheck.

Things worth deciding before you inquire

How many inputs you actually need

Count them honestly: every vocal microphone, every instrument going in via a line or a microphone, anything played off a laptop. Bands routinely tell us "three or four" and turn up with nine. The input count drives the mixer, and the mixer is not the thing you want to discover is too small at nine o'clock.

Whether the singers need to hear themselves

In a small room with a low ceiling, sometimes they don't. In a wide room, on a stage, or with a loud drummer, they will. Tell us which it is and we will account for it rather than leave you to find out.

Who is mixing

If there is nobody out front and the band is mixing itself from the stage, that is a legitimate way to do a small gig — but it wants a simpler setup that can be left alone once it is right. Say so and we will send something you can set and forget.

What the venue already has

Plenty of small New York rooms have a house system that half works, or speakers but no mixer, or a mixer nobody can find the power supply for. Find out before you rent, so you are not paying for something that is already bolted to the wall.

If the gig involves instruments we work on

We repair and set up guitars and amplifiers here every day, so if something in the backline is buzzing, cutting out, or fighting the PA, that is a conversation we can actually have. Our repair and setup service is in the same building as the rental.

How the rental works

Questions we get asked

Where do I pick the system up, and can you deliver it?

Pickup and delivery are both curbside. You can collect the system curbside at Brothers Guitar Shop, 316 East 84th Street, New York, NY 10028, or we can bring it curbside to your address in the New York City area. Tell us where you are in your inquiry and we will confirm delivery before you book.

What does a rental cost?

We quote per event rather than publishing a rate card, because each system is put together for the specific room, headcount, and program. Send us those details through the contact form and we will come back with a price.

Which speakers and mixer will I get?

Our systems are unique rather than fixed packages, so we confirm the exact gear when we quote your event. Inquire for details and we will tell you what we would send for your situation.

Will you set it up and run sound at my event?

No. Pickup and delivery are curbside, and operating the system during the event is not part of the rental. Mention it in your inquiry if you need an operator and we will tell you plainly whether we can help.

Can I rent just speakers if the venue already has a mixer?

Tell us what the venue has and what is missing, and we will quote only the gap. There is no need to take a whole system if half of one is already there.

Do you include microphones and stands?

What goes out depends on the gig, so we confirm the full list when we quote. Say in your inquiry how many people will be on microphones and we will build from that.

Where to find us