Weddings Helped out another DJ Oct 3rd.

To many ads? Support ODJT and see no ads!
C

Capital Disc Jockeys

New DJ
Nov 5, 2006
1,202
4
58
Schenectady, NY
On October 3, 2009. Well, I took my road trip to East Windsor, Connecticut. This was a scheduled rental for them to use my Bose L1s System. A simple 2 hour drive at this venue called La Renaissance - http://www.larenaissance.com/

I will mention that I will be very hesitant to return there ever again due to my treatment there, although the owner apologized to me and we made nice-nice..

I arrived in plenty of time to view part of the Indian wedding ceremony. To be honest, I don't think he cared for the Bose L1s. My hint was when he had one of his crew bring in their other speaker from their van and set it near one of my L1 in the middle of the reception.

I did warn him (at least 2 times) he did not need to "crank up the L1" as they not your typical conventional speaker. I don't think he liked what I said...As quite a few times he would clip the L1s and I had to turn them down.

After our 3rd conversation about "don't need to crank" was when we bought in his other speaker. I'm just being honest, the Bose L1s are not for everyone.

I wasn't crazy about going to the Guitar Center for him to get some supplies he had run out of..Especially when he had 2 other people working for him. 15 minutes one way in the night in the pouring rain and in an area I'm not familiar with...Never again. I was a team player.

I also learned never to rent out my L1s again. I wish him and his crew well. Great, hard working people. Their lights were amazing...Uplighting all over the place and Martin lights as well.

I respect his work and he did a great job.

But...Never again.
 
"No one can take advantage of you without your permission." ~ Ann Landers.

I'm saddened to hear that your good intentions were taken advantage of. But there are some people out there who do nothing but. For future reference, you may wish to manage this type of show as you would any other ~ with a written agreement that clearly states your responsibilities. They wanted an L1 system, you provided an L1 system. That's the extent of your responsibility.

It's OK to say "That's not in my contract. Sorry about your luck." :)
 
Hi Fred, thanks for your post. You are 1000% correct. I was kinda stumped why he didn't ask his other associates to go on the little field trip. I learned quite a few things that night.

It's over and done with. I'll never see these guys again. I do wish them well. Not bad guys..The venue...Well...I will never go there again.

It all started out with me needing an outlet to plug in my L1 Powerstand. Unknown to me, they hav outlets in the floor, prtected by a metal thingamagit..That you had unscrew using a flat head screw driver. I do not make it a neccessity to carry a flat head. I politely asked one the venues help the server to assist me.

He saw this and tore and started to tear me up vocally..I stood right there and said to him, "You really don't wanna go there"...I had no problem leaving right there and then. F the $250 owed.

Then we had a glaring contest...I won. Beotch!

He had some other comments towards me and I started towards him...We actually had to be separated. My first time ever I had to be restrained..I was beyond :sqmad:

I went outside to cool off...

Even his own staff told me outside he's not the most pleasant person in the world, but he pays well. Like I give a rats ass. I said nothing.

And then you know the rest of the story..
 
Geesh Tim. I'm glad they didn't blow out your drivers because that would not be pretty.

When you took on this gig I was a bit worried because these guys are use to playing the music hard through the Yorkville rig he normally uses. The Bose is a different animal and I guess he really did not know the limits.

Glad you got out of dodge. :sqwink:
 
had a similar situation doing live sound for a recent festival.
they bring in bands from all over the world
and some bands bring their own sound guy.
and some sound guys (much like your situation) simply do not know how to run anything but the equipment they usually use.
the only difference is, the boss will stand there and MAKE SURE the equipment is treated nice-nice. he will offer ways to make the sound better, whether they take the advice or not...but he will NOT stand by and let someone ruin his gear.
thats why I don't rent my gear out.
I even shudder when my son wants to borrow speakers.
 
As to the L1 system, I rather doubt that it could be damaged by overdriving. Inherent protection and limiting circuitry are engineered into the system proper as I understand. The L1 is a complete system, not a set of speakers.

I miss hearing from the guys who work with FOH system rentals. They could share some harrowing stories from the road. Higher-end Meyer cabinets blown all to hell or fished out of a swimming pool. Midas boards that got rained on. Knuckleheads who couldn't tell a DI box from a pizza box. :eek:

Apologies to Tim for going off tangent here... just sayin'. The rental guys' experiences taught me some things. You put a compressor/limiter at the end of the chain, before the crossover and set it for the speaker systems you're sending with it. You mount it on the rear rack rails or place a tamper-proof cover over it so it can't be monkeyed with. Your agreement states that the system is to be used as set up by the technician only.

Most importantly, the user signs a binding agreement, stating that the user shall be responsible for any costs incurred on the lessee's part due to damage. They may find a way to eff it up anyway but you've got legal recourse.

Mike has it right. If your gear is to be used, you run it. :)
 
Fred Wright said:
I miss hearing from the guys who work with FOH system rentals. They could share some harrowing stories from the road. Higher-end Meyer cabinets blown all to hell or fished out of a swimming pool. Midas boards that got rained on. Knuckleheads who couldn't tell a DI box from a pizza box. :eek::)
Click to expand...

Yeah, we've had our instances where band members poured beer into the monitors and knocked stuff over...
and the boss has had MANY guys do their own sound on HIS gear...
but he NEVER leaves it alone, and at the first sign of trouble, he puts a stop to it. Unless of course, the only damage being done is to people's ears because they can't mix for crap!
So, in reference to the original post, I would not rent anything valuable without a company rep on site to babysit it.
 
I remember a live sound event a few years back. They had their own 'sound guy'. I finally had him removed from the FOH board because I was literally sitting back by the stage on the floor in front of the amp racks doing damage control as he clipped here, then there, then here again. The guy was green and had no clue at all about gain settings. I had words with him and had the guy in charge have him removed from the board before I shut down the whole show. grrrrr...don't mess with my stereo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back