Slam, bam, thank you, man.
Brian: So, Ken, why is it that even when we hire the best help we can find, they never seem to be able to take the same care with our gear that we do? I know most of this stuff is built with the rigors of the road in mind, but it’s still all got delicate little electronic circuit boards inside.
Ken: I know exactly what you mean. I have a guy who, for a while, would break a mic clip minimum on every gig. And these are the “unbreakable” ones! It’s like he has to meet his breakage quota. He is also the type of guy who can’t push a sub through a doorway without smacking it on both sides. His asset and his liability is pure brute force. You need speakers stacked; he’s your man. You need a knob sheared off; he’s your man.
Brian: Wow. I can’t say I have anyone quite that bad recently. But goodness knows I’m glad my stuff is in shock racks. Guys can’t seem to get it through their skulls that this stuff is still relatively fragile. “Set it down there” doesn’t mean, “drop it where you’re standing.” I don’t know how many times I have cringed seeing others handle my gear… or other people’s equipment for that matter.
Ken: Some of it is my fault. I have powered wedges that weigh 75 pounds apiece and don’t have cases or covers on them. I know those are going to get chewed up a little. We got some load-in help not too long ago where a convention set-up person knocked one off an amp rack. Is that his fault for not paying attention, or mine for not having them cased? Actually, I didn’t insist on using my people for the long load-in push. Because of the labor cost, the person paying the bill was more adamant about using their people. It’s my stuff; you’d think I’d know better by now.
Brian: Well, I keep as much of my stuff cased or covered as I can. But at this stage of the game, I can’t afford to always buy a set of covers each time I add a pair of speaker cabinets to my arsenal. At the moment, I have about four padded speaker covers to order, and I could use another four trunks to store wedges in. The gear that protects the gear isn’t cheap, either. And I have a relatively large amount invested in shock racks and the like. I know of a few big touring houses that don’t shock rack their amps, and I’m even picky about doing that. Anything to protect my gear from my friends, you know?
Ken: Yeah, one of my friends has a pretty good-sized regional company, and the case for one of his big boy consoles costs more than the desk I use the most. I love shock racks but use them (can only afford them) on processing. I use padded covers for speakers and find they work pretty well. At least once a year, I have seen a case roll off a truck or seen the resulting catastrophe. The good news is the case usually keeps the broken scrap in one vicinity. So far, I haven’t experienced this myself, knock on 3/8 or 1/2 inch plywood.
Brian: The padded covers are definitely a wonderful thing. There are some things, like large P.A. cabinets that just wouldn’t make sense inside of a road case anyways. I’ve been fortunate to find most of my racks and road cases on the used market. The amazing part is that I have accumulated a set of amplifier and outboard racks that are all the same make and footprint. The only difference is that the amp racks are shorter, and the effects racks are taller.
Ken: It’s nice to have a couple of amp-depth, matched-height racks that aren’t too tall. I use these for my mixer stand, and at 16 RUs, it brings the console up to a comfortable level. Although I have noticed, as I get fatter, having an amp rack dissipate its heat at my crotch is not as enjoyable as it once was. Also, with my added fatness, my arms seem to be getting shorter. Of course, the consoles are not too deep, being on the smaller side of the spectrum. I do think the being fat, short-armed, with failing vision thing brings a certain element of heightened awareness to my mixing.
Brian: As long as we’re not “heightening our awareness” via the use of mind-altering substances, all is good. I think most of my fatness is due to too much Guinness and shepherd’s pie. And you can hardly consider that mind-altering. Regardless, I tend to use my 16 spacers for effects units and other processing. I figure if I only have 10 or 12 spaces to play with, my amp racks can only get so heavy. Even so, safe lifting technique is still a necessity. I still prefer the technique where I stand and say, “put it there,” while I hope that I don’t have to cringe too much when the help drops the thing.
Want a leg up? E-mail the anklebiters at anklebiters@fohonline.com.
