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Knowing When to Buy Gear


Tim M

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So I am in a rock and a hard place. I just had a great month but am not sure if there are anymore of those ahead. I must upgrade my wireless along with other parts of my systems. My worry is if I spend money to get the gear now then if no gigs come in I will have to sell them right away but then if a gig comes out of the blue and I have to rent then I lose a bunch. When did you guys make the decision to buy gear outright. Did you allow for a cushion to buy it or did you take a risk and get it?

BTW I also need advice on navigating this site. The search function is pretty bad on this site and I hate asking questions that have probably been asked before.

Tim

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The decision to make a big gear purchase, is most often, very circumstance dependent for me.

The feeling of not being sure if there is adequate work ahead is a real one. I often put off a gear purchase until just before a block of work. Often there is a sharp urge to upgrade and purchase when the big cheques come in, but I reign that in and concentrate on searching the used market, selling dust collecting items, and "lining up" the planned gear purchase, such as finding out what is in stock, the lead-times for delivery of non-stocked equipment, and informing myself if a rental unit can be offered up for little to no cost whilst a new purchase is shipped from the manufacturer if the lead time overlaps with commencement of shooting.

Sometimes you do have to have faith and just jump in the pool. Often, finding a bargain is a very helpful push into the deep.

If you are looking for specific items, a mention on this board might give you very flexible options. Many of us have the same plans and urges to upgrade and would be happy to help you upgrade, that in turn, helps us upgrade.

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I used to get asked this all the time when I worked at Coffey Sound, and my reply was usually something like this:

If, over the course of one year, the cost to rent a certain piece of gear is more than half of what it would be to buy, then just buy it.

Of course, this is easier to track if you are have steady work, like an episodic or features, and it's harder to plan that out in the freelance world sometimes. When I was doing freelance post work, I purchased my own gear, and when I got a full time gig I ended up selling it off.

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I just recently upgraded my wireless and was in a similar position as yourself. I would say save the money and buy when you have jobs lined up or a good season, not just a good job or two. When you get hired, most likely it is not because you happen to have X or Y brand of wireless. Maybe a happy medium would be to buy better mics if the ones you are using now are not great, and then re-terminate those for whatever wireless you buy in the future. I'm in the fortunate position that my next job's gear hire fee will cover my purchase, so in this case I'm getting a ROI that will end up being less than a year. It would be crazy to invest that much money on wireless without a solid idea of when your ROI will be, especially given wireless regulation concerns, NAB around the corner. Buying just 1 set isn't going to likely help you much, so it is a pretty big investment, requiring at least 2, but more likely 4 sets to keep it comfortable.

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I know I have said this before, but I don't rent. If there's something I need, I'll buy it. The exception being earwigs, or maybe some VERY specialty gear.

If you stick to high quality used gear to begin with, the cost of ownership (even if you get a high-interest loan) will be far lower than the cost of rental. And if you do need to take a loss on selling the gear later, that loss is probably still less than it would have cost you to rent the gear a few times. Also consider the cost to pick up and return the gear when you rent. How close are you to the rental house? Do you value your time the day before and after a gig, the time spend picking up and returning gear? If you are putting that responsibility on production, how are you perceived as a professional who does not own his own basic equipment?

If you can wait until just before a good gig to buy the gear, all the better, but as I was building my package, I would search for good deals all the time and buy equipment as it surfaced. When I was buying gear, the 744T was just coming out, as were the SM and Venue. So I bought all that stuff new, as it was not available used. You can buy very current gear used very easily.

Robert

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I just purchased a Nomad myself even though I don't have the work lined up. It's a great machine and I know I'll be using it long after its been paid off. One fringe benefit though is having the more expensive machine has given me more confidence when haggling rates. Something to be said for that.

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I tend to agree with Robert S. and Jack N. on this one.

Also, remember that if you buy quality used gear and for some reason you have to dump it, you can often break even. The key is that the person who purchased it new will take the loss.

But when selling used gear that you purchased used in the first place, you won't sell the gear for less due to multiple ownership. You'll just sell it for the amount that quality gear in good condition is worth, and thus, if you need to sell for some reason, you generally won't be in a bad position. Except your time and shipping, of course.

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I'm in the same position as Tim M. is.

I need to buy more gear but don't have many gigs lined up so I'm just buying all the supporting pieces right now, cables, rechargable batteries, etc. This way, when I know that I can safely buy myself some gear I already have the odds and ends and my purchase is much more straight forward. Because when buying equipment we often overlook the fact that we need peripherals like memory cards, cables, connectors, etc. Buying these supporting pieces can also help you get rid of the urge to spend money by spending (a little) money. You're still technically getting gear without spending a lot of money right away and you're more prepared for when you actually CAN buy whatever it is that you're after.

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Another important point: I think a lot depends on which specific equipment you buy. Good microphones hold their value for years and years. I also think there's a "half step" approach you can use. For example, if you'd like to have six wireless, but can get along with three, just buy three for now and plan to rent one or two extra when you need them. If you find you're renting them a lot, then pick up an extra one as time permits. Stuff like that. Mixers are a bigger investment and not perhaps as glamorous as a multitrack recorder or a wireless, but the prices on some of these has fallen to very affordable levels. For example, I've seen Yamaha 01V96 mixers sell for as little as $1250 on eBay in recent months, and that's a helluva deal.

Bear in mind that some components, particularly lavs, are really expendables in that they don't last forever and do pick up damage in the field. Also, the used market is pretty lively -- you see some interesting stuff up here, on the Trew/Coffey site, and on eBay.

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I know I have said this before, but I don't rent. If there's something I need, I'll buy it. The exception being earwigs, or maybe some VERY specialty gear.

If you stick to high quality used gear to begin with, the cost of ownership (even if you get a high-interest loan) will be far lower than the cost of rental. And if you do need to take a loss on selling the gear later, that loss is probably still less than it would have cost you to rent the gear a few times. Also consider the cost to pick up and return the gear when you rent. How close are you to the rental house? Do you value your time the day before and after a gig, the time spend picking up and returning gear? If you are putting that responsibility on production, how are you perceived as a professional who does not own his own basic equipment?

If you can wait until just before a good gig to buy the gear, all the better, but as I was building my package, I would search for good deals all the time and buy equipment as it surfaced. When I was buying gear, the 744T was just coming out, as were the SM and Venue. So I bought all that stuff new, as it was not available used. You can buy very current gear used very easily.

Robert

Nailed it. I fuckin hate renting gear. It's a pain in the ass.

I keep my eye on sites like this and all the usual suspects for good used gear. If its a good deal and something I might need in the future, I buy it.

Like Jack said if you have the proper gear the work will come.

I just bought a SMQV and an SMV for 1850 from a guy I know who takes care of his gear. I think that's a good deal. I don't have receivers for them yet but I'm keeping my eye out for a good deal.

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In my area (SF) it used to be possible to get along with owning just a few basic things and renting extras for big jobs when one got them. That ended sometime in the 1980s. The local rental houses got swamped with the explosion of new gear in video and lighting, and the newer rental houses (the old ones went out of business) only have a small sound inventory, which always seems to be booked. So those of us not in LA etc pretty much have to own most of what we use. There's also the commitment factor--other crew people see you with new stuff and word gets around--you are making a commitment to doing that sort of work. It's easy to get ahead of yourself--for instance getting deep into cart-building when your main gig is bag-work, but if you WANT to do cart-based work it's never too early to start building a rig, it takes years to get one right. The commitment thing also relates to you-your aspirations, what you see as your future, and how you want to work in it. I've found that VERY few clients really care about what equipment you use exactly, as long as their workflow is followed, the tracks sound good, your price seems reasonable and you are efficient and fast on location. HOW you get to all that is up to you, but I will tell you (after three and a half decades doing this) that the latest greatest biggest baddest is not necessarily required. I love that location sound rigs are so idiosyncratic and reflective of the personality of their owners--I also love how weird that makes us look to camera and video people, whose rigs are pretty generic. I think this individuality of approach is one of the key factors that draws smart independent-minded people to our line of work.

Re what to buy when: think carefully about how your armamentarium is being built up: ie, for a newbie doing small jobs, a mixer, a really good boom mic and wirelesses are more important--will work more- than an expensive recorder. When your jobs get bigger and more gnarly, then you'll know that you need to tech-up a bit.

But the main drill with being a freelancer is somehow affording your ability to stay available--don't get yourself into a lot of unsecured debt for gear that forces you to take a "day job" to make your payments--you have to manage your overhead. I decided early on that I'd rather fight it out on small jobs with the funky gear I had then and save my money and look for deals on upgrades, rather that have a credit based shopping spree for gear that would be

sitting at home while I worked at a deadend job to pay for it. (This happened to people I knew at the time.)

phil p

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Very interesting Phil on the recorder aspect. I had a reality based company that came into town specifically ask me for a four track recorder...it was a bag type gig too. I was surprised by the request and rented the gear. It turned out to be a catastrophe. Since it was a reality based deal they cancelled some of my days very last minute and then I had an expensive recorder laying around. If I owned that I could use it on a bunch of low budget and bag stuff since it still has decent limiters use it as a mixer as was well when needed.

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A few years ago,I bought a basic kit :mixer, boom, hyper and shotgun and 2 wireless.

And then I have waited to have the amount for upgrade it : a 788T and Schoeps mics.

Now I'm thinking of upgrading my wireless(I have the amount but I am a little worried about the free frequencies in a few years)

And for little jobs I still use my basic kit.

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Very interesting Phil on the recorder aspect. I had a reality based company that came into town specifically ask me for a four track recorder...it was a bag type gig too. I was surprised by the request and rented the gear. It turned out to be a catastrophe. Since it was a reality based deal they cancelled some of my days very last minute and then I had an expensive recorder laying around. If I owned that I could use it on a bunch of low budget and bag stuff since it still has decent limiters use it as a mixer as was well when needed.

Out of town producers (particularly, when you are in a small market) will always have no compunction about canceling days--that is a problem of negotiation and deal-making that we all have. And you are right--when you have to rent from out of town, you are taking a chance that this might happen. Anymore, if the job needs something I don't have I insist that we share that risk, mostly by having the production rent it on their account. If they don't want to do that then maybe you should wonder what other ways they may try to hose you? I know--easy to say, tough when you are slow work-wise. You should definitely try to get a good basic versatile package together, and your experience has now shown you what you might want to go for next. But there will always be work that requires something you don't have, and while I consider buying new gear for those instances sometimes I don't even if I could afford it because A: that gear is for a type of work I don't really want to do a lot of or B: I just don't think the need for it will arise again anytime soon, in a situation that I can charge extra for it

phil p

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I agree with that too. If there's something production needs which I don't own, I have them rent it and pick it up, etc. There's some temptation to bill a higher rate than you pay to the rental house, as a loyal customer. But I prefer to have production call and get the book rate themselves, giving them the knowledge of what things actually cost. It's worth it in the long run to not try and make a few bucks marking up a discounted rate.

Robert

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Re what to buy when: think carefully about how your armamentarium is being built up: ie, for a newbie doing small jobs, a mixer, a really good boom mic and wirelesses are more important--will work more- than an expensive recorder. When your jobs get bigger and more gnarly, then you'll know that you need to tech-up a bit.

The opposite of this approach is something I've seen more than a few times. I'm not a mixer, but there are some new ones/aspiring ones I've encountered who felt the need to (or planned to) rush out and buy a 788t as their first purchase, eating up their entire budget on the flashy top-of-the-line recorder, not thinking about the fact that they'll have nothing to feed it. I suppose they figure they'll be renting everything else, but they could have built themselves a complete budget bag kit for the amount they spent on that one recorder.

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I agree with that too. If there's something production needs which I don't own, I have them rent it and pick it up, etc. There's some temptation to bill a higher rate than you pay to the rental house, as a loyal customer. But I prefer to have production call and get the book rate themselves, giving them the knowledge of what things actually cost. It's worth it in the long run to not try and make a few bucks marking up a discounted rate.

Robert

I completely agree. I worked on a big reality show this summer where they needed a crazy amount of wireless. I told them I would arrange to have the extra wires rented at our rental house and they would have to call in the payment and shipping information. I was told I was the only sound person who ever asked production to do that... and most mixers will pay up front and bill production. I insisted that that was not standard. I am glad I did, too... because even though the show was a network show, sponsored by a huge corporation, I have not been paid after 8 months. I can't imagine if I had gone out of pocket like that...

In terms of buying... I agree with the sentiment buy a little at a time, and you can rent extras, or squeeze in another purchase right before a big job starts. Three wireless packs is better than zero...

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I completely agree. I worked on a big reality show this summer where they needed a crazy amount of wireless. I told them I would arrange to have the extra wires rented at our rental house and they would have to call in the payment and shipping information. I was told I was the only sound person who ever asked production to do that... and most mixers will pay up front and bill production. I insisted that that was not standard. I am glad I did, too... because even though the show was a network show, sponsored by a huge corporation, I have not been paid after 8 months. I can't imagine if I had gone out of pocket like that...

In terms of buying... I agree with the sentiment buy a little at a time, and you can rent extras, or squeeze in another purchase right before a big job starts. Three wireless packs is better than zero...

NOT PAID AFTER EIGHT MONTHS!? I'd be contacting a lawyer.

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