Rental of moving heads

[Corbettlight]

I know I need to contact my local rental house, but I was looking for a general price range for the rental of moving heads. I'm going to be doing Godspell the musical in February.

I am looking for two things - suggestions on product choice and estimated price. I don't need anything like a Showgun 2.5, but I also don't want a Q-Spot or something similar. I was looking at the MAC 575 Krypton, what do you think? I also would like to rent a hazer. Product suggestions and price estimations?

Thanks

 

[Gildebrand]

It depends alot on where you are located. For example, rental for moving heads is more than two times more in sweden than uk and us. But i would check 10outof10

 

[len]

I can rent Elation Power Spots in Chicago for $50 a day. But a HES ShowGun goes for about $250, IIRC.

Depends where you are and what you're renting.

 

[Sony]

I am renting 4 Elation DesignSpot 575's for the current poduction I am designing at $175 each per week. They are cheaper than the Martin Mac575's and they have had pretty great reviews, see if you can't get a hold of some. I am also renting 2 LaMatire Hazers for $50 each per week

 

[Wolf]

The mac 575 Krypotons are an awesome fixture, as of August I have six of them in my inventory. We also use Par64 WFL 1000w for are stage was and they're able to punch right through that.

Sorry I can't speak much for a rental price just the fixture.

 

[gafftaper]

Unfortunately there is very little useful information you can get from this post.

Rental price varies wildly depending on where you are. If you are in N.Y. or L.A. there is a lot of competition and the pricing is great. If you are in a one dealer town (or worse you have to drive an hour to reach a dealer) it's going to cost you a LOT more money. Here in Seattle there is one major dealer and a few small ones. My rental prices are significantly higher than what others talk about here on CB.

Secondly, this thread can't help you because it doesn't matter if you want a Mac 575 Krypton if all your dealer has to rent are Mac 550's. SO, contact your dealer and see what they have available and what their prices are. Then bring that information back here and let us help you sort out what would be best for your needs and budget.

I would say the two most popular hazers on CB are the Look Solutions "Unique"/"Unique 2" or a Lemaitre "Radiance". But there are others that are good too. Again get some information on what is available and we will help you pick.

Many dealers have the rental list right on their website. They are unlikely to give you any sort of price break below what is listed. Every theater in the world has a sad story about how little money they have and how noble their productions are. Rental shops make their money by renting to you, if they give you a break then what about the cancer fundraisers, aids benefits, and the poor urban school keeping kids out of gangs through theater? EVERYONE in this industry deserves a price break on rentals... and then they go out of business. If you have a relationship with the dealer, you live in a town with lots of competition, and you rent a LOT every year you might get a package deal to keep your business... but for most of us that is not likely. Finally, book as early as possible. Every school in the country does a fall show in late November and a big musical in May... if they do a third show it's a mid winter show in late Feb/early March. That means everyone wants the gear at the same time.

 

[highschooltech]

Rental price varies wildly depending on where you are. If you are in N.Y. or L.A. there is a lot of competition and the pricing is great. If you are in a one dealer town (or worse you have to drive an hour to reach a dealer) it's going to cost you a LOT more money.

Very true i live about 30 minutes to 2 hours south of LA (depending on the time of day) and rental prices are very interesting. The local shops tend to charge a little more but as i get closer to LA the prices start to go down a little. Another thing i have to take into acount is the amount of money it costs to actually get the ML to the venue because of the time due to traffic involved.

 

[Footer]

Here prices are pretty killer compared to what they were in Georgia. The local rental companies still have to compete with a 3 hour drive to the city and all those rental houses. Two things matter when renting.... where you are... and what else is going on. If you want a Mac2k in Vegas its one price, if you want a Mac2k in Vegas during CES when everyone has gear out, its another price. Its all about supply and demand. I have called up rental houses before with 500 dollars in hand during a slow part of the year (January) and essentially got 2x to 3x as much as I would have got in December. If the warehouse is full, they are going to want to get gear out the door no matter what. If its empty, then they are less likely to make a deal.

 

[zac850]

In New York I'm about to rent a few Mac 2000 Performances for $210 a week and a few VL2500 Spots for $175 a week.

This was the low-bid, by the way. The other rental houses I talked to were asking for significantly more.

 

[gafftaper]

Mac 2k's are not available here in Seattle I have my choice of
Mac 500: $218/week
Mac 550: $306/week
Mac 600NT: $192/week
Technobeams: $175/week

So you can get a VL 2500 in NYC for the same price as a Technobeam in Seattle.... I hate you and your big city ways.

 

[metti]

In Boston we have the following lights/prices:
VL3000 Spot: $300 wk
Mac2K: $300 wk
Mac700 Spot: $250 wk
Mac700 Wash: $175 wk
Mac250 Spot/Mac300 Wash: $125wk
Elation Design Spot 575E: $150wk

If I rent more than a couple for multiple weeks I can get up to 30-50% off those prices.

 

[Corbettlight]

I called my local rental shop, and got some quotes. They only do Martin lights. The MAC 700 was definitely too expensive, but I got quotes on the MAC 250 and MAC 500.

250 - $195/week
500 - $210/week

I know the 500 is discontinued, so my question is which I should go with. I need it to be visible through my wash, but my wash isn't THAT powerful. I have 6 FOH ellipsoidals, 2 FOH S4 PARs, and 13 over-stage S4 PARs and Fresnels. Not much, I know; but would a 250 be able to punch through it?

Also, the price for the hazer i was quotes was $166/week. Worth it?

 

[len]

Is it the original 250? Or the 250+ or Krypton/Entour? The original ones are ok, but the Entour/Krypton will be a lot brighter.

 

[icewolf08]

I know the 500 is discontinued, so my question is which I should go with. I need it to be visible through my wash, but my wash isn't THAT powerful. I have 6 FOH ellipsoidals, 2 FOH S4 PARs, and 13 over-stage S4 PARs and Fresnels. Not much, I know; but would a 250 be able to punch through it?

Also, the price for the hazer i was quotes was $166/week. Worth it?

Just because a product is discontinued does not mean that it is bad. The MAC500 had a great run a one of the higher end MLs a few years ago. It has just been replaced by newer and better things. The 500 will probably give you a lot more kick than the 250s. The real question is what are you hoping to achieve?

As for the hazer, if it is n effect that you need, and it fits in your budget then it is worth it. Worth is totally subjective.

 

[rschwimmer]

I called my local rental shop, and got some quotes. They only do Martin lights. The MAC 700 was definitely too expensive, but I got quotes on the MAC 250 and MAC 500.

250 - $195/week
500 - $210/week

I know the 500 is discontinued, so my question is which I should go with. I need it to be visible through my wash, but my wash isn't THAT powerful. I have 6 FOH ellipsoidals, 2 FOH S4 PARs, and 13 over-stage S4 PARs and Fresnels. Not much, I know; but would a 250 be able to punch through it?

Also, the price for the hazer i was quotes was $166/week. Worth it?

Hazer should not be over $100 a week with fluid included.

 

[len]

Hazer should not be over $100 a week with fluid included.

If you're using a full tank in a week of any hazer, it's either a piece of junk or you're using it too much.

 

[photoatdv]

Actually, make sure you specify whether you want water based or mineral oil if it matters to you. The mineral based is worse for electronic stuff, but it will show up A LOT more.

On one show our LD spec'd a hazer that was intended to be mineral based, but the guys from the shop had converted it to water based... which of course they told him when he took it back saying he thought it was clogged.

 

[Synchronize]

Another thing that you may want to think about based on how many lights you are renting and what kind of board you have is wheather or not you are going to want to rent a board too, not to mention whether or not you are going to have the in house wiering/cables you are going to need to run the lights. I personally wouldn't mind running a hazor with a older conventional board, but I wouldnt want to try and run movers with one.

 

[mstaylor]

Maybe I'm a geezer but why would you want movers for Godspell? It is a great show to do with layers of color and isolation areas but I can't think of a single use for a mover. I can certainly see uses for scrollers or other cool toys available but not MLs.

 

[Corbettlight]

I'm not sure whether or not they are 250's or the Krypton/Entour. I think I'll go with the 500's, if it's in the budget :/