Premier Rock Forum

I'm curious about how you guys deal with the typical outside engineer coming into Electrical. Specifically, liability when it comes to your gear. I've recently started letting outside engineers work at my place with a simple you break it you buy it understanding. I walked in the other day and the tape machine was threaded wrong. I showed the guy the problem. No big deal, no harm, no foul, but that got me thinking about how easy it would be for somebody to inadvertently destroy something too expensive for the typical freelance engineer to replace (the heads on my tape deck, a tube mic, whatever)You guys have a lot of gear to worry about and, I reckon, many outside engineers to deal with. So, what works best for you? Simple contract? Insurance? Interview to see if the engineer is competent? All of that?Thanks for any insight.

If it the engineer hasn't been here before, we ask that the band book an assistant for at least the first day. Since most of the setup happens then, he or she can help engineers find their way around. If something looks wrong (dude trying to force the wrong cable into a tube mic, or putting a ribbon mic on the kick drum), our assistant should be there to help out with that. There have only been a couple of times where a freelance guy really looks lost. Almost all of the time they are super respectful of the gear and take good care of it. We don't make anyone sign contracts, or make them pay for something they break by accident. That is the cost of doing things.