The Guitar Works, LTD - Evanston, IL Review

When faced with my first big gig where I would provide sound and a still-incomplete sound system, I looked around for rentals. What I had was mikes, mike stands, a mixer and monitor speakers. To complete it, I would have to spend $1300 plus for a pair of Mackie powered srm-450 speakers and the gig wasn't going to cover that.

Meanwhile, I had a contract in my hands that would allow me to pay for a sound system rental of $150 plus another $50 for a sound guy. I polled my bass player, a bandleader as well, who told me that he had a sound system but that it would cover a crowd of 200 or less. I needed a sound system for a crowd of at least 300. He suggested Guitar Works as a source for rentals. Less than 5 miles from my home, I checked the place out.

I needed speakers sufficient for 300. I had the mikes and most of the stands. Guitar Works uses powered mixers and passive (non-powered) speakers, so I would need both speakers and a powered mixer. The Guitar Works person told me that I could get a system that would be enough, barely enough, but enough. The components were all from the Yorkville Brand and included the M810 micromix powered mixer with 400 watts output per channel, and two each of Y115 (200 watts) and Y150 (300 watts). They included 2 speaker stands since the Y150s could sit on the stage, plus all necessary cords. Better yet, The cost to rent all this stuff would be $100. I hired my son as sound guy and roadie for $50 and signed the contract.

When it came time to pick up the system and pack my van, I had them go through the instructions with me and my son. They plugged the speakers into the mixer and checked them, and helped us load the car.

 The sound system was easy to set up and worked great. So did my son, as the sound guy.

While prices have gone up a bit, there is no reason for me to lay out the money for the powered speakers now. When I need a sound system, Guitar Works is there.

Incidentally, the store is invariably crowded and my guitar playing and bass-playing friends swear by them.