Are you an artist, band or producer requiring a kit for live shows, tours and recording?
Renting can often be a cost-effective solution for musicians. The best places to hire music equipment in Southampton, Hampshire, provide a convenient service, enabling you to access everything you need, without the expense of having to purchase it new.
From live stage gear to instruments, mixers and decks, here are the places to get what you need, when you need it.
The best places to hire music equipment in Southampton, Hampshire
It’s a city with strong musical connections, so it’s no surprise that’s there’s plenty of reputable companies offering equipment hire in Southampton. Here are the places to go when you’re looking to rent some kit for gigs or for your first studio recording.
ARC Electronics
Based in Portswood, this brand has been hiring equipment to local musicians for 23 years now. Speakers, mics, mixers, amps and turntables are all available. All leads are included and when hiring for a week, a discount will be applied. ARC also offers a discount to those with valid student IDs.
SBS Events
SBS Events hire the kind of equipment needed by bands and artists at live gigs. This includes monitors, subs, mics, stands, cables, leads, mixers and more. These can be provided with or without a technician, and for delivery with setup or collection. SBS also has a range of backline items to hire, such as guitar combos, bass amplifiers, keyboards and drum kits. This is ideal for those on tour. And in addition to your audio needs, they can provide lighting too.
Wessex Sound Hire
Wessex, based in Marchwood Southampton, offers a hire service to the public in Hampshire and across the UK. They have PA and band PA systems (including L-Acoustics, Martin Audio, Midas, DiGiCo, AKG, Sennheiser and Shure) and sound equipment such as amps, consoles, microphones, radio mics, monitors and stage boxes. With over a decade of experience, the team can advise on what you might need for your setup.
Soundamp
Based a little further afield in Fareham, Sound Amp provides services to those in the wider Hampshire region, including Southampton. The company supplies audio engineers alongside audio gear with a crisp, warm sound, a live multi-track recording service and a digital system capable of iPad control and mobile monitoring.
Musical instrument hire near me
Perhaps it’s instruments that you need, rather than a production and stage kit. If so, you don’t need to pay for a brand new item. Here are the places you can borrow them for cash.
Hobgoblin Music
Both short and long term instrument hire can be arranged via this veteran music store on East Street. The music chain has stores elsewhere in the country also, handy if you’re touring and need a last-minute rental.
Becketts Music
The following instruments are available to hire for a minimum four-month period, paid upfront – prices for the four months range from £25 to £125.00. Violin (all sizes), violin – Hidersine Vivente 3/4 or 4/4, viola – various sizes, guitar classical nylon strung (all sizes), student clarinet, Yamaha / buffet clarinet, student flute, student trumpet, student cornet, student trombone, piccolo, tenor horn, buffet clarinet, Yamaha clarinet, Yamaha, YFL212 flute, student curved head flute, Yamaha curved head flute, student alto saxophone, baritone horn, tenor saxophone, euphonium and cello.
Choose to continue beyond four months and after 10 months of hire, the instrument will become yours. During the hire period, insurance and maintenance of the instrument are included in the cost.
Ric Wood
Musician and tutor Ric Wood offers his own private hire service ranging from one month to 12. This is limited to saxophones, clarinets and piccolos. Ric is based in Netley Abbey.
Fat Llama
This new concept connects those with musical equipment (as well as a host of other categories of items), to those in the same geographical area wanting to hire them. The platform has an excellent rating on Trust Pilot, but naturally, each experience will depend on the individual with whom you deal. Each area will have different items on different days, but we’ve seen things like mic stands, audio recorders, condensers, PA, guitars, keyboards and more.
Hampshire County Council
For just £26 to £36 per term, students can enjoy the use of their own instruments via a loan scheme. However, to be eligible you must either have music lessons under a Hampshire Music Service contract, be a member of the area or county ensembles, or be learning clarinet, oboe, or double bass at one of the council’s specialists centres. The maximum hire period is two years.
Rent from Hants County Council
Hayes Music
Hayes offers a Rent to Buy scheme, which is perfect if you’re unsure whether you want to commit to the full price. You can try out an instrument by paying a fee for a minimum of three months. After this you can keep going with it, paying monthly and, once you’ve been hiring it for a total of 12 months the instrument is yours to keep. Certain brands of guitars, flutes, clarinets, trumpet, sax and drums are all eligible.
Southern Percussion Hire
While this supplier is actually based in Bournemouth, they rent all types of percussion to those in Hampshire and surrounding areas.
Rent from Southern Percussion Hire
If you’re planning a recording session, your studio may already have what you need. In fact, thanks to the wealth of high-quality equipment found in facilities like River Studios, it often works out better value to record in a professional environment, than to hire or buy all the kit and do it at home.
Related Questions
Can you hire musical instruments?
Absolutely and we’ve suggested some great places to rent instruments in this article. But if you plan on doing it frequently, you may be better off buying or repairing your own musical instrument in Southampton, as it’ll work out cheaper over time.
How much does it cost to hire a local musician?
Maybe it’s the musician you want, rather than just the instrument. The fee for this will vary enormously depending on what you want, how long for and where you’re based. You can find out more about how to hire backing musicians and the cost, in this article.