The Complete Handbook of Stage Equipment
A Professional's Reference for Selection, Installation, Maintenance, and Business
by Alumigogo Books
non-fiction
A practical reference for choosing, installing, maintaining, and profiting from stage equipment—no hype, just usable knowledge.
About this book
Behind every flawless live performance is a layer of equipment that most audiences never see: the truss, the cabling, the consoles, the rigging points, the power distribution. The Complete Handbook of Stage Equipment is a detailed reference for the people who make that layer work. It skips the marketing gloss and dives straight into the physics, the specifications that matter, the installation steps that get skipped, and the failures that happen when they are skipped. Drawing on real-world scenarios from a 500-seat theater, a touring rock show, and a corporate ballroom, this handbook gives you the language and the logic to make better decisions.
Reader Reviews
Charles Anderson
★★★★★I picked this up thinking it would finally explain why our dimmer packs keep tripping on Thursdays. It does explain that, and a lot more, but I had a hard time using it as a quick reference. The narrative style in the early chapters is fine for reading cover to cover, but when the console goes down mid-show I am not reading a chapter. I spent more time using the glossary than I expected. The business chapter was okay but felt thin on the rental pricing side. A strong book with some practical value, but the index better be good.
Sandra Flores
★★★★★As a stage manager for a mid-sized venue, I appreciate that this handbook doesn't treat me like a beginner, but it also assumes a level of experience I just don't have yet. I found the chapter on rigging very solid, especially the section on load calculations, which I have already used. My main gripe is that some sections feel geared toward touring gear with a much bigger budget than we have. Also two diagrams in the installation chapter would have been preferable to the long paragraphs explaining truss bracing angles, but I learned to read them carefully. Recommend it if you are moving into more technical production work and need a solid intro.
Jeffrey Lee
★★★★★This is the reference I wish I had when I started my rental house ten years ago. The chapter on troubleshooting saved me a service call last month when I had a dimmer issue on a corporate show and the chapter on business gave me a few new ideas on how to bundle my rental packages. It reads a bit like a textbook in parts, which is fine with me because I am usually looking for an answer, not a story. The advice is specific and actionable. I have already recommended it to two other shop owners. Well worth the price.