Which microphone stand do I need?

Tall boom for vocals, speeches and most instruments; short boom or kick for drums, amps and anything at floor level; straight for podium and choir microphones; table-top for a lectern or a panel. If you are not sure, tell us what is being miked and we will pick — the stands are cheap enough that a spare in the case costs almost nothing.

Can we have lights in our hall if there are no bars to hang them on?

Yes — that is exactly what the wind-up stands are for. A stand with a T-bar carries up to four fixtures across the top, cranks to height without lifting, and touches nothing but the floor, so there is no fixing to the building and nothing to make good afterwards. For dance, a scaffold pole in a tank trap base puts side light exactly where moving bodies need it.

Are the clamps and bonds load-rated?

Yes, and the rating is marked on each piece. Drifts and trigger clamps are rated to 250kg working load limit, boom arms to 37kg, half couplers to 50kg and G-clamps to 20kg. Safety bonds come in three ratings, 25kg at 35cm and 20kg or 50kg at 75cm, and the bond goes on rated above the weight of the fixture and everything bolted to it. Two things to hold onto: a rating is a limit, not a target, and the lowest limit in the chain — clamp, bond, bracket or the bar itself — is the one that counts. Ratchet straps have no place in that chain; they hold kit down and never hold it up. Tell us what is going up and we will confirm the hardware suits the weight.

We have our own lanterns. Which clamp and bond do we need?

Match the clamp to the weight and to what it hangs on. A G-clamp, rated to 20kg, hooks over a venue bar or a T-bar and takes a small lantern or LED par. A half coupler, rated to 50kg, closes right round a 48-51mm bar or truss tube for the same kind of small fixture, and its aluminium body is kinder to truss and painted bars than steel. Anything heavier — a moving head, a wash bar, a speaker on a bracket — goes on a trigger clamp rated to 250kg. Then a bond rated above the fixture: 35cm at 25kg for a light hung right under the bar, 75cm at 20kg or 50kg for heavier fixtures or anything out on a boom arm. Tell us the make and model of what you are hanging and we will pick for you and quote it as one list.

Do you hire ladders or access equipment?

No, and it is deliberate. The hardware on this page hires dry quite happily, but working at height is a job we do rather than a thing we lend. When a rig needs someone up a ladder or a tower, we send a technician with the right access equipment and the training to use it, and we quote that as part of the job.

Home Services Equipment Hire Stands, Rigging and Comms Hire

Microphone, speaker and lighting stand hire — with the clamps and rigging

Every microphone, speaker and light needs something to hold it, and this page is that something. Microphone and speaker stands hire at a pound or two a day, wind-up lighting stands at £5, and the hanging clamps, shackles, drifts and weights cost pennies. For trigger clamps, half couplers and G-clamps for your own lanterns, the 25kg and 50kg safety bonds and the ratchet straps, contact us for pricing. None of it is glamorous; all of it is the difference between a rig that stays put and one that worries you all night. Hire it by the piece, or tell us the rig and we will pack the hardware to match.

The microphone stands cover the jobs that come up on every show. Tall boom stands are the general worker: vocals, speeches and instruments at standing or seated height, with the boom reaching over music stands and drum kits. Short boom and kick stands do the low work — kick drums, guitar amps and anything at floor level. Straight stands suit podium and choir microphones that do not need to reach, and the table-top stand, at 25p a day, puts a microphone on a lectern or a panel desk.

Speaker stands are the quickest way to get sound over the heads of a seated audience, which is most of the job of being heard clearly. The tripod stands take our Alto and EV tops at head height and above; the speaker poles mount a top box on a subwoofer instead, which keeps the footprint small and the cabling short where floor space is tight.

For lighting there are two families. Wind-up stands crank a T-bar of fixtures up to height without any lifting and carry 40kg safely — they are what we send when a venue has no lighting bars of its own. Fixed stands suit lighter loads and smaller rooms, and the T-bars come in three widths to put up to four fixtures across the top of either. Where a stand is wrong for the job, a scaffold pole in a tank trap base makes a low-level side-light boom — which is how dance actually gets lit.

The rigging hardware is the small stuff done properly. Hanging clamps and bow shackles take speakers and heavier hardware, wire rope drifts rated at 250kg bridge the gap between a bar and an awkward hanging point, boom arms put a fixture out to the side of a vertical boom, and 12.5kg stage weights stop stands walking and keep booms honest. Our own lanterns and speakers still arrive with their clamps and bonds in the same crate: say where they are going and the right ones come with the fixtures. For your own lanterns, the clamps now hire by the piece; contact us for pricing. Trigger clamps hook over a 48-51mm bar or truss tube and snap shut on their own, holding the weight while the wing bolt is tightened; rated to 250kg, they are the clamp for moving heads, wash bars and speaker brackets. Aluminium half couplers close right round the same tube and take a small LED fixture on an M10 bolt, rated to 50kg. Steel G-clamps, rated to 20kg, are the everyday hook for a small lantern on a hall bar of up to 50mm or on a T-bar.

Anything that hangs above people gets a safety bond as its second, independent attachment, and the bonds come in three ratings. The 35cm bond at 25kg suits a light sitting right under the bar, where a short bond keeps any drop small. The 75cm bonds, at 20kg and at 50kg, reach round a truss chord or back from a boom arm, and the 50kg is the one that goes with a moving head on a trigger clamp. The rule is the shortest bond that reaches, rated above the fixture and everything bolted to it, looped round the bar rather than the clamp. Ratchet straps are a different thing altogether: polyester webbing with a steel ratchet that pulls tight and locks, for holding flight cases in the van, a speaker snug on its stand or a stack of flats together in the wings. They are restraint, not rigging, and never hang anything.

A word on ratings, because they matter more than anything else on this page. A working load limit is the most a piece may ever carry, not a figure to aim at, and the fixture, its barndoors and gel frame and the clamp itself all count towards it. The bar you hang from has a limit of its own, and the lowest number in the chain is the one that governs. Wing bolts and wing nuts go hand-tight and no tighter; a spanner does not make a clamp safer, it damages the tube. Anything above anyone’s head gets a bond as well as a clamp, every time. And a ratchet strap, however stout it looks, holds things down and never holds them up. If any of that is unfamiliar, that is the moment to tell us what is going up and let us do the rigging.

The folding trestle tables are the backstage catch-all: a props table in the wings, a merch desk in the foyer, somewhere for the tea urn. And if working out stands and rigging feels like guesswork, it is our job, not yours — tell us the rig, the room and what it hangs on, and we will send the hardware to match, tested and counted.

What you get

Microphone stands in tall boom, short boom, straight, kick and table-top patterns, with tripod speaker stands and sub-mount poles for our Alto and EV boxes

Wind-up and fixed lighting stands rated at 40kg, T-bars in 1m, 1.5m and 2m widths, and tank trap bases with 2m scaffold poles for low side-light booms

Hanging clamps, bow shackles, 250kg wire rope drifts, 37kg boom arms and 12.5kg stage weights, priced by the piece

Trigger clamps (250kg), half couplers (50kg) and G-clamps (20kg) for hanging your own fixtures on a 48-51mm bar, T-bar or truss — contact us for pricing

Safety bonds in three ratings — 25kg at 35cm, 20kg and 50kg at 75cm — so every fixture above people gets one rated above its weight

Ratchet straps for lashing cases, kit and scenery in place: restraint only, never for hanging anything

Folding trestle tables for props, merch and the hundred small backstage jobs

Not included: ladders or powered access — when a rig means working at height, we send a technician rather than the kit

Good for

Putting a pair of speakers on stands either side of a school or village hall stage

Wind-up stands and T-bars where the venue has no lighting bars at all

Low side-light booms for dance shows, built from tank traps and scaffold poles

Boom stands across a band setup — drums, amps and vocalists

Clamps and safety bonds for hanging fixtures, ours or your own, on a venue’s existing bars or truss

Ratchet straps for the get-in: cases lashed in the van, a speaker held snug on its stand, flats strapped together in the wings

A props table in the wings and a merch desk in the foyer

What you need to know

What it is: The holding hardware: stands for microphones, speakers and lights, and the clamps, shackles, bonds, weights and straps that fix a rig in place.
Ratings: Lighting stands carry 40kg safe working load; boom arms 37kg; wire rope drifts and trigger clamps 250kg working load limit; half couplers 50kg; G-clamps 20kg. Safety bonds come in 25kg (35cm), 20kg and 50kg (75cm), matched to the fixture.
How it is priced: By the piece, per day: stands from 25p to £5, hanging clamps, shackles and the 20kg bond from 50p. For trigger clamps, half couplers, G-clamps, the 25kg and 50kg bonds and ratchet straps, contact us for pricing.
Safety: Anything hung above people gets a rated clamp and a safety bond rated above its weight. Wing bolts go hand-tight, a rating is a limit not a target, and ratchet straps hold kit down, never up.
Getting it right: Hiring fixtures or speakers from us at the same time? Say so, and the matching stands, clamps, bonds and spares arrive in the same case. Hanging your own lanterns? Tell us the make and weight and we will pick the clamp and bond.

Hire rates

Choose the one you need. The photo and price follow your choice.

Rates are per day and exclude VAT. A longer hire costs less per day — tell us your dates and we will price the period exactly. Ask us about delivery and hiring with a technician. Where a line says contact us for pricing, tell us the dates and quantities and we will quote it.

Alternatives

Cables and adaptors — the other unglamorous crate — the runs and adaptors that connect what the stands hold up.

Full technical specification (8)

Microphone stands	Tall boom, short boom, straight, kick and table-top patterns
Speaker stands	Tripod stands and sub-mount poles for standard 35mm sockets
Lighting stands	Wind-up and fixed, 40kg SWL, with 1m, 1.5m and 2m T-bars
Low level booms	Tank trap bases with 2m scaffold poles
Clamps	Hanging clamps with shackle slot; 1t bow shackles; 750mm boom arms at 37kg SWL; self-locking trigger clamps for 48-51mm bar and truss (WLL 250kg, M10 or M12 bolt); aluminium half couplers for 48-51mm tube (WLL 50kg, M10); steel G-clamps for bars to 50mm (WLL 20kg, M10); all wing bolts hand-tight
Safety	Safety bonds in 35cm (25kg), 75cm (20kg) and 75cm (50kg); 2m wire rope drifts (250kg WLL); 12.5kg stage weights
Straps	Ratchet tie-down straps, polyester webbing with a steel ratchet, for load restraint of cases, kit and scenery only — never for suspension
Backstage	Folding trestle tables

Common questions

Tall boom for vocals, speeches and most instruments; short boom or kick for drums, amps and anything at floor level; straight for podium and choir microphones; table-top for a lectern or a panel. If you are not sure, tell us what is being miked and we will pick — the stands are cheap enough that a spare in the case costs almost nothing.
Yes — that is exactly what the wind-up stands are for. A stand with a T-bar carries up to four fixtures across the top, cranks to height without lifting, and touches nothing but the floor, so there is no fixing to the building and nothing to make good afterwards. For dance, a scaffold pole in a tank trap base puts side light exactly where moving bodies need it.
Yes, and the rating is marked on each piece. Drifts and trigger clamps are rated to 250kg working load limit, boom arms to 37kg, half couplers to 50kg and G-clamps to 20kg. Safety bonds come in three ratings, 25kg at 35cm and 20kg or 50kg at 75cm, and the bond goes on rated above the weight of the fixture and everything bolted to it. Two things to hold onto: a rating is a limit, not a target, and the lowest limit in the chain — clamp, bond, bracket or the bar itself — is the one that counts. Ratchet straps have no place in that chain; they hold kit down and never hold it up. Tell us what is going up and we will confirm the hardware suits the weight.
Match the clamp to the weight and to what it hangs on. A G-clamp, rated to 20kg, hooks over a venue bar or a T-bar and takes a small lantern or LED par. A half coupler, rated to 50kg, closes right round a 48-51mm bar or truss tube for the same kind of small fixture, and its aluminium body is kinder to truss and painted bars than steel. Anything heavier — a moving head, a wash bar, a speaker on a bracket — goes on a trigger clamp rated to 250kg. Then a bond rated above the fixture: 35cm at 25kg for a light hung right under the bar, 75cm at 20kg or 50kg for heavier fixtures or anything out on a boom arm. Tell us the make and model of what you are hanging and we will pick for you and quote it as one list.
No, and it is deliberate. The hardware on this page hires dry quite happily, but working at height is a job we do rather than a thing we lend. When a rig needs someone up a ladder or a tower, we send a technician with the right access equipment and the training to use it, and we quote that as part of the job.

More stands, rigging and comms hire

Mitex site bundle

Site-grade walkie talkies that reach from the stage door to the far end of the car park.

£16 / day

View & check dates

Pro Intercom Comms System (4-Way)

An always-open party line so the stage manager can call the show in a whisper.

£35 / day

View & check dates

See the rest of our stands, rigging and comms hire stock, or browse everything available to hire.

Talk to us

Tell us the venue, the dates and what the show needs, and we will confirm availability.

Call 0333 404 0621, email [email protected], or send us the details of your production.