If your lucky enough to own your own sound equipment, good for you! You probably know then that your take home pay is double what it would be if you would have to rent sound. My solid advise is to try to own your own gear if your currently playing small to medium size clubs. Once you start breaking into the festivals and large venue gigs, then you'll need to start thinking about a sound company. There is nothing worse than playing a large outdoor event, and your sound is comparable to an old school tape deck towards the back of the tent. You'll sound washed out and limp if you dont have the right power to project the mix.
A good tool for getting started is Craigslist.You can find quality used pa gear to get you rollin. Now if you have the money to go out and buy all new gear, then great. But lets face it, who the heck has that kind of cash just laying around? Another good strategy is to pool the band money together from several gigs. Be careful how you go about this tho. Be sure there is a clear written agreement between band members on what should happen if someone leaves the band, and who gets the gear. Normally you would arrange a buy out option so the leaving member can get money in exchange for the gear they helped purchase. Make sure this agreement is in place and clear for all members prior to purchase. Make sure everyone understands and agrees on paper. The last thing you need is for a salty ex member to go all crazy on you if things get sticky on his departure. But if your band gets paid 600.00 for a gig and you all agree to put it towards equipment, you can quickly come up with the cash you'll need to own your own gear.
Just remember to take good care of it. I've seen many a speaker stack take its tumble in my day.
