Jess has the right idea for her band. If stuff is bought jointly, draw up an agreement, otherwise when people leave the band after donating their share of the proceeds of early gigs to buying a PA system, they've effectively made a present of it to the others.

Obviously members of the band should own their own pickups, amplifiers (if used) stands and cables up to the mixer. In one ceilidh band I was in, our caller insisted on owning his own mic too, as he didn't think it fair for the instrumentalists to have invested in their gear while he didn't have to pay for anything; nowadays many callers own their own radio headsets anyway.

In Fendragon, Mary and I own all the main PA, and the monitoring system. That suits us fine because it means that we can go out as a duo or a scratch band with no objection from the other band members. We sometimes also use the monitors as a mini sound system for playing recordings at festival workshops.

Anahata