Brian: So Ken, I’ve just recently moved, and I’m finding myself dealing with a new frustration. All of my equipment is still 10 minutes up the road from my old house, which puts it about an hour and a half from my new home. I’ve got to get my shop closer to where I’m living now, but I don’t have a nice three-car garage, and I certainly don’t have the money for some big commercial space. Have you got any thoughts on a good way to store lots of equipment?
Ken: Brian, Brian, Brian…. are you asking the wrong person! As a sound professional who plays living room Tetris every day, let me warn you that it is not quite the turn-on for your new wife that you may think. Friends who would like to have a cheap weekend in Las Vegas are appalled when I explain that they have to bunk on the racks — yet another reason for matched-height gear. My personal best was having a well-endowed young lady find the cremated remains of my father on a speaker cabinet I was repairing. My laughter did not seem to help the situation.
Brian: That might be a little more than I needed to know…. I’m not really sure. I guess it depends on what you were doing with this coed at the time. Fortunately for me, I don’t really have the option to store equipment in our living room. We have an apartment on the second floor of a com-mercial building, and there’s no elevator for this loft. I know you won’t find me hauling racks and stacks up and down these steps. Bringing the groceries in is bad enough. I know I won’t be putting my gear around the dining room table, but where can I put all of that stuff?
Ken: It sounds like you might be moving out of anklebiter status. I think leasing commercial space gives your business more than a whiff of a “grown-up” job most of us avoid. I, of course, have to maintain my rootless style in case the Rolling Stones call and need to replace touring bassist Darryl Jones. In the meantime, check your local ads for garage space for rent that is attached to a residential home. People who don’t need the extra room frequently offer these spaces, and that can mean an older homebody, so you get the added benefit of a security guard with a vested interest in protecting his or her own property. And they’re cheaper than regular commercial space. You like cheaper, right?
Brian: Oh, we like cheaper. And that sounds better than renting a storage locker, which is how I’m storing stuff now. Those things can be dank and dark, unless you pay extra for climate control. Not to mention that finding one with an electrical outlet is close to impossible. My current “shop” has a deep cell marine battery and two tractor lights wire-tied to the ceiling, just so I can have some light to unload by after the gig. I’ve thought about adding a power inverter and a solar panel to keep it charged, but how elaborate does one get with something that is supposed to be tempo-rary?
Ken: From what I understand, it’s just as tough with a “real” warehouse space, where you need an advanced degree in electrical engineering and a touch of MacGyver to fake the three-phase power you require when you reach that stage. Next item for your research should probably be security systems.
As with any piece of gear, it sounds like the permanent solution will require a little effort on your part. Maybe list what you desire and then put those items in order of importance. As a person not facing that predicament, perhaps our ever-faithful and smarter readers have suggestions?
Brian: Well, some of them probably could shed some light on the subject. I have a feeling that those readers who have been in my situation would tell me that there just came a point where they just bit the bullet and leased or built a real warehouse space. I know that I eventually had to dive in and buy a truck to haul all this stuff. Some day, I guess I’ll have to buy a real shop too.
I do know that one of the best business moves my grandfather ever made was to run his construction company from the same piece of property where he lived. Less overhead means more profit any way you slice the pie. Speaking of…I have a taste for another slice of pumpkin, complete with whipped cream.
