Playing in a Garage (acoustics & some old cars)

[roger bayliss]

Andy you would get on with my brother in law who rebuilds classic cars for a living with a garage like that. Come to think of it I would get along with you too !

My brother in law has re built many marques including Austin Healeys and Jags and sells them on for money to people all over the world to earn a living and he has a great reputation in the classic car market. I believe he has a Jaguar XK for sale at present for something like £100k in a showroom in Austria. They are like new when he completes them and even the engines and gearboxes get upgraded with the other stuff. Showroom quality they are.


Here is one of his jobs up for sale
http://www.classic-auctions.com/Auctions/21-09-2011-TheImperialWarMuseum-1292/1956JaguarXK140DropheadCoupe-10000022.aspx

Rog

[abstamaria]

Dear Roger,

I am sure I would get along with your brother-in-law and you! He's in the right profession now, as there seems a a renewed interest in old cars, now that stocks and currency don't seem good investments. I notice the Jaguar sold at a very good price. The market seems climbing steadily. Let me know your brother-in-law's name; I subscribe to a number of UK vintage and classic car magazines, and want to be able to identify him when his name turns up.

My best,

Andy

[roger bayliss]

His name is Phil Kennedy T/a Renaissance Classic Cars

Here is another example of his work Andy
http://obswww.unige.ch/~wildif/cars/AHbj7/bodywork.htm

He built a version of the Squire for some years see here
http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/classic-car-page/117784/1989-kennedy-squire-sports/

[abstamaria]

Great, Roger. I'll keep his name and shop in mind. He does fabulous work on such interesting cars.

Best,

Andy

[abstamaria]

Many thanks, Roger, Ray, all, for the links and addresses. I had a great time learning the "lay of the land" on Google Maps and relating places to the few I know in London. Thirty years ago, I worked in the City and for several months was billeted at the White House hotel next to Regent Park. I wonder if it's still there. I wish I knew where and what to look for at that time, but in those days information was hard to come by.

Many thanks again.

Andy

[abstamaria]

When we renovated the garage, I found space to which to move the tool and spares cabinets, drill press, and workbench that were in the old workshop. But there were so many things left over, such as a spare engine and extra sets of wheels and tires, that I still had to find new places for.

Here is the workshop/studio in the midst of the move.



When I finally moved all the garage-related things from the workshop, some acoustic problems became evident. I was perfectly happy before then. Perhaps the presence of cabinets, etc., broke up the reflected sound before, so that there was not one dominant echo, reverb, or standing wave.

Andy

[abstamaria]

I installed the amps in adjustable, boltless chromed steel shelves, shown in the photo below. The shelves, called “Gorilla” racks here after the company that first marketed them, raised the amps from the floor, which in theory is good as it isolated the amps and gave them room to breathe.

gorilla rack.jpg

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The racks also allowed me to put the amps against one wall. Since we play Ventures pieces too, which require Fender amps, I could easily switch amps. Also, I no longer had to drag the amps from storage for practice and jam sessions. I could “plug and play.”

However, the Gorilla racks, while very strong and stable, would ring if tapped. They created, I felt, their own harmonic tones when the amplifiers played on them, inducing vibrations. Didier noted this is to be expected, so perhaps it wasn’t my imagination. The bare cement walls, ceiling, and floor ensured every sound, including harmonics, could be heard. I didn’t much mind at first but eventually found the confused mix tiresome.

I did not find the racks ideal for the job.

Andy

[abstamaria]

The garage has a cement floor, coated with an industrial epoxy paint (the paint is poured on, rather than brushed on). The coating is ideal for working on cars, as it is tough, cleans easily, and looks neat for a shop. Here is a friend’s Westfield Eleven off the floor for servicing some time ago (Lotus models used to be referred to by their model numbers, the “Eleven” being the 11th model produced).



However, for a studio, a hard, shiny, unyielding floor has its drawbacks. When I finally cleared the workshop and set the amps in the wire metal racks, I began to notice that the note E on the 5th string became much louder than the other notes. The dominant note was the note the room was resonating with and emphasizing – the room mode. The dimensions of the room were such that it was in phase with the E note, the peaks of the note’s sound wave coinciding always and therefore sounding louder – a standing wave phenomenon.

The shiny floor and cement walls and ceiling made for a reverberant room with a clear “room mode,” and the note that the room chose to emphasize was that E note on the 5th string. I noticed it in pieces such as “Savage,” but especially so in quieter pieces such as “Blue Star,” when that note would boom. Octaves of the note would be emphasized as well, of course, but it was on the 5th string that it was loudest.

I am writing this down to set out my own layman’s understanding of the black art of room acoustics (which may be and probably is completely wrong!) and hope it will be useful to some of you who might face the problem in the future.

Best,

Andy

[Ubique]

Hi Andy
I think this would look good hanging in you garage studio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9f69wODxGk

Cheers.
Neil

[abstamaria]

Wow, Neil. I've never seen anything like that. I'm not sure if I would buy it if I could afford it, but what an incredible piece of work. I like the fretboard inlays.

Cheers,

Andy