From an Ole Dog to the12volt.com

I must compliment you and all the participants here at "the12volt.com". I ran across your site yesterday for the first time and I have to say that I commend you on a fantastically informative site. Being a former installer (inducted in "82") I left the biz a couple of years ago. After 18 years of bending over the hood (no pun intended, so don't flame me for that, although I have been bent over by some I've worked for.....), I decided to shoot for the comfort of a deskchair, as opposed to the garage floor, after getting laid-off (company bellied up), I have been designing websites and taking care of Mom, who now lives with us in Palmdale, in the High Desert area of So Cal. 

I am thinking about coming back, as a Rep or something behind the scenes. I have had my share of splitting calluses, battle scars and stitches, and now I have to wear reading glasses to see 18" in front of me noggin. To the curious, I'm 44. (P.S. - To the guy that almost lost his "personal tool" to the dremel, don't feel alone. Been there, done that, Got the T-shirt and all the parts are still there, thank you very much!)

I miss the biz, and had a lot of good times. I have had the pleasure of watching this industry evolve from 8-tracks and analog tuners to the technical marvels of today. God, I still remember when no-one had any idea what "autoreverse" meant, or "digital tuning". Then, Pioneer & Craig were one company, Concord's HPL-130 had the hottest sounding cassette, AWIA made the big mistake of trying to break into Car Stereo market with their flip-down face (which almost caused them to file for Chapter 11 after that bone-head move), Jensen introduced their Powerplay 6X9's with a piggyback amp and their power amps, in my opinion, were a joke (and still are as far as I know), Sanyo was trying so hard to look cool, but they had a decent power amp for the money (PA6100), as long as you didn't use their "unique" turn on circuit, Blaupunkt's manufacturing plants had moved to Mexico, Carl was just starting "Custom Autosounds" out of a small building around the corner in Anaheim, Black Bart came out with its "glass-breaking sensor" alarm("Pssst" was the test signal), and there was no such thing as the "cordless drill".

The truly greatest car audio event taking place back then was Delco collaborating Bose to design the "ultimate psycho-acoustic experience" in autosound. Anyone remenber "Morgan" the crash dummy becoming an audiophile? Raise your hand if you can remember these historical events!  Hmm, not too many, I'm sure? I know I've left out a lot of truly meaningful events leading to what we know of  today as "car audio experience".

As I said, this site is excellent and I wish we would have had something like this back then. (The Internet? What's That?) It would have saved many headaches and late nights in the garage.

Can I act like a "wise old fart" here? For all those basically new to this industry, welcome to one of the most rewarding, interesting, fun and sometimes frustrating businesses. Be prepared to work late nights. One day will never be the same as the next, so monotony will not be what drives you crazy. There is one thing that I learned, and it is that you can always learn something new from someone else's experiences. Ask questions if you don't know. "A closed mouth will not be fed" If you think you know everything, you are just kidding yourself and will end up making a fool out of yourself, losing money and customers. Taking pride in the quality of your work makes it easier on you, develops excellent customer rapport, and makes it a whole lot easier on the next guy that may have to work on one of your past jobs. When you bid a job, go at least another 25% higher on labor costs & installation time estimates. Quality work deserves quality pay. It helps to balance out the bottom line on those jobs that "can & will" unexpectedly go into overtime............

AND, always, always, always - Run a complete check on all systems of the customer/client's vehicle, also checking for scratches, tears and any other blemishes before you pick up even one tool! It only takes five minutes and this covers your butt cause you found a problem before you even started. It also shows the the customer/client that you are paying attention to detail and they feel better knowing that you care (plus it will eliminate any BS from the vehicle's owner coming back stating "it worked when I brought it in". And believe me, some people will try it!)

Best of all, this is one business that will get your proverbial rocks off, especially when it comes to "instant gratification". There are not too many careers like this one that will make you feel like a God when you've finished tightening the last screw, plugging in the fuse, then turning the system on. Best of all, the look on the face of the customer when they turn it on for the first time. Almost as good as sex!

Philsophy from an "Ole Dog"

"Ole Dog" nice post ! I'm wiping the tears from my eyes right now ! I have to admit I've been in the biz as long as yourself, and what you say is true and well spoken. This site is a major asset to the install community- the internet can be a blessing as well as a curse.

I made the move to store ownership about 14 years ago, and have wondered about my state of mind ever since- working with complicated electro-mechanical systems can be very rewarding, and I've met many great customers over the years. Running a business can be pretty stressfull. I almost miss having someone else handle the money, bills and checks.

I totally agree that installers should be paid well for good work and a good attitude- customers gladly (?) pay surley service men big bucks to show up late, do poor work and leave the area a mess when something needs to be done on their home. I know that most people don't appreciate how complicated our job is!

Thanks for your insight- especially good for new guys, and helps put things into perspective for us old timers, Thanks- Steve

Hi webguy, thank you for your compliments here and for the ones in my guest book.  It's refreshing to read posts like yours that express the positive aspects of this industry, enthusiasm,  and the pride and joy we take (and get)  in our work.

I lived in Long Beach before my son was born and did quite a bit of work in Anaheim, across I-5 from Disneyland.  As a matter of fact, quite a few of my customers where located just across the alley from Custom Autosound Mnfg. Particularly Ron Brown's Automotive Concepts & Coast Corvette. I even did some work for Carl in a joint venture with Coast Corvette & AudioLink. Small world, isn't it? BTW, did you know that Carl's building was the original office of Disneyland when they were building the park? He still has some of the original theme park murals painted on the walls.

Your post brought back some old memories, and fond ones at that. Thank you ;) 

BTW, Did they still make 8 tracks in '82? :D

the12volt

I used to work for Ron Brown (biggest thighs I've seen on a human being) and his Mom (wasn't it called "Tire & Wheel Concepts" back then?). That was back in "86"?. I'm not sure exactly. What a small world. If I remember correctly, the manager's name was Mike or Jim and his son worked there too. When Ron put on a Car show at the Anaheim Stadium, I built a semi-portable flat-black display rack with all Fosgate stuff that rocked. Todd was the "salesguy" and he drove a T-bird. Vance & Hines was next door. Joe was was their "mechanic" and he had this really hot Black w/blue Chevelle.

Besides Ron's cars, like the pearl white Porsche 911 with the Blue Interior and his Astrovan, I remember working on Leroy Irving's Porsche, Henry Ellard's White BMW, Mike Schad's car, etc. I was only with him for about 6 months, when I had an accident over the Labor day weekend and cracked up my car coming back from dirtbike riding in Hemet (hit some blackice coming out of turn, straight into a phone pole), and my face cut up from the windsheild. (No scarring, thank god.)

I had already known Carl (Sprague?) well before that, when I used to work for a company called Tape Odyssey Sound Systems (TOSS,Inc.) The place I worked at then was in a small business complex where Ball Road passed over the 5 and Anaheim Blvd. I worked there for 3 1/2 years doing installs and sales. Our main gig was insurance theft R & R work for AAA. We also supplied Carl with head units for his projects. We were the Sanyo & Concord Distributor back then for the area, before CSD picked them up. (I really liked that HPL-130!) Until I lost everything in a house fire about four years ago, I even still had a copy of the "Car Stereo Blue Book". What really hurt the most was loosing all my pictures (portfolio) of my installs. Over ten years worth.

So, more than likely, you and I have probably met somewhere along the line. We probably saw each other at the CSD warehouse, picking up stuff (remember they used to be located on Oslo circle before Gerald relocated to his bigger building.)

I did a gig at Henry's, Pacific, The Car Stereo House (Beach & Katella)(Hey, Kevin, if you're out there, are ya still "God's gift"?), The Sound Machine (Peter & Helen Lee - Good people to work for), D.J.'s Autosound (Dave Parker & Bro Jim) (which used to be Varian's, before Harry lost it), Speaker Box (Santa Ana, next to the freeway) and in Belmont Shores called "Offshore Stereo & Detailing" (that's where I found out how much a Mercedes Windshield cost). Then I moved back to Palmdale in "88" and worked for "Powersound", which was owned by a guy named Wayne, who used to be one of the Vice-Presidents of Leo's Stereo. But he sold it to one of the installers, then shortly after it went belly up. I think Wayne knew it wasn't going to be in business much longer, and, in my opinion, well....... I won't say it. 

Well, anyway, as I said, this site is fantastic and you should (and probably will) be recognized for your acheivements here. I have been doing some web design parttime, (basic stuff mostly, still smoothing out my "learning curve") and I know the amount of work and brain juice it took to put this site together. I can honestly see this as becoming the premeire DIY site, which I am a firm advocate of DIY enthusiasts. I only started checking sites related to car audio a couple of days ago (that mid-life crisis thingy?). Now I will be checking everyday. Could it be an ego thing? Maybe......but I don't know everything and will never profess to saying I do, but if my two cents will help, I've got plenty of loose change..........

Please feel free to contact me at anytime at my email. I don't need to post it here, since you are the Head Cheese, you have the access to your database and can pull it up from there. I hesitate to post my #, but will gladly email it to you.

As you can probably tell, I enjoy writing (coming from a family of preachers, teachers, professors and published writers). I miss the industry and am seriously considering coming back, but not as an installer this time, although it would be very difficult to keep my nose out of the work bay.......

Robert M Brady (a.k.a. Webguy & an "Ole Dog") Well, not that old......

www.cjfa.org (this website I got sued for, fought the case Pro Se, and won), www.avdining.com (a recent startup), www.gnitc.net are some of the sites I've created, and could always stand some improvement. I am my own worst critic.

P.S. - I don't remember if 8-tracks were still being made and probably weren't, but there were still a few hanging around our warehouse. And, no, I didn't know that Old Disney) about Carl's building. The thing I missed about living in Anaheim was the 9:30 PM fireworks. I would take my son, Patrick, outside everynight to watch. (who just turned 18 last month and also enjoys car audio, takes after Dad, but what kid doesn't these days.) Both of my sons have helped me on quite a few of my past projects. I remember when my oldest was 3 years old and I was working on my own car. I went to grab a nutdriver and they were all gone. He had taken them and dropped them down this drain hole in the floor of the carport. Fortunately, my arms were long enough to reach them. Exlite Nutdrivers weren't cheap! Now I joke with him about it, telling people that he would use more tools than I did on jobs back then). Needess to say, he received his own set of tools that Xmas.......... Then, a couple of years later, I became a proud Dad again. This time, I've got a computer whiz kid that should also become a graphics artist and is into Anime.

Yeah Robert, it was called Ron Brown's Tire & Wheel Concepts and I remember Joe ("it's not my yob man") the mechanic . The other guys were no longer there. Ron's mother had the longest finger nails that I've ever seen on anyone. I worked on Ron's cars in '87 including that white slant nose 911 with the blue interior when I was working at a shop in Downey. It already had a system in it, was that your work? If I remember correctly it was an Alpine system. He had about 20 or so vehicles at the time. I also worked on Henry Ellard's white BMW, David Hill's BMW, Tiny's Corvette, Jim Everett's Jeep, Eric Dickersen's white Testarossa (Ron had a black one at the time and four other slant nose 911's) and several other Ram's players who's names I can't recall at the moment.

Back then I was installing Mind Reader alarms that at the time had more features than just about anything else out on the market and with a one button, multi function remote. All of Ron's team mates wanted their windows and sun roof to open and close, all the lights to flash inside and out, door locks, trunk release, head light convenience, illuminated entry, warn-away, back-up battery, garage door interface, etc. Back then the unit cost $200 plus the window modules and relays and I sold the systems installed for $1200 to $1400 :)

CSD, sheesh, how much I forgot. I used to purchase product form them. I probably saw you at one of their open houses or in passing.

Indeed a small world. Work beckons, I'll shoot you an email sometime this weekend.

the12volt

More than likely the white Porsche was an old job of mine (my humblest apologies) It wasn't my idea to seal the subwoofer (a 15" Fosgate Sub, if I remember correctly, in an enclosure that was way too small, but that's what he wanted in there....... ) inside the enclosure with the upholstery, with no way to get at it. It came back that way from the uphosltery shop. Oh well.....

And Henry's BMW was a rewire that someone did that thought they knew what they were doing. They had installed an amp under the rear seat to power the front speakers, with the head unit powering the rear (6X9's?). So I jacked up the car and spun it 180....

It sounds like you came into the picture after I left there, which I now remember was in "86", the year my second son was born.

Look forward to your email.......