on the location of the piece, but also its weight. Another consideration is what sort of mounting options the manufac- turer of the product provides. There are some amplifiers that use plastic mounting feet. I do not recommend those amplifiers for any sort of inverted mounting. One aspect of installation that has not been touched on yet is budget. How many times have you heard a shop owner com- plain that custom work is not profitable? Typically, that is the result of overachiev- ing installers spending more than their allotted time on intricate fabrication. We all want to build the most awesome-look- ing, jaw-dropping installs. The reality is, though, most clients’ budgets will not cover that sort of installation. So the chal- lenge, aside from integrating your design, is to also limit your time. Know the hours
and days booked for the installation and plan the design around work that can be completed in the allotted time frame. Sometimes that might mean adding just one piece of trim or accent piece. It is the responsibility of the fabricator to help keep the work he or she does profitable. The reality is, if the work is not profit- able, there is no reason for the owner to book those jobs. So, if you are a fabrica- tor and you love fabricating, KEEP IT PROFITABLE! This is a great time to be a fabricator.
There are more tools than ever to help speed the process of design. Two of the companies in the forefront of provid- ing quality layout and design tools for audio fabricators are Mobile Solutions and Sonus Car Audio. If you have been a fabricator for any period of time, you
most likely have heard the names Bryan Schmitt and Mobile Solutions. If you have been in the fabrication room of any seri- ous fabricator, you most likely have seen some of Bryan’s handiwork. Bryan creates a series of Smart Templates that provide fabricators not only with a tool to dupli- cate clean lines when routering, but also to aid in layout and design. In the first article, we talked about evaluating the interior of the vehicle we are working on and being aware of the different design elements. A well-equipped fabricator can peruse the Mobile Solutions Smart Tem- plates and pick a few of the shapes that complement the interior. Those shapes can then be used to form some of the elements of the design of the build. The great part is the templates also help in the build process, because they can be used à
me-mag.com 55
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68