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Future jam cave....with a lotta work

Am I Crazy?

  • Yes, you'll need to come with us for evaluation.

    Votes: 7 41.2%

  • No way, rock that thing!

    Votes: 8 47.1%

  • Have a carrot and think it over...

    Votes: 2 11.8%
  • Total voters
    17
alanolynn

alanolynn

Aug 19, 2012
389
552
41
NNY
#1
So, I picked up a 12 foot travel trailer from a bandmate and plan to gut it and furnish it to facilitate practice and chill hangouts. It's a '75 Empire.

Figured I'd take some before pics. It's going to be a ton of work, but all the electrical and LP is fully functional! And hey, if it can double as a getaway wagon, then why not?

unnamed.jpg unnamed1.jpg unnamed2.jpg

Does anyone else have a unique practice space?
 
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#4
I voted yes but what do I know.

I helped a friend fix one up to live in once and it was a constant headache to keep it from leaking, rodents, overall maintenance.

I was lucky enough to take over a bedroom in the basement after my son graduated college and moved out. It has the advantage of being on the opposite end of our house from the bedrooms upstairs so I don't have to be silent.

Fixing that trailer will be a fun adventure at best, or an expensive failure at worst. Best of luck!
 
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#5
WI Short Scaler said:
I voted yes but what do I know.

I helped a friend fix one up to live in once and it was a constant headache to keep it from leaking, rodents, overall maintenance.

I was lucky enough to take over a bedroom in the basement after my son graduated college and moved out. It has the advantage of being on the opposite end of our house from the bedrooms upstairs so I don't have to be silent.

Fixing that trailer will be a fun adventure at best, or an expensive failure at worst. Best of luck!
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is definitely going to be an undertaking, but all the hard stuff is taken care of. I just need to gut it, throw up new insulation and walls, then pick the layout. The lighting will just be rerouted to new locations. No need to rewire. It even has a breaker box! I figured it would have an old fuse panel. I'm ditching the "toilet" and "bathroom" entirely. So that's an easy headache avoided.

The wife is involved as well, so it'll actually have some class. She has some pretty nifty ideas of her own, but she knows what it'll be used for primarily.
 
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#6
Update: It rolls like a dream. New tires on and home at last. The gutting has begun with only discovering 1 mouse, and a couple mutant spiders that rival any of the monsters affected by the ooze from TNMT.

Daily disinfectant sprays and some fresh air circulating through the day. Stay tuned!
 
#7
You may want to bug bomb it while you're at it. Then throw open every door and window for a couple days.

One thing that might be advantageous is to invest in a larger tailgating tent to fit over it. That would help keep it cool and allow you to air it out for a while even on rainy days. It could also make for a nice place to hang out under during break at rehearsal.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-12-x-12-Instant-Canopy/55208741

All that being said, if you have a drummer, it's going to be TIGHT and LOUD in there.

Good luck with it!
 
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#8
two fingers said:
All that being said, if you have a drummer, it's going to be TIGHT and LOUD in there
Click to expand...

Oh heck, no drummers aloud. Maybe a djembe or a cajone, but no kits, that's for sure.

There's top ventilation that'll help, even when it rains. I've been looking into "car awnings". They normally attach to a roof rack rail on a car or SUV, but I can rig something to the top of the trailer for it to work. The gears are turning!
 
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#9
two fingers said:
You may want to bug bomb it while you're at it. Then throw open every door and window for a couple days.

One thing that might be advantageous is to invest in a larger tailgating tent to fit over it. That would help keep it cool and allow you to air it out for a while even on rainy days. It could also make for a nice place to hang out under during break at rehearsal.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-12-x-12-Instant-Canopy/55208741

All that being said, if you have a drummer, it's going to be TIGHT and LOUD in there.

Good luck with it!
Click to expand...
At one time I rehearsed in the living room in a fourteen wide trailer home that was a fourteen foot square box in one end of the place with a wall and a door to the hall closing it off from the rest of the thing. With a drummer it was so impossibly loud and near impossible to use for any practical work unless you opened all the windows and the hall door. Best of luck but I believe you'd be better off making it into a nice little two person camper and scratch building a shed to play music in.
 
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#10
fhm555 said:
At one time I rehearsed in the living room in a fourteen wide trailer home that was a fourteen foot square box in one end of the place with a wall and a door to the hall closing it off from the rest of the thing. With a drummer it was so impossibly loud and near impossible to use for any practical work unless you opened all the windows and the hall door. Best of luck but I believe you'd be better off making it into a nice little two person camper and scratch building a shed to play music in.
Click to expand...

I guess I should clarify what type of "jam space" I'll be turning this into. NOT ELECTRIC.

Just a simple, quiet, acoustic jamming and sipping space. No loudness ('cause that's not what camping is about)

But I appreciate your input and can empathize with the small space, loudness dilemma. I've had to go that route a hundred times, and it just never works.
 
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#12
DirtDog said:
I like the idea and now understand your intent for an acoustic space.

What’s your plan for insulation and heat? I’m not too far from NNY (about an hour north of Ogdensburg); I would imagine that for several months a year it might be too cold to use?
Click to expand...

Agreed. This will strictly be a "fair weather retreat"

Basic, ridged insulation and plywood on the inside. I'll still be sure to dress it up. It'll be enough to fair through the winters without damage, and handle the fall/spring weather without skipping a beat. It has an LP furnace in it right now, and its in great condition, but I'll be switching it out for a basic electric, in-wall space heater. The service panel is already updated with an actually breaker box, instead of the old twisty fuses, so I have no worries about power handling and safety.
 
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#14
buldog5151bass said:
Two practical thoughts:

1. Figure some kind of fans for the ventilation vents to cirçulate as much air as possible.
2. A small fridge I a must.
Click to expand...

Fans: check. (Already equipped with a small AC unit, and I'll have a top vent fan as well.
Fridge: Again, already equipped, but it's still getting tossed, because, well...its too small. With the extra space from ditching the stove top, I'll have space for a medium sized fridge, at least.
 
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#15
alanolynn said:
I guess I should clarify what type of "jam space" I'll be turning this into. NOT ELECTRIC.

Just a simple, quiet, acoustic jamming and sipping space. No loudness ('cause that's not what camping is about)

But I appreciate your input and can empathize with the small space, loudness dilemma. I've had to go that route a hundred times, and it just never works.
Click to expand...
I C said the blind man.
 
#16
alanolynn said:
Fans: check. (Already equipped with a small AC unit, and I'll have a top vent fan as well.
Fridge: Again, already equipped, but it's still getting tossed, because, well...its too small. With the extra space from ditching the stove top, I'll have space for a medium sized fridge, at least.
Click to expand...

Good. Very important to have those priorities in the right order.
 
#17
Back in the early '70s the band I was I moved from rehearsing in the house I lived (since I moved out) to rehearsing in a former chicken coop (guitarist/singer's find) which had one electric outlet on a post and a single overhead bulb that had another outlet on the side of the fixture. We bailed on that space after a few rehearsals...it was awful.
 
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