Just Effing Do It!

A few weeks ago Talk Audio’s own Adam Rayner gave me a call; “Wonks, how d’ya fancy writing an editorial”?  Without thinking I replied with a resounding “Of course fella!” and that was pretty much it, no brief on what I was writing, no deadline, nada. Wicked git! I pondered some ideas and after coming up blank I contacted Adam again for some help and guidance. I got some help and some guidance but the basic fact is I’m being thrown in the deep end. Much like I was in car audio.
You see, I know how to write, I’ve written up some show reports for dB Drag and I even got an interview for the position of staff writer on Redline magazine (many moons ago!) based solely on an article I submitted as my application. So I can write, that’s great. But when the boundaries disappear things get tricky and my brain goes numb.  But something resonated within me while I was trying to sort out a high Sound Quality front end set-up in my car and it was that simple advice so much used on the internet; now a modern day acronym… JFDI!
When I first got into car audio I knew basic twelve Volt working practices, how to hook up a speaker and how to use gaffer tape to seal up a chipboard box.  I knew no better, I was happy at the time and there was no community available to me from which to learn. Fast forward many installs and many years later and I finally get into the dB Drag lanes. I should have been there years ago but I wasn’t because I didn’t know what to do. What I should have done is just gone to an event, I should have Just Effin’ Done It.
Once I got there I started to realise just how little I knew about car audio, all around me were people tweaking things here and there, a car on a trailer, generators and  battery chargers, big numbers appearing on the SPL screens. Cars just moved around, no one seemed to direct them anywhere, things just ‘happened’ and there was me wondering what the bloody hell was going on! I’d Done It though, I was there and the regulars soon had me up and running, getting the car in the lanes and giving me advice on what to do for next time.
So that’s it then, I’ve done it, I’m there and getting advice, nothing to worry about. Well no, there’s actually lots to worry about. I spend hours on the forum asking questions, hours designing boxes, hours reading the rules. Everything takes time and I’m scared to do anything.
What if what I do doesn’t work?
How do I know I’m doing the right thing?
What if my measuring isn’t up to scratch?
What if, what if, what if!
Eventually I do something and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Fast forward a couple of years and dB Drag still bemuses me but I don’t need to ask for help for every little thing. I’ve gone from taking hours designing a box and then making changes for hours to knocking a box together in a couple of hours and then… making changes for hours (well, days, weeks even). You see, for all the calculations there is nothing like getting on with it to gain some experience and knowledge. 
Nowadays I have a plethora of testing equipment, multimeters, clamp ammeters, Sound Pressure Level measuring kit, spreadsheets galore. This is the approach I’ve taken, some people get by without all that but they have lots more experience than I do. I’ve actually gone from plotting every little detail to noting down the important bits. I could have asked “What should I write down?” but I wouldn’t know what info I was missing, of course I have garnered bits of information for what to measure here and there, but I wasn’t double-checking every detail, I was pointed in the right direction and found my own way. I have the basic knowledge to get on with the SPL side of things and when I do need help I ask the right questions. SPL is to all intents and purposes relatively straightforward to me now. Of course, if I were to change class and build a wall, guess what? I’d be lost again!

Luckily, I don’t have to build a walled car, I have fun in the class I’m in and I don’t have anywhere to build or store a walled car anyway! What I do have to do in my car is drive over two hours Monday to Friday and frankly I’m getting sick of my audio setup. Sure, the car does 150dB+ but that’s not a lot of use for chilling out on the drive to work! So I find myself in what I now recognise as a familiar predicament.
I’m lost again. Just like when Adam asked me if I wanted to write an editorial and when I wanted to compete in SPL, I find myself thinking about every little thing, reading hundreds of posts on the forums, questioning everything and anything. It’s not like I’m new to car audio but there are so many options I was overcome with choices. (It’s” Option Saturation” Ed!) My brain had once again gone numb.
With the help of the Talk Audio forum I decided on a plan, I would evolve towards ‘posh’ rather than the science of loudness. I chose the speakers and amps myself, the necessary kit for processing was chosen courtesy of helpful forum members’ information, then numbness set in again when I started thinking about fitting this ‘Sound Quality’ equipment. I’ve never done SQ so unsure of what to do  I started emailing the distributor of my chosen speakers asking all sorts of questions then came the reply that rang a familiar old bell loud and clear “There’s nothing more demoralizing than spending aaaaages on an install and never actually getting to  listen to it. Throw it in, live with it for a while, and go from there.”
So I will. Sure, I’ll use some of my knowledge gathered over the years to get the basics right and a good foundation, but the fact is, for all the planning and thinking there will no doubt be something that I want to change or tweak at some point so I’ll get cracking and get the kit fitted.
It’s the same with this article. Pontificate for weeks over what to write? Not any more, I sat down and fired this out in an evening. Sure, it’ll have been reviewed and edited. I may even have re-written half of it, but without getting stuck in, it’d never be complete.
Or in simple words. JFDI.
Wonks.
And here’s where to click to see a funky cool slideshow in the newly imported gallery system. We LOVE this! If you go to the gallery itself from the menus above you can get at the fuller size versions of you want to nick any….
link
(Pictures by Jon Clements, ‘Daddy O’, ‘Rookie Mechanic’ and Chris ‘chrig’ Barrow. Jon Clements may be PM’d, abused, disagreed with or congratulated on the Talk Audio Forums where he is known as WonkyJon.  As for chrig, well…. Ed.)