Archives for Hobbies

Basement Project: Day 4

The next task in my basement project was to clean up our tool bench. Here is a picture of its cluttered state before I got started:

It is a decent tool bench and serves our purposes. Unfortunately, the workspace had become quite the dumping ground for whatever we thought belonged in the basement but didn’t yet have a permanent storage solution. After a couple hours of attention, the clutter was removed. All that remains are the tools that we use for guitar and furniture making and basic home improvements.

In addition to the great peg board for the most-accessed tools at the back of the bench, I also put to use a set of four plastic storage bins from Ikea (which I can’t seem to locate on their website, but Container Store appears to carry similar ones):

These bins will keep errant screws, nails, and other small materials from running rampant on the workspace. A significant improvement to our tool bench.

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Other posts in this series:

Posted by Erin on Mar 9, 2010 | 15 Comments | Tweet This

The Guitar Hanger

If you are a guitar enthusiast, you may be interested in the extremely functional, uncluttered, and organized storage solution known as The Guitar Hanger:

Check out the full details:

I would only consider these if you regularly play your guitar. A case is the best storage option if you only play your guitar every once in awhile and prefer a long-term storage solution. For our household, though, these would be perfect for freeing up some floor space.

(Images from The Guitar Hanger website.)

Posted by Erin on Mar 9, 2010 | 22 Comments | Tweet This

DIY rolling tool cart

Yesterday, Lifehacker linked to the wonderful Instructables series “Build a Peg Board Tool Cart Then Brag About It.” It’s an extremely organized creation, and, best of all, the creator of the tool cart said he made the entire unit for less than $50:

It is a sturdy design that would be a fantastic tool organization system in any garage or workroom. You can watch the tool cart in action on YouTube:

(Images from Instructables)

Posted by Erin on Feb 24, 2010 | 15 Comments | Tweet This

Multipurpose games

Winter is having its way with the midwest again, and for many families that means indoor activities such as board and card games. But as we all know, with board games comes clutter.

We’ve written before about ways to store board games. You can get rid of the packaging, or even use the board game as artwork.

Another possibility is to buy games that serve multiple purposes.

A simple deck of cards is the most versatile piece of gaming equipment ever. There are hundreds of card games that you can play with a standard deck of 52 cards. Avoid specialty cards by playing Crazy Eights with your kids instead of Uno, then remove the queen of clubs to play a game of Old Maid.

You can also expand your indoor activity alternatives with a multipurpose game board that utilizes the same board and pieces for many different games. This certainly won’t replace classic favorites like Monopoly, but it’s a good way to supplement without buying dozens of board games that you’ll play once. A high quality board can even serve as decor.

Posted by Brian on Jan 9, 2010 | 22 Comments | Tweet This

James Jamerson’s Uncluttered Bass Rig

I’ve written before about my constant battle with an affliction called Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS). It’s an almost compulsive need to purchase new equipment in the firm belief that the new item, be it a guitar, amp, or effect pedal, will be the spark that ignites stale monotony into inspired genius. Sometimes it works, but I find that more often, buying new equipment is just a substitute for doing the hard work required to be creative.

This isn’t unique to musicians. Most hobbies require some type of equipment, and therefore present the temptation to acquire more or better gear. We’ve covered the topic of breaking up with a hobby, but an alternative is to simply try to do more with less.

Over the weekend I happened to watch a fascinating documentary called Standing in the Shadows of Motown and I was inspired by the minimal amount of equipment that James Jamerson used. His bass playing on hit songs such as “You Can’t Hurry Love” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” helped define the Motown sound, and completely revolutionized the role of bass in popular music. Jamerson’s influence permeates so much of modern music that it would be nearly impossible to list it all, yet his bass rig was very minimalist. Just an upright acoustic bass, and later his 1962 Fender Precision Bass were all he used for most of his studio recordings. The bass was simply plugged directly into the mixing console.

One of my resolutions for 2010 is to buy less hobby-related equipment. Instead, I’m going to try to follow Jamerson’s example, and look for ways to do more with less.

Posted by Brian on Jan 7, 2010 | 17 Comments | Tweet This

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