Taking Pride In My Tools

To continue the tale started here and then here:

The new Mackie Onyx 24-4 mixing board now has a very nice and rugged road case.
Lots of foam and aluminum with steel corners and latches.
The best part is smart design--I can put it on the stand, then remove one lid and have complete access to all connections without any fuss.
Some case manufacturers don't think this is important, but they would be wrong.
In fact, they would be written-off as idiots and never see another sale from me.

When I'm given old and dirty gear to work with, it's hard to take much pride.
Human nature.
It's already trashed, so while I will take enough care of it to keep things working, I won't feel any affection or really give a crap what it looks like.
A strip of masking tape with some Sharpie™ markings is fine, and will last beyond it's 2nd Craig'sList appearance or longer.
(Some of the gear I have used in the past still sport my markings decades later!)

In this case, I felt that some class was in order so I borrowed a label maker and spent an evening learning to use it properly. New boards deserve this--especially ones that I love.

Might as well label the "Aux Sends" too, on both sides of the mixer.
It's been years since I had more than 3 that actually worked, and I wouldn't want to get confused...
In fact, this was the main reason we bought the new Mackie!

To protect our investment, today I cut into a nice piece of black vinyl upholstery to serve as a beer/barf-shield for those rare minutes when I'm away from my station.


It's probably obvious by now that I love my new mixing board.
Most sound engineers seem to treat the audience worse than they treat their gear, but that's counter-productive.
Crowd-First is my priority.

On the other hand, when the perfect tools are given to you in brand new condition, it only makes sense to take extreme pride in them and to configure each item to the best of your abilities.