This "Follie" has nothing to do with sliced fingers , misaligned guides, or penatrating wounds.....more of a question on how your workspace is set up, AND be entertained by something other than ...the blank in front of you.

Do you have a TV nearby? a stereo?...what do you watch or listen to while building a fishing rod?..........I can't imagine a single rodbuilding lathe in the WORLD , without a radio at a bare minimum, nearby.

...or do you build a rod in complete silence?? with no distractions?

I'll start....when I'm listening to music, its generally loud, or medium loud, with a huge variety of music ranging from The Who, Stones, or the Doors all the way through The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Black Flag....sometimes U2 , the English Beat or the Eurythmics....Nirvana? Pearl Jam?, tonight was old Janes Addiction.....tomorrow Little Feat sounds good...maybe Skynard? ( just to name a few)

I make sure I have a TV nearby in order to catch a favorite show like anything on the History channel, Discover channel or Speed channel as I do enjoy watching cars go fast, right next to eachother ....then there's Baseball, and Football, or the weekends ESPN fishing shows.

I..... "Triple Dog Dare You" ( sorry, I saw "A Christmas Story" again recently)... to respond and if media plays a role in your work area....and what your media of choice is?

Just curious about a Rodbuilders work environment.....

No radio but the TV is on 24/7 and it could be anything. Mostly news during the week days til SPike TV starts it CSI reruns. Sometimes later I switch to the Sci Fi Channel. Of course Thursdays are sacred with Survivor and CSI. One the weekends it might be fishing, Foot ball(USC of Course), Basket Ball if I can catch Shaq, Golf if Tiger is hot, then of course there is always the 007 marathons or Sci Fi Marathons. All the while the TV is blaring behind me is the Computer waiting for one more question or a hot download from Myles, Putter, Barkley and about a dozen .org lurkers.
I cannot do anything with only one source of input to my brain. Silence scares me!!!!! I do my best work multi tasking not only with the electronics but also weaving here, Putting jigs together there, retyping my patterns over there and maybe put some finish on til the rack is full. Somehow that works for me. Oh I forgot I use to smoke too but have cut that one out. Still sip on a brew on a hot summer day though.

Michael
You listen to the same stuff I do. I guess the 70's were berry, berry good to you ?? LOL
Had to much rock and roll, so now I just watch the Sci-Fi channel. They were berry, berry good to me too.
When I wrap I have to put the key board and mouse behind the pull out shelf it is on, and put the wrapper on it, and when I clear, I have to take out the little coffee tables to put the dryer on.
Small room.

had my wrapper small enough to put on my lap and wrap when watching TV, but then I made it larger,

No Black Sabbath



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2005 11:12PM by bill boettcher.

I have a radio, but I hardly use it. When I do it's all old school Rap. Cypress hill, Public Enemy, Tribe Called Quest, NWA, BDP, etc.

I much prefer to work in dead silence. Once the music is on it makes me want to drink. lol. I spend a lot of time thinking when I'm building. Sometimes i think good thoughts, how to improve on this or that - other times it's evil thoughts, how can I get back and screw my Boss when I go back to work on Monday type of stuff, lol.

Mike J has an awesome set up, but I wouldn't get anythign done with te TV in my shop. When I was there, he kept my interest on Rodbuilding by putting on a Red Sox game. You can only take so much of Jerry Remy & Micheal KAy.

Definitely have music on - either on the stereo or through the computer. It takes me so long to wrap that I often think "Is that album finished already?". Def Leppard, U2, Midnight Oil, Pink Floyd, Handel's Messiah - it's all good!

When I get to the more difficult wraps and the smaller guide wraps, I often put on Billy McLaughlin guitar CDs. During extremely tough wraps I play Billy's song "Helm's Place" off his 'Fingerdance' disc. I find it very relaxing and focusing at the same time. At my level of building, I listen to that tape a lot.

I have an outdoor PA address system, with 4 speakers, 12's with horns. I 'm going to MTX concerts, 18 inch subs, 20 and over if I can find them. It's loud enough in the basement to ring my ears, I haven't turned it up to max yet. My wife gets mad, so I can't crank it often. Sepultura, Venom, piledriver, death, pig destroyer, corrosion of conformity, alot of heavy metal, and sometimes johnny cash. I can concentrate so hard, sometimes, I don't notice the music turn off when the CD ends. I like that, the time loss, all of a sudden it's been hours, where did they go? Oh, and I want at least 500 watts per speaker, I gotta find some old tube amps, 4 of 'em, I want to feel it. Levi

Sorry guys, AOL radio playing that old southern gospel. Devout Christian here.

Bill in WV

Great Post!! I have a stereo and a tv in my work area. I usually have the tunes crankin while I work, but the tv is on when the news comes on. My tunes range from STP, Hoobastank, Tool, Dream Theater,....and of course some of the classic stuff..Zep, Triumph,....today It was Rush CD's most of the day! LOL! Ive worked in machine shops most of my life...I just cant focus without backround noise!

I have my rod building bench and fly tying bench in the same room as my computer. I will usually just kick off some music I have loaded on my computer, usually older stuff like James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkle, or the Eagles. Yes I realize that this music dates me very easily, but it's easy listening and I can sing along if I like.

Jim Smith

.........Handels Messiah. That'll work well today.

Pat Matheny, or Miles Davis, or Bela Fleck, not to mention my all time favorite, Steely Dan tend to make my wrapping smoother & much more relaxed than Zepplin, the Who, or Stones... I must be getting old.

Then too, there's all those fishing shows on the OutdoorNetwork to listen to in the background.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/17/2005 08:43AM by Neil Toland.

I certainly am a product of a different age. No radio, TV or computer in my rod room. Only delightful silence to relax from the noise of the day. Examples of marbling provided by Putter are the loudest things I have near by.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

i wrap on my kitchen counter since this dang one bedroom apartment offers little option. overhead light, right above the sink. i usually play tunes, many groups of which have been listed here. funny, often the same as you michael. english beat, STONES, clash! (got some bootleg live recordings lately), jstrauss, , replacements, some jazz by miles or stan getz or bill evans, janes addiction, lou reed/VU, world party, lee scratch perry, orishas, beastie boys, sade, phoebe snow, etc. i'm big on soundtracks lately (i didn;t say MUSICALS! ;-) including in the garden of good and evil, about a boy, lost in translation, etc. i don't have a workshop as i mentioned so i try to set up several cds to play so i'm not interrupted too much, but even so, a quick break to change cds is good too. i'm usually alone when i work, late at night from 8pm through 2am. this is quickly delving close to the old (?) tower pulse DID lists, huh? ;-)

eric
fresno, ca.

Hey fellows: On my bench is a small radio/CD player. During the week I just listen to good ole hard drivin' traditional bluegrass with the CD player. On Sunday mornings, some stained glass bluegrass on the radio. Works for me. John

I'm in the same camp as John: bluegrass & old -time country music on the bench radio. With the TV, it's news, Discover/ History channels or ACC basketball when ever it's played. Stan

I have about 1.5 Gigs worth of MP3s on the PC, ranging from the 1960s to 2005. If I am home alone it is loud enough that you can't hear thre radio, if I am not alone it is turned down just enough to not get too many complaints. I have stuff ranging from Golden Earing, Ted Nugent, The Who, Godsmack, Metallica, Melanie, Jet, and many more. If I had to listen only to the stuff in my own head I would really go insane ;)

I listen to the stereo. I find that TV is counter productive as I usually find something interesting, will wrap a guide, then stop to go watch what's on till commercial, go wrap some more, then sounds interesting again. Must be from all those years of not having cable and all of a sudden having cable.

So I listen to the radio, either the 30 gig of various MP3's or whatever is on the local stations, anything from classic rock to Pop. No country or classical.

I used to be set up in front of the TV, but moved my bench to a different room. So it's a CD player now, with anything like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Candlebox, Stones, Zappa. I also listen to alot of Smooth Jazz, like Boney James, Brian Bromberg, Fattburger, Jeff Golub....good stuff!!

But I will have a TV set up in this room before the Daytona 500 in Febuary, gotta watch the races!!!

I have a TV , sterio , computer , fish tank , and my buddy ,whos basement I work in to keep me occupied when I'm not in the tunnel (vision) . I prefer ABBA , Boy Jorge , and emminem ......... I watch Oprah , and Springer . Yea . JHD

Got Fish ?