Modular Sound Cart Options

[Solid Goldberger]

Rob,

Thanks for butting in! I was going to contact you, but I thought I'd consult the group, some of whom have actually used your carts (sort of a reverse Sentator's hat, though still trying to do my due diligence).

I'm glad you sound enthusiastic about the sliding shelf option. Right now, as I continue to add to my kit, I'm making a concerted effort towards purchasing compact and flexible gear (Fusion 10 with lectro SRa receivers for future octopacking, and perhaps one day a Mix-12, where that lightweight sliding shelf would be mighty handy). As I said in an earlier post, I'm likely to be a bag-man for the forseeable future, but building in a little future-proofness would make the purchase of a foldup cart almost a no-brainer for me. If you could ever make this a user-upgradable accessory/option for your foldup, I bet youd sell a ton of each.

E.

[Philip Perkins]

In my cranky old age I've decided that I need my "real" mixer cart (the famed "Carte d'Amore") only when I really think I need to MIX on set.  Then the ergonomics of how you sit at the mixer, what's in sight, what's in reach really make a diff., as well as more mixer and wireless chan avail.  Lots of smaller sound jobs don't require much of any mixing at all, and are usually one-man-band projects.  For those, being small, portable and fast gets me more points w/ producers and ADs than a big hardware show, and I hate getting run over and left behind in a move because I need to make several trips to the van to load up.  Since the OP is in Manhattan, one issue will be WHERE in that taxi your cart will go?  Are they likely to let you put it on the back seat?  Will it fit in the trunk?  On your jobs, is there time and space to unfold an (empty) cart and then unpack all the gear for placement on it (and pack it up when you move locations), or is a bag rig SITTING on a foldup cart of any sort a better move?    Where you live, would you have to leave stuff on the street after unloading the cab, since you aren't likely to be able to get all of it upstairs in one go? 

Re Transit Connect:  kind of cool, but I wish it was wider and longer--it has less floor space than my old Caravan CV!

phil p

[Noah Timan]

Hi Ethan,

Seems like a lot of folks have given you pretty good info in this thread.  It sounds like you’re going in a pretty good direction, too – the Rastorder carts have gotten singularly positive praise around here, and Rob has always been excellent people.  I too looked into one of his carts a few years back when I was considering a secondary, more mobile and lighter cart than my main one.  Like you, costs with shipping and the rest for what would be an only occasionally-used cart ended up being an unfortunate dealbreaker for me, but I’d be awfully surprised if you weren’t pleased if you didn’t end up going that route, and I’m quite sure you’d end up with a really quality product with good support behind it.

I would certainly caution against going with any kind of Magliner cart if your interest is to go up and down stairs and in and out of taxis.  The Magliners are awesome carts, but they’re just too heavy.  For a scenario when your gear travels on a truck with a liftgate, they make perfect sense.  For a fold-it-up-and-stick-it-in-the-trunk scenario, I think you’ll find it’s just not the right thing.  It’s not impossible, it’s just really unwieldy.  It also ends up defying the point, perhaps -- you are not really going to sell a “professional appearance” if you’re fumbling with large heavy cart pieces out of a taxi trunk when you arrive, and then struggling to assemble it all together on the sidewalk.

I don’t know if they’re still made, but there was a great cart a while back, called the “KartMaster” I think.  It’s a very sturdy horizontal design, but it folds up really tiny (much, much smaller than a Magliner) and is a lot easier to manage.  The downside is that the shelves don’t have lips, which made me worry about things sliding off when rolling from place to place, but there are others who have lipless-shelved carts who seem to do fine in that regard, so maybe it was my own worry only.  I saw someone selling a used one earlier this year but for the life of me I can’t remember whom.

Another option, simple as though it may be, is a 10 or 12 space SKB or Gator case with some sliding shelves, sitting on top of a Rock’n’Roller cart.  I went down this road a couple years ago to build a lighter, simpler cart that would work better for certain New York-centric situations, where bringing a big heavy cart was not very efficient.  It’s served me well and is a lot easier to carry than my main cart – unlike that one, I can carry it myself if need be, and it works much better for commercials, 2^nd units, and other quick jobs where there isn’t always a teamster and a liftgate.

Philip P. brings up a great point that it becomes important to think about what’s really necessary for a job.  It is true that there are some jobs (most notably higher-budget commercials) where how many blinking lights ends up being more important to the producers than the quality and capability of the instruments.  But in many other scenarios, as has been discussed on this forum many times before, the producers really just couldn’t care what you have or how it looks, unless it's so completely amazing or so terribly awful (or doesn't work).  I’ve had plenty of producers (some of whom should know better) be much more excited about the LEDs on a 7-series recorder in a bag than they would be from a Sonosax SX-ST mixer on a cart. 

As Philip notes, what they’re really going to appreciate is that you’re ready to go and capable to do the job at hand.  If you can do that and show off a lot of shiny gear in the process, fine and even more kudos.  However, if the showing off of the shiny gear slows you down, makes your process less efficient -- or worse, the hassle of dealing with it makes your demeanor worse, or elevate your demands on what you need in order to handle the higher or heavier gear load, I find you sometimes end up shooting yourself in the foot, and ruining opportunities rather than creating them.

For whatever it’s worth, I also recommend the storage solution.  It’s a tradeoff – I understand your attraction to having everything in your possession and ready to go at the drop of a hat.  But there’s plenty of places probably closer to you than the one on the West Side Highway.  I know for sure there’s a Manhattan Mini Storage in the East Village, near Anthology Film Archives (2^nd and 2^nd?) and probably other companies around too, maybe even closer.  And in a 600 square foot apartment, I think you’ll find it’s a relief not to have a section of a room taken up by an ever-expanding package of gear.  I’d venture a guess that you’d also probably score some brownie points with your girl (unless she’s a fellow soundo :-D).

 

[ao]

The Kartmaster 500 is still made and the last time I looked, was sold by B&H (scroll down to the bottom ):

http://kart-a-bag.com/html/products.html

I have one,  but without the shelf.  It looks from the pictures that there might be a lip on the shelf now.  It is very solidly made,  which also makes it very heavy.  You have to be very careful lifting it in and out of a car trunk,  as not to strain your back. I have always thought that it had the makings of a compact 2nd unit cart,  in the vertical orientation. The tongue also folds up for storage.

ao

[Rob Stalder]

Hello Ethan - interesting topic you have started.

You have a unique problem utilising a cart - you need to carry your equipment on the cart, use it as a work platform, keep it together & transport it in a cab.

Maybe our foldup cart isn't the answer for you at this stage.

PG put his finger on it - A Rock & Roller with a top shelf. When you arrive at destination, you unfold cart stack gear on & wheel to location. Set up top shelf & start work.

On the gallery of carts is one (simple setup) by Chris Howland.

There is also an upright Magliner (i think) by Kevin Sorensen - which could work for you with just the top mixer shelf & cases underneath.

http://gallery.me.com/jwsound#100220&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=50

Maybe the cartmaster 500 would work, but it seems a bit overly complicated.

I have used a Kartabag just for gear for over 30 years now - its still going strong & I have dragged it all round the world.

Anyway look forward to you buying a Rastorder cart one day.

Rob stalder

[Kevin Sorensen]

Hey Rob~ I'm looking foward to gettting a Rastoder cart someday myself!

In the mean time I am useing

a Milwalkee hand truck/dolly. I hope these pictures will convey the moduar motif that by nessesity had to be

invented or copied :~)

This set up will go from an insert car tray, to the back seat of an SUV, to this dolly, a box, your lap, you get

the idea. 

Ethan~ I only hope this will inspire a creative solution(s) to your situation.

Kevin

[Jeff Wexler]

Hey, Kevin, tell me again how you did the shelves for your upright cart. I remember you saying something about buying something at Home Depot and adapting it. KLet me know when you get the chance.

-  Jeff Wexler

[Kevin Sorensen]

Yea Jeff, I used some plastic peg-board. It comes in 24in or 18in squares. Don't remember for sure.

Its a pretty strong material. I cut the pieces with a table saw.

Then used angled aluminium 1&1/4" @ 16th" thick.

The shelf is supported only on two sides, at the dolly frame.

Everything is held together and attached to the plastic dolly frame with 3/16th" and/or 1/8th" pop-rivets.

Anyone interested in this dolly should know that it comes with terribly cheep wheels,

so factor in buying some decent one's that will hold air.

~Kevin

[RPSharman]

Anyone interested in this dolly should know that it comes with terribly cheep wheels,

so factor in buying some decent one's that will hold air.

~Kevin

The foam-filled 10" wheels are a MUST for location work.  Never worry about air again!!

[Kevin Sorensen]

"The foam-filled 10" wheels are a MUST for location work "

Accually I have been using them on this upright cart and found that I don't like them.

They are to hard and to rough over the pits, cables, potholes, etc. Causing the cart to want to catch and do a header.

Going back to quality pneumatic tires. They act as suspension for the equipment.

[Keenan925]

I bought this Rock-n-Roll cart at Coffey Sound as a last minute option to reply my first sound cart for a feature I was starting the next day. Through the entire shoot my boom op. or I had to carry my Boom Poles everywhere, lame. With a little work and thought I built this boom pole holder modification on and love it, because my Subaru isn't the biggest car in the world I kept the folding option on the cart still functional with the help of a quick release bolt from a mountain bike seat.

Keenan