Dub Train Studio, Mark II

Construction of Dub Train Studio Mark II photo gallery - updated weekly.

The project: convert a 20'x30' RV-sized garage into a 2-room recording studio.

PHASE 4

PHASE 1: OCT-DEC 2005
(48 photos)
PHASE 2: JAN-MAR 2006
(66 photos)
PHASE 3: APR-JUN 2006
(54 photos)
PHASE 4: JUL-SEP 2006
(104 photos)
ACOUSTIC TREATMENT
(in progress)

July 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 -
August 2006
- 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 -
- 10 - 11 -
September 2006
- 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 -
- 16 - 17 - 18 -19 -
20 - 21 - 22 - 23 -
- 24 - 25 - 26 -

The construction is DONE, and the first rehearsal (for the More tour)
has taken place. Check back for the ongoing Acoustic Treatment solutions
and gear hookups leading to the first recording session!

Visit Dub Train Records on MySpace for more info!


Long Horses	Shellac Prep	Eight Footer	1x4 Rails
1))) Entering the final phase of the project, it's time to put on the finishing touches - first up is baseboard, railing and molding. We ripped some clear stock to size, then I applied several coats of amber shellac, sanding with a 320 grit sponge between applications. Smooth!

Curing Rack	Delta Chopsaw	Levelled Rail	Trimmed Corner
2))) It took all day to do two courses of molding. They'll dry overnight and it will be time to shellac the other course of molding and the installed trim and jambs. One chopsaw and a lot of mitered cuts later, we've got the room mostly trimmed out!

Pipe Cutting	Jig Wiggling	Drill Pressery	Holed Piping
3))) The next task is to install some floor-to-ceiling steel pipes on the south wall to support the shelving system, then it will be time to install the crimson velour theater curtain!

Kee Klamp	Jazeera Tubes	Black Hole	"S"-Hook Shelves
4))) With the pipes all prepared, we measured to find the previously installed blocking on the ceiling, then attached the flanges in place. I acquired 20 wire rack shelves and got them hung in place that evening.

Shelf Action	Phase Linear	Gear Pile	White Walls
5))) Time to transfer everything that's been stored in the control room back out and onto the shelves. Some gear goes into the traditional pile formation, and finally the control room is empty and ready for painting.

List Mania	Ocean View	Blue Walls	Blue & Green
6))) After consulting my work list for Phase 4, I'm ready to pick out a color and get painting. After a bit of hemming and hawing, I finally decided on a slightly dusty ocean blue. Premium paint covers the primed walls evenly and compares nicely with the live room's green.

Blue Room	Sunny Light	Little Window	Little Trim
7))) Now that the room is painted, it's time to complete the unfinished details of the control room. These include the soundproof doors, the trim & molding and the control room double windows, but we start with the last glassblock "little window" on the west wall.

Dappled Light	Complex Box	White Outlets	Grey Outlets
8))) After an hour of shimming, levelling and flushing, the little window is fixed in place. I sealed the gaps with minimally expanding foam, then attached the exterior trim. The next afternoon was spent installing the remainder of the control room's electrical receptacles.

Rough Cut	Backyard View	Hinge Cuts	School Door
9))) OK, it's time for the western door to be installed. We cut out the T-111 plywood left open in the rough framework, then carefully assembled a couple of burly pre-fab jamb pieces into the rough opening. After hours of shimming and squaring, the metal-clad door finally swung into place.

Dead Bolt	Backup Stops	Double Stop	West Si-eed
10))) I installed a new security bolt in the old doorhole - 4" screws fasten the strikeplate to the framing behind the jamb. The cut off edges of the jamb are grooved to accept weatherstripping and the backside is nearly complete!

Painted Trim	MDF Miter	South Trim	Ledger Install
11))) Inside the control room, the finish work begins with some ceiling trim. I've acquired some ten-foot 1"x6" MDF boards and painted them white. A few miter cuts later and the ceiling and windows are trimmed out.

Post Bracket	Staked Out	Final Post	Support View
12))) The arbor will be covered in translucent gray sun panels, but first comes the support system. A ledger board timberlocked into studs and two 4"x8" construction posts bracketed to sunken pierblocks should do the trick.

Rafter Blocking	Elbows & Knees	North Slope	The Sphinx
13))) We carefully levelled the beams on the posts to match the ledger board, then dropped rafters in place. A couple of bracing pieces and the local inspector gives it two paws up.

Wavy Strips	Flashing & Trim	Screw Field	Shade View
14))) We attached the crappy wooden spacer strips to the rafters, flashed and trimmed the ledger board, then got to work driving hundreds of roofing screws. The finished product seems worth the three days we spent baking in the hot sun!

Laid Carpet	Pendant Lamp	More Shellac	Nail Gun
15)) I got the carpet laid down by some pros (next day service!), then installed a couple of cheapo pendant lamps from IKEA. The rest of the day was spent shellacking more clear pine trim. My brother's nailgun and an air compressor should make the rest of the trim installation go a little faster.

Gold Trim	Custom Casing	Shellacked Shelf	Tool Board
16)) After preparing a couple of 1"x3" boards with amber shellac, I trimmed out the live room and cased the control room windows. There was enough left over for a shelf, and the rest of the tools finally found a place to live, too.

Big Hinge	Inset Barrel	Giant Door	More Lighting
17)) Now that the carpet's in place, the final door can be hung. This oversize soundproof door depends on reinforced bearing hinges to keep it supported - as usual, a little tricky to install. More track lighting never hurt, either.

High Threshold	Backside Doorstep	MDF Baseboards	Rough Service
18)) The doors each get a commercial transition bar, and I drop a quick coat of white gloss onto the MDF baseboards and door casing. A couple of "rough service" light bulbs are also required.

Even More Shellac	Double Groove	Door Finish	Bench Upgrade
19)) Another round of amber shellac for the large window trim and custom soundproof door stops. While the shellac is out, I finish off the doors with a nice thick coat to seal them up, and brush the remainder onto the workbench.

White Trim	White Baseboards	Eight Bus	Rhino Pro
20)) A pleasant afternoon of miter cuts and MDF trimwork takes the control room to an almost complete state of readiness. Only the window is left, then it will finally be time to set up the Dubtrain Studio, Mark 2!

Matching Stops	Silica Inserts	Suction Cup	Burgundy Insert
21)) We began the double window project with a careful set of cuts in a 3/4" MDF sheet to create the triangular stops needed to hold the two large windows. The process of installing the stops, taping and installing the window, and repeating is a long and exacting process...

Pane Two	Color Forms	Finish Washers	Thick Stops
22)) Day 3 of Operation Clearview sees the second pane and the control room side stops installed. We also had time to screw the double-thick soundroom door stops into place using some snazzy finish washers.

Last Shellac	PVC Panels	PVC Tubes	Corbin Lockset
23)) All that's left is the big window trim and a handful of "finish" projects, like the curtain and some beer shelves. I broke out the amber shellac one more time and used up the last can. The locksmith came by and installed the repaired lockset, too.

Trim Reveal	Nail Setting	Trimmed Out	Double Strips
24)) The big window needed lots of prep before attaching the trim, but finally I sawed the miters into my shellacked material and got it up there. The soundproof door got it's final weatherstripping, too.

Bench Trim	Table Saw Parts	In-Wall Cabling	Pass-Thru Plate
25)) There were a good couple feet of shellacked scraps left, so I trimmed the workbench with the cutoffs. I managed to find wallspace for all the table saw accessories that have been plagueing me for months, and got the in-wall speaker cabling and the PVC pass-throughs wrapped up as well.

Crimson Curtain	Open Sesame	Beer Shelf	Diffusion Panel
26)) We wrapped the project with a heavy velour theater curtain and a couple of beer shelves. I used up some wood scraps and made a custom diffusion panel - stay tuned for the attempt at vacuu-forming!