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It seems here recently allot of people have been asking me what does it take to become a car audio installer? Is the money good? Did you go to school to become an installer? I never really knew how to answer these questions because for me it just kind of happened. It wasn't like one day I woke up and said "I think I'll become a car audio installer today". For me I started out back in 1987 burning up people's radios and amps in my grandfather's workshop. I'm serious people were crazy enough to pay me to install their new radios, amps or whatever they had to be installed and almost everything I touched I burnt to a crisp. It was horrible. I finally was able to go to work for a shop in my hometown and learned from trial by terror at a shops expense. I wouldn't want anyone that is interested in car audio installation to learn how to become an installer like I had to. It is the worst possible way to learn and it burns you out fast. I hated having to explain to the customer how I shorted out something in their car and it was going to have to be towed to a dealership. Car audio installation is not just something you get into because you think it's cool. For me, and allot of the installers I know, it's something you love. For me I personally, I love building things. Not just anything I love building things that make people scratch their head because it's unique and not something you would see everyday. I love to build a system and sitting in the vehicle an it seams as though I'm sitting front row listening to the band on stage live or installing a system that makes it hard for you to breath because the sound pressure is unbelievable. Some of the traits I think it takes to make it as an installer are:1) Perfectionist- Customers want there install to look as if it was there when it rolled off the factory assembly line. Anything short of perfection is unacceptable.2) Knowledge of Electronics- You need to have a basic knowledge of electronic principals and theories.3) Patients- Getting in a hurry is what causes you to damage someone's 50,000 new car.4) Math skills- You use math in every aspect of installation it's a must you at least need to know basic math skills. From building a box and figuring air space to figuring out what ohm resistor is needed to by-pass a GM passlock ignition system you need math skills. This was the hardest for me cause I hated math in school.
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5) A good musical ear- you need to be able to listen to the sound of a customers system and explain to them exactly what is missing or exactly what to listen for in a system. How can you explain the difference in a 50.00 set of coax 6 ½" speakers over a 500.00 set of 6 ½ component speakers if you don't know yourself. 6) Personality- Last but not least you have to have people skills and lots of them. So you think you have what it takes to become an installer? How do you learn the skills you need to work at a respectable shop and make the big bucks? Well I don't know about the "Big Bucks" but I can say that if your good at what you do the pay can be sweet at times. Most shops pay on a commission scale depending on experience, knowledge and certification level. My one word of advise for a rookie installer is save when the money is good for the months that aren't. There are definently months were you feel like you couldn't pay a customer to get something installed. But then again there are months you feel like you are never going to catch up. If your lucky you can hire on at a local retailer as an apprentice install, working for someone that knows what there doing, usually this is a low paying by the hour position because you are getting paid to learn. Allot of nation wide retail chains have install training programs for you to learn the skills you need to be an installer. If you can't hire on to learn the skills needed another option is attending and paying for an install school to teach you your trade. Today there are schools that teach installation and not thru trial by terror either. These schools are incredible learning centers that teach everything from basic installation to high-end custom installations. Now granted they do cost money but that's all worth it in the long run when your not having to pay to replace the entire wiring harness in a BMW. Here is a list of a few Schools that are available to train new installers:1) http://www.ritop.com/2) http://www.iitaudio.com/3) http://www.installerinstitute.com/home.html4) http://www.mobiledynamics.com/main/enter.html5) http://www.syntec-school.com/pages/1/index.html6) http://home.mindspring.com/~srcho2000/index.html7) http://stereoschool.com/indext.html8) http://www.metro-auto.com/
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