looking for self storage info. The King of Heavy Rock Is that envy in your voice reflecting jealousy?
Question:
I'm looking for self storage info, such as rates, insurance etc. I need storage for about 4-5 months and need about a 350 square feet for the amount of stuff I need to store. Any suggestions? I hear Metro Self Storage are fair people to deal with and they have a lot of locations. , The King of Heavy Rock Is that envy in your voice reflecting jealousy?
Answer:
It sounds as though many of the questions you have asked would be best
answered by a storage unit company, not just because they would be the
best source of info, but also because their policies and units may not
be consistent across the industry.
However, I'm pretty sure that the "climate controlled" or "heated"
designation refers to the policy of many units to maintain a level of
heat sufficient to eliminate the risk of water/condensation/moisture
damage. Is seems to me that one outfit I used several years ago
maintained this temperature at around 40 degrees F. Not warm, but warm
enough for purposes. I think this is high enough to protect drums, but
I'm not sure. So perhaps someone else will chip in with an opinion
here.
Also, several items I've come across have noted that relatively warm
or relatively cool (note the "relatively") conditions are not as
damaging to drums as a rapid change from one to another -- such as
drums going from a very warm car on a hot day to a well
air-conditioned venue, or from an unheated car in winter to a very
warm venue, a temperature difference which could approach 40 or 50
degrees. In a storage unit with a constant temperature, this would be
less of a problem.
There are a lot of storage places that won't let bands play at, but
keep trying and you'll eventually find something.
My band rents out a Storage USA 15'x25' unit in Phoenix, and we've
practiced through summer afternoons (absolutely f**king hot), and
winter nights (freezing cold and occasionally wet), and I play on a
Premier XPK 5-piece with Remo and Evans G2 heads, Paiste signatures &
sound formulas, and Zildjian A custom cymbals. My kit's worth just
over $2000.00, and I totally trust a non-airconditioned unit. I cover
my drums with a heavy blanket and they haven't expanded or contracted
with the weather to the point where noticable permanent damage has
occured. I think you are safe to rent out a non-airconditioned unit
(if you were going to) just as long as you cover your drums after you
play them - it keeps moisture and dirt/dust off of them.
Airconditioned units are pretty expensive. Our Non-airconditioned
unit (which can easily fit 5 musicians and their equipment, a
recording desk, chairs and tables in) costs us $260.00 a month between
currently 4 of us - $65.00 a month each.
Security is good. The entire storage facility has a high-gate with
barbed wire around it and a security gate at the entrance where you
enter a code to enter. We bought the toughest locks available (ones
you can't cut with bolt-cutters), so our stuff is uninsured but it's
still pretty safe. There is someone on site 24 hours so I doubt our
stuff will get stolen.
There is an electrical outlet right outside on the wall of our unit,
and we plug everything into that. Otherwise we could buy those
electrical outlet-to-light-bulb-fitting adapter thingies and plug
everything into a spare light bulb fixture, but I recommend against
that because they aren't grounded, and you could get seriously ed
up if you weren't careful. Make sure you get a safe, grounded
electrical outlet with your unit if you do so.
We don't sound-proof our unit, and the walls are metal sheets and
bricks so the overall sound is very 'tinny' and hard on the ears. We
wear earplugs and record ourselves and the recordings come out nicely.
I would imagine if we took the time to cover the metal walls things
would sound better, but just for practice it does the job.. and the
owner lets all the bands in the place (yes, there's a few!) crank it
up all day. We have to keep it down if someone beside us wants to
open their unit or is too close so that the noise gets too much for
them, that was the agreement.
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