How long have you been in the industry?
I have been installing just over 3 years now. I began in January of 2007 at Best Buy. Prior to this I had not installed electronics in vehicles professionally (or unprofessionally).
How many years have you been MECP certified? How long have you been Master certified?
I earned the Basic certification 6 months after I began and the Advanced just about a year later. I took the Master test immediately after completing 3 years of installing.
What is the year, make and model of the most difficult car you've ever worked on?
I distinctly remember doing the front dash speakers in a 1995 Chevy Sport Van. I kid you not, nearly the entire dash board had to be removed and the speakers mounted from below. The radio, instrument cluster, glove box, doghouse, and more; I took it all out. Longest front speaker install ever! I think Chevrolet must have installed them while the body was still being welded together.
Give us a rundown of the system installed in your vehicle right now.
I've got a Pioneer Avic-Z2 up front with the ND-BT1 for bluetooth. I have my iPod connected and I did a bypass so all the features still work while in motion, but better yet it's diode-isolated from my parking brake so both a hidden switch and my brake operate the circuit :-) There are Infinity Kappa's all around, a 4 channel Alpine amp and Rockford half farad cap under my seat. The coolest part is what protects it all. There is a Viper 5900 very stealthily installed with 3 full size sirens under the hood, and 9 piezos in the interior. Six of them are put in like a missile battery under my seat pointing directly to where someone might be while trying to disarm it.
Name the top five artists in your MP3 player at the moment.
Skillet, Flyleaf, Kutless, Pillar, Drowning Pool
What is your favorite tool to use in the installation bay and why?
I love it when a job allows my to use my pneumatic impact wrench...but typically my favorites are my Klein black handled crimpers and Klein strippers. My grandpa gave me some tools he used when he was an electrician and I got a second pair of the same Klein strippers. Believe it or not, after about 30-40 years of hard use, they still work like butter!
What's the best advice you have ever gotten in your installation career?
"Make it look like you were never there," a credo I try to adhere to. Recently, I think the truth that "you're never done learning in this industry" has become more and more apparent to me.
Who inspires you to further your skills and your career in mobile electronics installation?
I've been rather intrinsically motivated as my thirst for knowledge motivated me. I became an installer to pay for my education in electrical engineering and as I have seen opportunities where the two worlds could intersect I have done what I could to bring my work closer to what I study. I had learned some of the material covered on the Master exam in school so it seemed like a natural next step. In other areas of my life I am the best at what I do, that sort of thing drives me to become better in all areas.
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