54
by Big John_Archive
I would also like to advance what I like to call D. Boon's Van Therm- Value of Life + Value of Equipment squared to the millage Distance (in KM) to be toured = Van PriceCheap vans always need repairs (most times in the middle of a tour on short notice in the middle of buttfuck aka more than 100 miles from where you live) sometimes more than the original price and it is always shit you can't see at the time of sale. You know the guy drove around 50 boxes of floor tiles and a the bearing have 1,000 km left in them. So getting a better (more expensive) van is a better deal. There is little worse than having the front end drop out of the vehicle at high speed (I speak from experience). For the safety of your life do not cheap out on price of your van especially in as much as you want to spend less on a motor vehicle than any of the electrical guitars you will be transporting. Get someone who knows something about vehicles to inspect the van like a car repair guy you trust, they can detect things like drive trains held together by bent nails and mufflers held in place with a belt or hanger or the ever present rust rot under the drivers seat (nothing like putting the pedal through the metal though it does help to have a "drop hatch" in case of being pulled over).If you go for Big and Tall model remember you will have to know the bridge limits where you drive. The damage to the van can be bad but you are responsible to the damage of the bridge structure which kind of starts in the seven figure range but recouping that is just a couple big gigs away but it is something to think about.Now the longer in length the "harder" it is to squeeze that big ole motherfucker into the small artisonal micro car and bicycle spaces available in our cities today.Your van may require some modification but there is nothing like a nice home cooked, on the van motor, food on the road. Road kill cooking can turn the tour frown upside down and keep touring costs down and turn a money losing tour a profit.Skinned Road Kill can also be recycled into wonderful and colorful stage outfits!And leathers too