Brian Krashpad

I did a thing! For Gibsunday Eve. This Gibson SGJ came with 490 pickups with weird black plastic covers, which are infamously difficult, if not impossible, to remove. They looked like EMGs, ugh (stock photo): So I bought Bobbin Toppers, to give the appearance of open coils. Slapped 'em right on top of the black plastic covers. Still, the holes for the pole pieces showed the black covers underneath. So, it still looked weird, albeit less so. Our silver pen, that had gone missing, was finally discovered recently by Mrs. K, so today I painted in the holes in the Bobbin Toppers silver! Now it looks... somewhat less weird. I'll take that!

I finally revised my "collage" family photo to include a Gretsch I bought a couple months ago, haha.

Yeah, at the end of 2012 my firm closed, and sold its brick-and-mortar office. For the 5 years thereafter I "telecommuted" to a firm whose physical office was 4 or 5 hours away, and for the last couple years have just been self-employed, still from home. So I'm used to working from home at this point, though not used to having the missus home too.

We are super careful. I'm 62 and had throat cancer 12 years or so ago, so I'm missing a lot of lymph nodes from surgery, and on top of that I'm on this weird drug regimen for osteoradionecrosis (the bones in my face are breaking down from radiation-- lower left jaw has been rebuilt with a piece of hipbone, and my neck on that side is actually my chest pectoral muscle, transplanted) that includes antibiotics, which also suppresses immune response. My adult son is a greengrocer at Publix, and so moved out of the house because he is out in public regularly, and did not want to endanger me.

Well, yesterday I ended up working all day because a client decided he wanted not one but two new court documents, drafted for a docket sounding today. But at least it got me out of finishing mowing the backyard. And made some dosh. Speaking of same, my buyer for my 2x12 100W MOS-FET Marshall flaked on Friday, but a second guy PM'd me on facebook, drove up from Ocala (about an hour south of me in Gainesville, Florida), and bought! So I only had that full compliment of five Marshall combos for less than a week, now I'm back down to four. Given the whack state of the pandemic in this state, the whole transaction went down out in the driveway, masked. And further precautions were taken. 😉 👍

Turned out it was a good thing I took the ridiculous pic, as yesterday I unloaded the 100W MOS-FET 2x12, and so I am now back down to 4 Marshall combos (3 solid-states + the "new" DSL). Goes without saying I turned a profit on the 100W 2x12. 😉 👍 Given the pandemic, precautions were taken.

Haha, yeah they'd LOVEme for that! Funny thing is that our neighbors closest to the garage are actually very cool.

By the weirdest of coincidences, a batch of the old '80s Model 5xxx Series solid state Marshall combos have come up for sale locally over the last 6 or 7 years, all from different sellers. So I currently have four of the boogers. They're just so affordable that I can't resist, and they actually sound good, though admittedly each doing the same "that one thing." Still, I don't really need a super-versatile amp with a bazillion channels/options, so those old beaters are actually a good match for me (and my budget!). All that said, I do have a batch of other amps, both all-tube, hybrid, and modeling, but have never owned a tube Marshall. Until now! A semi-local muso who lives out in the sticks, over an hour away from me, listed a DSL40C for $350 USD. It included the footswitch, and had a Creamback speaker upgrade. Fortunately, the seller works here in town, so I had him come over to Casa Krashpad for the sale. Here's a shot of the new acquisition with my fanciest guitar, haha. Since 5 Marshall combos, even with 4 being cheapies, is a smidge excessive even for me, I will sell the biggest of the solid states, as it is big, heavy, and 100W is really more than I need. So that should offset a decent part of the cost of the new one. But meanwhile, since there's no telling how long I will have all five, I thought one truly ridiculous "Marshall Stack" photo would be apropos. Ladies and Germs, I give you the Tower of Power™! Top to bottom: Marshall 5002 20W 1x10 "Lead 20" Marshall 5275 75W 1x12 "75 Reverb" Marshall 5210 50W 1x12 Marshall DSL40C 40W tube 1x12 Marshall 5213 100W 2x12 "MOS-FET 100 Reverb Twin" Have fun kids!

Since I bought the DSL 40C, yesterday, I went ahead and listed one of my amps (a big ol' Marshall Mosfet 100W 2x12 Reverb Twin) for sale on a bunch of local facebook sale pages, as I have so much gear, I'm pretty much at "one in, one out" territory. To my surprise, I have a potential buyer coming out tomorrow to look at it! When people respond to a sale listing via fb, I always do a quick cyber-stalk just to see who I'm dealing with. This is a young kid, in his 20s. To my surprise, on his facebook page he is wearing a Crass shirt (they were a UK anarcho-punk band back in the late '70s/early '80s). Crass are far from my favorite band, as they're a lot more arty/Situationist than I prefer, but the idea that the Mosfet Marshall could be going from an old punk rocker to a young punk rocker (with an appreciation for music made before he was born) I have to admit is appealing to me. Meanwhile, since the Mosfet 2x12 could be gone by this time tomorrow, I thought I'd take a ridiculous "Marshall stack" pic with all 5 combos I own. So I did. 😉 👍

Thanks! That's my fanciest guitar, haha. I reckon I'll sell my biggest solid state Marshall to partially offset the cost of this new tube one. It's a 100W mosfet 2x12. It's both louder and heavier than is a good match for me. In a perfect world of unlimited storage space and unlimited funds, I'd keep both amps, but you know how that goes. 😉

Finally bought my first all-valve Marshall amp. I own a bunch of the old '80s solid states that are surprisingly good, and at one point briefly owned one of the more modern non-tube heads (an MG series, I think, which was crap). Picked up locally for $350 USD. DSL40C with a speaker upgrade to a Celestion Creamback, and footswitch. Yay.

Drank beer and watched Premier League and German Cup football all day. And folded laundry.

Thanks. Due to the angle, it's reflecting the tree canopy above the yard.

Yup. 👍

Took a photo of one of my guitars for a funsies "photo competition" in a fb group I'm in. Totally half-assed it though.