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.

Watched the early Premiere League match, Aston Villa 0 - 1 Wolves. Mowed the front lawn; well most of it. When I woke up, the chance of rain was supposedly 2%. By the time I mowed mid-morning it was 15%. This being Florida, it still poured, but fortunately not til a couple hours after I finished mowing. After I came inside and got cleaned up, I watched an FA Cup match, which ended drawn 1-1, between bottom of the table Norwich and much stronger Man United. United won at the death, at the end of extra time, with a garbage goal: https://www.livesoccertv.com/news/34141/watch-maguire-seals-fa-cup-semi-final-berth-for-manchester-united-with-a-118th-minute-goal/ Took a pic of my cheapie T-bird for a facebook group called Gear 'n Beer: ( Now I'm just drinkin' beer, watching a Japanese monster movie (Godzilla v. Monster Zero!) and doing a little bit of "office" work (I have a solo practice legal research/consultation firm I do from home; since I've been working from home since the start of 2013, I am very blessed not to have to alter work for the pandemic). Sent an email to one client who requested a Motion to Compel his opponent to provide some billing records, but had to remind him that he hadn't formally actually subpoena'd those records yet! So, that's kinda "cart before the horse" territory. Gonna send a dunning email to a different client, he just paid me for something I did last week, but still owes me for stuff from February. Dang lawyers. 😉 After that will be working on amending a tort complaint. I usually do family law, but in the midst of a divorce one of my clients (my clients are all other lawyers) is doing, the opposing party Wife got lightfingered and stole a bunch of Husband's personal property, fecked up files on his PC, that sorta thing. Gotta love stupid people, they keep me in business.

Haha, mahalo! My wife lived in Hawaii as a kid (her Dad was FAA), and my parents lived there before I was born, back in the '50s (my Dad was USN and stationed at Pearl).

I know, right? I'm torn between embarrassment and humble-pride. 😉

Haha, House of the Rising Sun was one of the first songs that I learned as well! Thanks and keep rocking too. 👍

Thanks. For the most part, yes, they all get played from time to time, to varying degrees. I have not played bass in a band for about a dozen years, so except for a reunion show 2-3 years ago, the basses and bass rigs are not getting much play (although for the most recent shows of my main band, my daughter used my bass rigs with her own bass guitar, so at least the rigs got some stage time). As for the guitars, I play guitar in my main band and a side band, so those get more action. I do make a much more concerted attempt to rotate through the guitars, in particular, at practices and shows. The two oldest guitars (the 1960 Duo-Sonic and c. 1973 Breadwinner) have some issues and are basically "retired" from gigging. The Duo-Sonic has never been gigged, sfaik. I keep the guitar amps and bass amps set up in the garage for band practices, so that when my main band has a practice, people can just bring an instrument, and plug and play. And in fact I had one band member who often ended up playing through my gear, both guitars and amps, that was very common. For example, in this photo, he's over on our right (stage left), playing my Les Paul Special. He was supposed to bring his Marshall, but got locked out of his warehouse, so is playing through my "emergency backup" Laney (the small combo way over on the floor on the right). Or, at my 60th Birthday Party, here he is playing through some of my amps (a Marshall combo and MosValve combo mini-stack) and my Peavey T-60: I had a beater Telecaster that was one of the few I felt it safe to let him regularly play, I eventually just gave it to him when he got to ten years with the band: At any rate, whether it's me, myself, or friends/bandmates, they do get played. 😉

Zoinks! I had throat (tonsil/lymph node) cancer 12 years ago, myself. No hair will grow on the left jaw side of my face where the rads entered, and it doesn't grow well at the "exit wound" location on the opposite side at the nape of my neck. The radiation eventually fecked my jaw to the point where it weakened and broke. The jaw has been rebuilt with a piece of hipbone, and the neck on that side with my left pectoral muscle. It's pretty gnarly so generally I wear a scarf/shemagh/neckerchief in public. Meanwhile, every day above ground is a good day. 😉

Steve, I loves me that Tube Midget! It's a master-volume 50W lunchbox size head that most seem to agree is very Marshall-y. Super basic amp. One channel (though you can choose low or high input). Ever since getting it, it has been my main rig (either with the Risson 4x12, or the Kustom 1x15 cabs) for my main punk rock and roll band.

I was, as the local saying in Gainesville, Florida, goes, a "hurtin' Gator." (There's a reason that it'd been EIGHT years since I last did a photo like this!) And in fact, just seeing the amps is only part of the story! After setting up the amps, I dug up all the guitars, too. But when I got them "all" set up, I was still one short! I ransacked Casa Krashpad for a couple hours, and couldn't figure out why I was missing one. I finally remembered that I had lent a bass to one of my son's friends many months prior. By the time he could bring it over, it was after dark. I tried doing a night-time photo, but the results we not optimal: So, I inched the amps back into the garage for over night, and threw all the guitars in there as well. And set the whole dang thing up a SECOND time the next morning! I know, I'm certifiable.

I would love to get an AC30. That's one that I have never owned. Obviously, at this point I have way more than I "need." But we all know that if we're lucky it's not about "need." 😉

It's like you're the anti-Me.