[Brian Krashpad]

As previously noted, my first real guitar rig was my Kustom 100 1x15 rig. Around 1990 or I got drafted to play bass and used the same rig for awhile to play bass. A buddy of mine at the time got a new combo bass amp and essentially gave me his old one, so it wouldn't take up space at his house. I told him I'd keep it at Casa Krashpad, but if he ever wanted it back, it was his.

I still have it!

The freebie is a 70's (I think) Woodson 250 amp. Matching 250W (I'm guessing, usually model numbers are chosen to indicate wattage) head and 1x15" cab:



The cab on this is pretty fair, not excellent, but given it's age not bad. The head is also OK, but I seem to manage to blow it up every few years. Since the head's no longer my main bass amp, it often sits for quite awhile before I get round to having it fixed. It currently needs repairs.

After my first ongoing bass gig (where I used the Kustom) c. 1990, I started my first band with me as the frontman, and went back to guitar. After a couple years I got burned out, and played bass in a different band for a couple years. During that time period (middle 90's) I eventually got tired of the Woodson rig and determined to upgrade to something better. I found a local seller selling an old ('70's, I'm guessing) Ampeg SVT 8x10 fridge cab, since he lived in an apartment and couldn't really use it there.

I bought the Ampeg for $200! It was missing all the vinyl down one side, so I took it home and spraypainted the bare wood flat black. From a few feet in a darkened club you can't even tell. To drive the Ampeg I found a Crate BX-200 head that was on closeout ($225) at a local mom&pop where an old buddy of mine is the luthier/repair guy. To this day, I use the Crate head and the Ampeg cab for any "big" show that I play on bass (sometimes I'll pair the Crate with the Woodson cab if I don't feel like lugging the SVT). Here's that rig: