I Went To Marshall Heaven . . . No it wasn't a dream either! 

Yeah, fantastic trip out to my ideal home!

(See photos below)

Entering into the reception area of the repairs department at 'Marshall Amplification' in Bletchley UK, the first thing that hits you is the astronomical amount of 10"x8" framed photographs running along the back wall of a corridor that accesses the glass offices that run off of it.

All the 10x8s are of every conceivable famous rock star the planet has ever seen, all with there arm round Jim, or standing next to a Marshall stack or two with big cheese grins on there faces, absolutely mesmerizing.

Some are signed band publicity shots, and some are great in concert shots of the artist giving it there all. Some of em looked real old too, I found myself trying to put names to the hundred and fifty or so that were directly in front of me, Angus, Page and Slash being the ones that popped out straight off.

After I got my gear booked in I had a wonder along the corridor and checked the lot out, completely awe-inspiring, I felt a great sense of respect and admiration for being at such a place.

Immediately around me were all sorts of Marshall amps ready to go back to there owners, plus combos and various 4x12 cabs here there and everywhere.

Off to the side were two half stacks, one with a Les Paul Standard plugged into it, and the other with a Fender Strat propped up against the side of the cab. Both cabs had 100w JCM 800s a top of them. These (I was told) were there so that you could test your gear after they had repaired it. Plug in and crank it up!!

Off to either side were more offices, one of these I was shown into to sign some final paperwork before the engineers took my two Marshall 350W Mode Four heads off to be repaired and serviced.

This room too was also full of kit, more JCM 800s just stacked up on the floor in the middle of the room, more cabs and more guitars, I'm like, ***k - this is heaven or what, just look at all this kit! I was in the Aladdin's cave of all Aladdin's caves!

Two big sofas ran along the back and side of this office of which both had coffee tables in front of them. This looked like a proper works chill-out room. One table still had half full coffee cups on it, and on this sofa was a Gibson SG laying there plugged into a Marshall combo humming away nicely. Looked like I had just interrupted someone's early morning jam?

For people like me (that eat sleep and breath guitar) it truly is an amazing place. After they had fixed up my two heads I got the chance to take a look around the main reception area, and check out all the equipment on show there. The guys did me a treat with the photos. Bloody great stuff. Cheers Marshall, totally ROCKIN!

PS: Incidentally - Now that the two heads work properly, I can now use one as a slave amp to the other, and generate 700w of power going out to 1200w of Mode Four cabs.

Absolute HEAVY ***KIN METAL!! Can't wait for the next rehearsal. More picks and write-up on that to follow.

Cheers all

Rob

Back to DA website

Next up is bass player news - Please welcome Clive aboard and into the unhinged world that is Desolation Angels the heavy metal riff making machine.

Biography:

Clive Pearson

Influences:

Black  Sabbath, Bad company,  AC/DC, Dio, Stone Temple Pilots, Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Metallica.

Equipment:

Fender Precision Bass Guitars

Behringer  Amplification

Ampeg 8 * 10 Bass Cabinets.

Shure Wireless Systems.

Albums:

First Hand:  Hands off

Winter: Where Angels Fear to Tread

The B – Side:  The B- side

The Mochines: Hire The Losers.

Playing history

First Hand; 1979 -1982 South Africa

Lynx: 1983- 1987 South Africa

Pink Metal Kitchen:  London 1988 – 1990

Winter; 1990 -1992

B –Side: 1993 -1997 London

The Mochines: 2004-2007  Cape town South Africa

Thee Unknowns: 2008 – 2012 Cape Town South Africa

Lip service: 2012-2013 – Southampton England

Desolation Angels: February 2013 – Present

I started paying the bass when my brother took up the drums in 1978 and we formed  “First Hand” in 1979, which was an original 3 piece band.  This did set the style of my bass playing, as I did not really learn other bass player’s lines and hence I got my own style of playing.  Having my brother on the drums meant we could then rip each other apart and push each other to the limit without having a major fall out to deal with afterwards, and the result was an incredibly tight rhythm section, which is what a 3 piece band has to produce when playing live.

The influences at that time were AC/DC, Uriah Heap, Black Sabbath, Bad Company.  I then joined Lynx, which was a hard rock outfit, who were doing well on the gigging circuit. We went on to do a promotional video and recording, which led to playing many of the major venues in South Africa. 

The next step was to come to England, where I joined Pink Metal Kitchen in 1987.  We played the London Rock venues for a couple of years and then parted with the guitarist.  The band took on Belladonna’s guitarists to form Winter.  We continued playing mainly London venues and supported The Almighty at the Marquee and various other venues. But the band could not break into the next league even with the talk of going to Japan and the States.  Eventually Winter did drift and break up. 

After a few years with the B-Side, which was a change in direction to a more melodic funk rock band I  returned to Cape Town to join The Mochines, and did an album and played many festivals and gigs in the Cape Town area.

Returning to the UK in 2011 I had a brief stint with Lip service in Southampton before joining Desolation Angels.  I jumped to the chance to come to London for an audition, and after the first 5 minutes, I think we all knew I was the right fit for D.A . My solid bass lines and sound, fitting right in with the band grooving riffs and thunderous sound.  We can now look forward to writing new songs and giving the fans what they want to see.  High energy Rock and Roll shows with plenty of drive and wall of guitars..

Look forward to seeing all of you at our gigs coming up in the summer and watch this space as Desolation Angels are Rocking Again…….

Cheers

Clive

desolationangels.co.uk 
Gig news • T-Shirts • DA history • Music • Video • MP3s • Air life and soul.