Pamparo in Toronto

After much research and, obviously, a whole lot of money spent … here’s our home entertainment setup that will hopefully last for some years … fingers-crossed!

Home Entertainment Setup

Here’s the list of our stuff (I posted something about some of these previously … hint, hint):

- Sharp Aquos 32″ LCD
- Onkyo HT-S6200
- Sony PS3 Slim
- Philips DVD (upconverting)
- HD Cable
- Nintendo Wii
- and yes, the latest addition … an Apple TV! There will be another post dedicated to this in a week …

I use my iMac to keep all my music, photos & movies centrally-backed up. And I sync my Apple TV (and sometimes PS3) with it via the wireless router.

Now, it’s time to work some overtime to pay for all these things

Finally had our first glimpse of our yet to be born 2nd child. 12-week old and already moving fast … I think baby got so excited hearing his/her older brother Gabby

Our 2nd baby @ 12 weeks

I remember the time we saw our first-born Gabby and how excited we were. This time was no different … only with another set of eyes to witness and share the joy with me and my wife.

Diapers & late nights, I am ready for you!!!

Days after I said that I might not buy a single pedal in 2-years, I ate my very own words. Lucky that I had a disclaimer that the decision can change in a heartbeat … and it did!

Well, I just got an Xotic EP-Booster. It’s supposed to be just the pre-amp section of the legendary Echoplex. Rumor has it that the pre-amp is used by guitar legends such as Page, Van Halen and Johnson to make their tones sound spectacular… Well, I really couldn’t care less whether they used it or not as I have my own reasons for getting it. I need a boost pedal & I need it small. And this pedal pretty much fit the bill. To give you a bit of scale on how small this pedal is, here’s a picture I took shortly after receiving it:

EP-Booster's small footprint

It’s very small but this thing feels like a rock! Literally, it’s very heavy for a pedal this size. Don’t be deceived by the size, though. This thing is packed with TONE!

Here’s a demo by Pro Guitar Shop …

Does it work? Yes, it does boost my signal, almost transparently. I said “almost” because it does alter the tone ever so slightly in a good way. Try it out, you might like it, too!

There is really not a lot of changes except for the dirt pedals and the size of the board. I sold my Sparkle Drive but somehow still thinking that I shouldn’t have done that … I miss the sort-of-clean boost it provides. The SFX-03 is finally kicked out from the board. It is my longest serving pedal (tied with the TU-2, which I got at the same time). A really really tough choice. But between the Half-Gainer’s 2 channels & the Zendrive, I should have a lot bases covered. I think that removing the SFX-03 even made my Zendrive better as I am forced to start looking into other ways of using it. I am not disappointed by this decision at all!

Pedalboard as of January 2009

The Additions

• Barber Half-Gainer
• VL PP2 Plus

The Subtractions

• VL Sparkle Drive
• SD SFX-03 Twin Tube
• EB Volume Pedal

The Constants

• Hermida Zendrive
• Diamond Memory Lane
• Empress Tremolo
• Boss TU-2

The Variables

• Analogman Bi-Chorus
• MaxxPlay I/O

Pedalboard as of January 2010

Some future pedals to consider are compressor, a boost and a 2nd delay for triplets/dotteds. Although coming from a 4-times-a-week, to a weekend-warrior, and now a once-a-month-sometimes-twice guitarist, I am hard-pressed to buy anything else. Heck, I might not even buy a single pedal again in the next 2 years! Oh well … good thing is that these decisions can change in a heartbeat

You let your light so shine
In life for ninety nine
Christ’s love personified

Years lived in happiness
Joy despite of sadness
You had peace deep inside

We cry and yet we smile
We mourn but look up high
We know you are with Christ

To God we give the praise
We thank Him for your days
Born, lived, and passed away

© 2009 by Rhoy Pamparo