Pamparo in Toronto

Does that name scare the heck out of you?!

Well, it’s time to re-tube my beloved Traynor YCV-40WR. Thanks to the auto-biasing (i think it’s more of a fixed-bias) feature of this amp, it makes it easy for me to swap tubes in & out.

So far, here’s what I have tried with it:
- Sovtek 5881 WXT (don’t even think of using this stock tubes!)
- JJ 6L6GC (very clear & sparkly highs. tons of clean headroom to boot)
- Tungsol 5881 (very nice when cranked and not a lot of headroom. Easily pushed to break-up)

And now, it’s time for a Winged-C SED SV6L6GC!

First impressions … I like this the best from what I have already tried. I played with a Les Paul & Telecaster. While they sounded different, they are both pleasing to my ears. The clean and over-driven tones sounded articulate and with great harmonics, too!

Anyway, I think this image will explain how I feel a lot easier:

YCV-40WR with Winged-C SED SV6L6GC

I was walking around Canadian Tire today to get some fluorescent bulbs when I heard somebody say “Isaiah 12:39″ thru the PA system. I thought I was imagining things, but I heard it twice so I took note of it. Well, apparently, Isaiah 12:39 does not exist! Just goes to show how much I know about the Bible. But despite of this exact verse’s non-existence, I was amazed that the 12th chapter of Isaiah only has 6 verses and it was a great song of praise.

Songs of Praise

1 In that day you will say:
“I will praise you, O LORD.
Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
and you have comforted me.

2 Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.”

3 With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.

4 In that day you will say:
“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.

6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

So maybe God is revealing something to me … READ MY BIBLE!!!

Oh, and btw, there was actually a person named Isaiah working there and they’ve been trying to get his attention!

Roughly 2 months ago, I blogged about the 1-year gear-fasting that I had endured. Well, a lot of things have changed since. The funny thing is, I didn’t get any of the gears that I mentioned. But let me say that I am in serious GAS mode recently and it has been doing more harm to my wallet than I have expected

So these are the things I have bought, one of which I have already blogged about (EP-Booster) …

• Xotic EP-Booster
• Roadrage Pro Mini-A/B
• PP2+ Right-Angle cables
• Winged C SV6L6GC Power Tubes*
• Strymon Brigadier Delay*

* still in transit waiting to be delivered by the mailman!

Waiting for the delivery of my new Strymon Brigadier

I am most excited about the new Strymon Brigadier since I was really intending to get a second delay to work with my Diamond Memory Lane. I wanted something that has tap-tempo, has dotted 8ths & triplets option and a killer sound … looks like this one will deliver. Only downside may be the 200mA current draw that it needs to run.

From initial reviews it looks like it may even bump the ML out of the board, but we will see what happens after I put some mileage on it. And of course, I will post new pics of the board and maybe some audio clips, too!

But I am hoping (and I’m sure so is my wife) that my GAS’ing will stop now and hopefully will last for another year! … hopefully

What a good question … and a great answer from Aerosmith’s long-time lead guitarist, Joe Perry!

Premier Guitar: … How would you define good tone?

Joe Perry: Good tone is what works for the song. Your tone forms the basis of each song. Basically, there is no bad tone, just bad uses of tone. What’s good for one song can be bad for others. I use lots of different tones depending on the material.

Truer words were never spoken!

Here’s the link to the full interview: Joe Perry On the Move

After I week of Apple TV usage, here’s my fair assessment …

Apple TV

Love:
- Internet Radio — this really is the main reason for this
- Sync iTunes Library — including all DRM-infested music & videos
- Youtube Streaming — we’ve been cracking-up on failblog.org videos a lot more!
- Wi-fi connectivity
- iPhoto sync — our photos never looked better seeing it on a big screen
- HDMI 1080p output

Hate:
- Remote — tiny and limited features
- No keyboard support — a pain when doing searches and typing wi-fi password
- If the TV is off, the output goes back to 720p — minor, but annoying!
- Heat … literally, this unit runs very HOT!

Verdict:
If you use iTunes a lot (especially in a Mac), you will love this. It extends the functionality of iTunes to the home theater setup which is really impossible because of all the DRM stuff. It has its problems like some videos won’t play because of the encoding or ever once in a while, it will be dropped off the network (using wi-fi). Of course, the lack of keyboard makes this a bigger problem. But show me a device without an issue and I will be all over it!

Otherwise, this device is pretty much useless. A lot of people on the net complain about Apple TV. Unfortunately, they bought something and would like it to do what they want instead of using the device for what it’s meant to be.

I like mine … note, it’s not “Love” … but, I really do “Like it”!