Pamparo in Toronto

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

I got a my early Christmas gift in the first week of December. It’s the great news that I am going to be a father to a baby again. It just, oh so, inspired me to write this simple song … Still working on the melody, though

Enjoy! And, Merry Christmas to you all …

My Precious Child
by: Rhoy Pamparo

Verse 1

I cannot yet hear
The sound of your heart beating
I know you are there
In the womb slowly growing

Verse 2

Few months from now
A few more days of longing
You will come out
My arms are gently waiting

Chorus

And I will praise the Lord
As I praise Him right now
And I will thank him for
The blessings of love
There inside a mother’s womb
A gift from God came to be
Little child, my precious child

Verse 3

I know you can hear
The voice of Daddy longing
For you to be born
So I can lift you up to Him

Bridge

It’s amazing how
How God puts his trust
Precious little ones
In the hands of mere humans
It’s a day of pain
It’s a day of birth
Fragile little one
From God the Father to us