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By
Quincy Oshiro |
Posted
May 2, 2014
at
03:57PM
Sledgehammer Games has just released the trailer giving us a sneak preview of the latest installment in the Call of Duty Franchise. Entitled Call of Duty Advanced Warfare and is set to release on November 4th this year. As a die hard fan of the Call of Duty franchise I cannot wait for this to...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
April 15, 2014
at
09:46AM
Not too long ago I reviewed a wireless network extender from TP-Link. What was noticeable with that device is that the further the extender got from the base signal the poorer a job it did rebroadcasting the wireless signal. In essence, you have to be close enough to get wireless to be able to...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
March 27, 2014
at
04:16PM
The three main ways to make distortion are with fuzz, overdrive, and a distortion pedals. I tend to stick to overdrive pedals for a couple of reasons. First, I can get a lot of distortion/gain from just about any amp or even a preamp like a pedal board. Secondly, I prefer the more singing...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
February 25, 2014
at
10:30AM
I'm pretty good at taking care of my gear so it shouldn't come as a surprise that my last TV - a 50 inch Samsung Plasma - lasted my family about 6 years of near constant use. That TV is now being used in my bedroom but it was getting time to update to a newer set. New features and better picture...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
February 13, 2014
at
10:09AM
Quilter Laboratories have had a very busy couple of years. They've released amplifier heads, combo units, and now a head that offers some different features you won't find anywhere else. Recently they released the Tone Block 200 amplifier which was a big hit at the recent NAMM show. What is the...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
February 7, 2014
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10:58AM
Apogee's original Jam input device gave 48kHz /24-bit recording to musicians but Apogee recently sent out a press release for their 96 kHz Jam guitar input device. With this you can connect your guitar or other electronic instrument to an iPad or an iPhone. This is what intrigued me: 96 kHz /24...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
January 7, 2014
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10:32AM
I had thought to originally release this review during the holidays. My logic was that what better than a game played on mobile devices to pass the time during the holidays? As it turned out I had a very busy holiday season with family and work so just goes to show how the best laid apps of men...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
November 6, 2013
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06:09AM
I've been lucky in my new home not to have WiFi dead spots. This doesn't mean I don't have any, just that in the places I use WiFi the most I'm not in a dead spot. My old home had a lot of them. I'm not sure if it is due to the construction of that home (the new home is also wood frame, sheet...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
October 8, 2013
at
09:54AM
Seems like any recording devices for audio to computer or instrument to computer cost a hefty investment. Its not unusual to see equipment costing $200 or more and that is a price that can really hurt a struggling musician. I came across ClearClick Software's Guitar2USB setup a short while ago...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
September 24, 2013
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09:49AM
After a week with iOS7 I think we can finally weigh in. We weren't lucky enough to get a pre-release evaluation peek at the OS or new iPhone 5s and 5c so like you we had to download the OS, update, and install. I think that there were conflicting reports out there, some even warning users not to...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
September 10, 2013
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08:00AM
Most people's first effect pedal is usually a distortion pedal. What comes next? For most of us its a wah wah pedal. The wah pedal isn't just for 60's rock and roll sounds. Ask guys like Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett why they spend so much time getting their wah technique down. Better yet, search...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
September 3, 2013
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10:45AM
This is going to be our first guitar pickup review. I'm planning to bring you some different options, some very economical and some not so. Since this is our first pickup review I wanted to cover a well used combination that many players use to get a versatile rig: the Seymour Duncan Hotrodded...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
August 28, 2013
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10:05AM
As we continue our addition of musical audio equipment with our normal tech articles and game reviews it came to me that perhaps a quick tutorial on pedalboards and organizing pedals was needed (clever title eh?). This article isn't going to cover preamp equipment which generally is rack mounted...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
July 10, 2013
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10:04AM
It occurred to me the other day that while I've done reviews of instrument amplifiers and combos I haven't as yet reviewed a speaker cabinet on its own. Well folks here it is: The VHT Special 6 1x12 cabinet in closed back form. An open back version is available which features a Celestion speaker...
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By
Quincy Oshiro |
Posted
July 1, 2013
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06:05PM
OVERVIEW
As a major league gamer it is my duty to keep up with some of the most competitive video games out on the market. You may have heard a recent uproar in people using the term LOL. No it is not the term "laugh out loud" used by everyone today while texting. This stands for "League...
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By
Quincy Oshiro |
Posted
June 28, 2013
at
05:52PM
OVERVIEW
So not too long ago a few buddies of mine wanted me to pick up a copy of this game "Defiance". They didn't exactly explain the concept to me. I thought it was going to a first person shooter fighting off aliens. Nope, did some research on the game and it was brought to my...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
June 27, 2013
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02:16PM
The market for instrument amplifiers is incredibly diverse and large. There are the time tested setups like a 100 watt tube head with a full stack of speakers all the way down to the 1 watt tube amplifiers with a built in six or eight inch speakers. Throw in everything in between as well as...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
June 12, 2013
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10:40PM
Sometimes we get to do an in depth review of a product that requires tons of explanation. Other times we find that the product is so simple yet does exactly what it claims to do. Today I present the Swiss Pick. Not named for a country of birth but more for its resemblance to something that...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
June 5, 2013
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09:04AM
If you suffered through my recent amplifier tech articles you know I'm looking for the ultimate tone machine in a combo design. I need tone and I'm not willing to compromise on that. You'd think I'm willing to compromise on volume and projection to get the smaller form factor but here's where...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
May 29, 2013
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10:51AM
My son has a forbidden love that dare not speak its name: the love the delay pedal. I like delay effects but I find them often overused and this is one sound that can definitely get tiring when used a lot. Previously my son was using a Boss delay pedal that worked very well but lacked one...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
May 21, 2013
at
10:58AM
We're approaching the end of this series of articles. I know that it seems very tedious - musicians tend to be the type of people who want to plug in and get a perfect sound. Sadly, it takes a lot of work to get the exact sound you are looking for. That's what this series was meant to do -...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
May 18, 2013
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10:23AM
I hope you've read the previous solid state vs tube amp article and the amplifier tubes article where I covered tube characteristics as well as some tricks to get better tone. There are some situations where solid state amps really shine through. Towards the end of the article I'll give you a...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
May 13, 2013
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10:09AM
In my last article we covered the
solid state vs. tube amp argument. My view on this is that you have to use the right tool for the job at hand. If you picked a solid state amp there is still some info in this article you might find interesting. If you picked a tube amp then lets help you get to...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
May 8, 2013
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10:03AM
Every so often I'd post one of my 'rants' here but I've tended to stay away from that format. Basically I give you my 2 cents worth but not in a review of a particular product. Lately all the mail I've been getting are "why don't you test this amp" or "you seem to have a bent against solid state...
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By
Victor Oshiro |
Posted
May 1, 2013
at
10:05AM
A pedal I got recently after my son's praise was this BBE Sonic Stomp. I've heard BBE's rack mount sonic maximizers so I wondered if this pedal could capture what one of those does.
How does it work?
What's a sonic maximizer? I'll let this quote from BBE's website try to explain it: