New Video: Orange Dual Dark 50

I just put together this video showcasing some of the details, features, and tones this awesome metal amp can produce. Too bad these are discontinued, and hard to find at that! I searched a long time to get a hold of this one and it was well worth it.

New Video: Charvel Model 3A

Similarly to my BC Rich ST-III video, this guitar is now off to its new owner! Nothing like selling a guitar off that I will most likely never see again to put the pressure on to make a video!

I got this guitar years ago and it’s in truly superb condition. It was dusty and the truss cover still had the plastic on it! I imagine this guitar spent a lot of time sitting in someone’s closet or under the bed. I lowered the action a bit and really enjoyed playing it. The pickups are some of my favorites in the range and I find them to be very dynamic especially when paired with an amp without much compression.


New Video: BC Rich ST III

Just before I sent my ice blue ST-III off to its new owner this week, I put together this video to showcase its features and quirks. I’ll definitely miss this guitar, it has a really fantastic neck and it was in great condition for its age. The Ibanez Edge trem is one of my favorites and it was cool to have that bridge on a guitar that wasn’t an actual Ibanez too.

My plan is to make videos for every guitar and amp I have, so I have a lot of material to work on, so subscribe to my youtube channel! I’ll do my best to put out a video every week or two. Enjoy!


New Video: Mesa Rectifier Comparison

I recently acquired this Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Roadster, which in theory should be the end-all of Rectifiers. But is it really? I’m not so sure - it sounds a bit different in the room than my other two Rectifier amps. I decided to put together a quick recording to compare how all three of them sound while playing the main riff to Incubus’ “Pardon Me,” which to me is an iconic Recto chording sound. This style of playing doesn’t really emphasize the differences between the amps and shows just how similar they can all sound recorded, at least restricted to the Modern/Red modes. This also could explain why some players say they barely hear any difference between them - it can depend on the style of music they play.

Rectifiers compared:

  • Triple Rectifier 2ch Rev G

  • Triple Rectifier 3ch (non-multiwatt)

  • Dual Rectifier Roadster (multiwatt)

Recording Chain:

  1. Ibanez 540S with Seymour Duncan Blackout

  2. Looper pedal (to repeat the riff into the amps)

  3. <AMP>

  4. Celestion V30

  5. SM57 Microphone

Time Codes:

New Video: Marshall 2555x Silver Jubilee

Put together my first video on this amp - I picked it up after calling the store and confirming it was a vintage (87ish) model - however a reissue showed up instead. Sadly I felt I overpaid for the amp despite how great it was, so I ended up returning it. I intend to get another one someday and hopefully have more time with it and be able to make a few more comparisons.

Panama Guitar Cover

I know this site is primarily focused (ha ha) on camera technology, photography, cinematography etc but I made a quick video of one of my other hobbies, guitar. This is a cover of Van Halen's Panama, using a backing track I also found on youtube.

I originally filmed a video playing the same song with four different cameras at once to test built-in microphones and high ISO noise of a few bodies I have on hand. That slowly become a multiple angle shoot which I had originally planned to change cameras for different parts, but instead I've just cut all three angles together in the same video.

The top left is a Canon 6D with an adapted Olympus OM 28mm f/2.8. Then the right/closeup camera is another Canon 6D with an adapted Nikon 85mm f/2.0 AIS set to f/2.8 because I thought the angular bokeh looked cool on the headstock of the guitar. Bottom right was my (now gone) Panasonic G7, the only one filming in 4k. This allowed me to crop down a nice shot of the fretboard without losing resolution - the original footage is wide enough to see the floor at my feet and up to the top of my head.

Lighting was done with the overhead room light along with a pair of Yongnuo YN-300 II's, one in front of me just off to my right and the other is up on top of the Marshall amp right next to the close up camera (which is visible in the top left shot). These lights are great, and have adjustable color temperature, can be powered by batteries or from the wall, and come with a bluetooth remote control which allows on/off, color temp adjustment, and you can change channels on the remotes or lights themselves if you needed to control multiple banks of lights. I'm working on a review for these, because they are an amazing value.

The Manta Dive - Video

Back in April 2016, I took a trip out to Hawaii's "big island." While there, I went on a dusk and night time dive, where I used an underwater housing with my Olympus OM-D E-M5 to capture stills and video clips. Well, a year later, I've finally put together a reel of that iconic dive.