Review of Casio CTK1150 keyboards

Casio CTK-1150 Keyboards

This is a review of Casio CTK-1150 bought from Argos last Xmas for my boy. We ordered Casio CTK1200 because that was the one that was advertised on their site that's on sale. Casio CTK 1150 is no longer available in the market. But anyhow, this one the one delivered despite the one we paid for was the CTK1200. Called them and asked but they said that it's the same. When we checked the manual that came with it, they were right. There's only one manual for 5 types or series of this keyboards. Having said that, let's move on and review what the keyboards got to give us.

Out of the box, you'll get like 4 sets of manual in different languages. One songbook, which are the songs listed in the songbank of the keyboards. Also, the songbook is useful if you have previous knowledge on how to read notes and good in learning stuff by yourself. Apart from that, I think the songbook is not meant for beginners or kids. Although, there are categories inside the songbook as A, B, C, D which means that A for beginners, then goes Intermediate, Advanced and Expert. Music stand and power supply are also included.

Now the keyboards' design is very good, lightweight, sound coming from the speaker is decent. Can use 6 AA battery on this one. 100 tones, 100 rhythms and 99 songbank. Learning option which turns on and off Right or Left hand. Also learning chords options. No sustain option or sustain pedal connection. Not touch response. No reverb or hall button/switch. But there's transpose/tune option.

By the way, we bought an X-frame keyboard stand separately and we're please with it.

Lyon by Washburn strat copy vs SIlvertone Rockit SG Copy

Lyon by Washburn HSS vs Silvertone Rockit SG

I did this electric guitar comparison video because mainly I wanted to know the tone and sound difference between the two. So I can decide which one to use and when to use it. I used my Panther TEGA-10 by Hohner practise amp which I modified the speaker and changed the stock speaker into Celestion 15 Eight. During this video, the speaker was not break-in properly yet but after months of using it and cranking it up during gigs and rehearsals, the tone and the sound was pushed to its limits and yeah, it sounded great. In case you're wondering, I use it during gigs. Some lads are laughing at me because I am using a practise amp during gigs but this little amp, sounds great when it's mic'd up and it is so portable.

I was using my Zoom G1xOn so I can switch from clean tone to crunch and lead. As well as making use of the reverb from my pedal because this Panther TEGA-10 doesnt have effects on it i.e. reverb or delay.

Camera used was my Huawei Honor 7 phone.

Epiphone Les Paul Special vs Silvertone Rockit SG comparison

Comparison of Epiphone Les Paul Special vs Silvertone Rockit SG copy

This is a comparison video between Epiphone Les Paul Special and Silvertone Rockit SG copy. I was lucky that my friend Mike of Crossedwind lend me his Epiphone Les Paul Special. So I did a comparison between the two guitars. You'll be the judge of the tone quality on this one.

I used one amp on this and it's the BB Blaster BBG15 FX practise amp. It is tiny but got a good punch. It has effects on it, delay/reverb and the overdrive channel.  I used my HTC One phone to record this video comparison.

Silvertone Rockit SG copy modification

Silvertone Rockit SG pickup modification

Had to change the pickup on this one, because the old one squeals a lot and the feedback was unbearable during live gigs. So I put on Warman Zebra Humbuckers on neck and bridge. It's a cheap pickup in terms of price but the sound and tone it can produce is great. Also I put a foil on the pots and toggle switch because I thought that perhaps that's one of the causes of feedback on this guitar. But I think it was mostly the pickups, anyway, I still put foil just to be sure.

On this review, I was using Panther Tega-10 by Hohner practise amp and there's also modification on this practise amp that I did.  Plus I plugged the guitar on my Zoom G1xOn multieffects pedal just to recreate the sound of my Roland Cube Street. Because there's not much on this Hohner Panther practise amp. No reverb or channel selection. Just simple setting of Master Volume, Gain, Volume, EQ and that's it.

I used my Huawei Honor 7 phone to record this video. My HTC One got a better audio and video quality but I think this one works out well too. Not that far from HTC One.

Review of Silvertone SG copy guitar pt2

Silvertone SG Rockit pt 2

This is the part 2 of my review on Silvertone Rockit SG copy. Just trying out what the sound of this cheap guitar can produce. The action and intonation of the guitar is excellent. I think it was setup properly either by the previous owner or the shop that sold this on eBay.

Again I was using same amp on this review which the Roland Cube Street and this time I was using Rectifier channel or amp setting. I used my HTC One phone to record this video.  I think the amp really helped a lot to get the sound of this guitar out. Had I used a different amp and setting, I think it would've changed the sound differently. So yeah no effects pedal on this one, just the amp setting.

Later on, when I tried this guitar with my band Subtle Culprits and we were just forming the band that time, I found out that when I crank up the volume, there's so much feedback coming out from the pickup. Each time, Im not playing anything, the feedback is just unbearable. No matter what the distance or direction of the guitar from the amp. It's fine on clean channel but the moment I step on my pedal, it squeal. So I had to buy a different pickup and change it.

Watch out for my other video when I modified/changed the pickups.

Review of Silvertone SG copy guitar pt1

Silvertone SG Rockit pt1

Bought this guitar very cheap on eBay and when it arrived there are few issues like only the neck pickup was working, there's a loose wire on the toggle switch. Solder it immediately and then, it worked but only to find out after I did this video review that the 3-way toggle switch was wrong. It was the other way around between the rhythm and the treble. Also it was knackered. So I had to buy a new one, obviously a cheap toggle switch just to change it and make it work.

I used Roland Cube Street on this review and just using JC Clean for this one. Also I was using my HTC One phone to record this video. And yeah just straight forward recording in our kitchen. Hope you like it.

Review of Belcat V35RG

Belcat V35RG

Purchased this one from Gear4Music. Happy with my purchase. Very nice amp... should I say practise amp.  Vintage look, very nice tone and was built nicely or up to a good standard.  Also the spring reverb is very nice.  Straight-forward amp, doesn't have much to it as a distraction. Two channels, drive and clean. One input, got selector switch for channels. Drive channel got volume and gain knob. Clean channel got volume, EQ and reverb. Then phones out. Close back although there's a bit of gap for the power lead. Lightweight and portable.

Gear used:
Lyon by Washburn HSS electricguitar
Zoom G1Xon effects pedal
Belcat V35RG
HTC One phone camera

Review of Fender DG60CE

Fender DG60CE electro acoustic

This is my review of Fender DG60CE electro acoustic that I bought from Argos.  Good thing about this is that I was able to pay it instalment basis. Normally I would go for second-hand gears or instruments but this one is an exception because it's a buy-now-pay-later purchase.

I really like it not only because of its looks and feel but overall it's really pretty decent guitar and mind you it's cheap.  Out of the box, I didn't do anything like tuning, or adjustments, etc.  Straight away you can gig with his guitar. The built-in tuner is also handy because as I've said you can gig straight away after unboxing, so worst case scenario that the string got out of tune on your third song, you can tune it right away.

I can't say anymore about this guitar but all good. Oh by the way, I bought a cheap gigbag and strap from ebay for this guitar because it doesnt come with gigbag/case and strap. It comes with an allen screw and a spare bridge pin.

Review of Korg AX100g multieffects pedal pt2

Korg AX100g Multieffects Signal Processor part 2

On this review, I focus on my favourite settings of this Korg AX100g guitar multieffects pedal. Highlighting the tone and character of the effects pedal. Also played a bit of excerpts of my favourite guitar riffs. Again, this pedal is very versatile, customisable and most of all it wont let you down. I have gigged this pedal and the use of batteries come handy on this one. It saves me the trouble of finding power outlet on stage and most especially outdoor gigs.

Review of Korg AX100g multieffects pedal pt1

Korg AX100g Modelling Signal Processor

This is a review of Korg AX100g Guitar multieffects pedal that I bought second hand online. Very nice gadget because it's small, lightweight and can be powered by 4 AA batteries.  Quite easy to use, customise and/or edit. But on this review, I focus on how to use the FX mode where this pedal function as individual stompbox pedal. There's a separate pedal for this function that you can easily select during live performances. You can download manual of this pedal online and read through or just search on YouTube for more reviews on this pedal. Hope you like the video.

Review on Boss ME-33 guitar multieffects pedal pt2

Boss ME-33 Guitar Multi-effects pedal part 2

Here's the continuation of my review on this Boss ME-33 multieffects pedal for guitar. This is a straight-forward effects pedal. Easy to use. Also can be used with 6 AA batteries. Here's the specs:

• Floor-based guitar multi-effects processor with 24-bit sound quality and built-in assignable expression pedal
• Onboard COSM Amp Modeling with 6 distinct guitar amp models plus simultaneous overdrive and distortion effects
• 6 Quick Edit knobs for instant, familiar effects tweaking
• 24 distinct guitar effects (9 simultaneous) including new Feedback Modeling, Auto Wah, Humanizer, Harmonist, Auto Riff and Phrase Trainer
• EZ Tone settings for fast access to tones from a variety of musical styles
• Acoustic Guitar and Pickup Simulators for instant acoustic sounds
• Large backlit LCD with helpful operation graphics and icons
• Built-in auto tuner and patches optimized for use with 6- and 7-string guitars

Review on Boss ME-33 guitar effects pedal pt1

Boss ME-33 Guitar Multi-effects pedal

This is a review of an almost vintage effects pedal for guitar by Boss. The Boss ME-33 multi-effects processor. An all in one effects pedal. Very nice piece of kit to own and keep. Hard-to-find nowadays but if you're lucky, you can still get this online second site or through friends posting on social media. If not, go to your nearest second-hand shop and browse or ask around, you might get lucky and get yourself one of this.