Vox DA20 Guitar Amp: A review

Before I bought the Vox DA20, I found it harder find reviews about this amp around the web. With this review along with pictures, I hope to give some idea about the features of this amp and how it sounds to prospective buyers. If this was useful to you, please comment. Also, if you have any questions regarding this amp, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments.

I bought the Vox DA20 mainly to use for practising. This amp does not have valves/tubes in it and it is a digital modelling amp [wait! don't write it off just yet]. At the shop, I did have the choice of the “AD15 Valvetronix” amp but since I’m a student, I didn’t want to bother with tube amps-mainly due to maintenance concerns.

front view

I gather from reviews of the valvetronix line of amps that many don’t like the front “metal grill” style view. But its fine with me. Don’t mind the reflections in the metal grill in the above picture. The 2×8″ speakers you can see is the coolest bit of the amp IMO.

The controls section is divided into two–the ‘amp section’ and the ‘effects section’. Overview of the controls of the amp (with pictures) after the break…

Bone Diggers

This is a hilarious parody of Kanye West’s song Gold Diggers with the theme being Evolution. The lyrics’ got digs at Paleontologists. No offence to them! I just find the pop culture understanding of stuff like this funny.

Lyrics after the break….

August Burns Red: Composure

This video made me buy August Burns Red’s album “Messengers”. I guess Solid State Records have successfully marketed this band. Just look at the number of views this video alone has got: ~ 900,000 hits. That opening riff is one of those lovely “build-up” intro I heard in a long time. That stuck in my head for one whole day- my brain had recorded the riff and put it in repeat. The drummer of this band is one of those guys that remind you throughout the song that it is because of him alone that the song sounds awesome. All the riffs and screaming would amount to nothing if there wasn’t this drummer doing his thing. As a guitarist it gives you a humbling thought. Matt Greiner, I salute you.

The album is a very good specimen of Modern Metal. One criticism is that 10 out of 11 songs kinda sounded similar in structure with that ever-present short pause between the Intro and the Verse adding to the monotony. Other than that, the guitarists are literal riff machines! Each song has at least 10 riffs–it leaves your head spinning as you come to terms with them.

I’m pleased that the band is coming to UK on a headlining tour. W00t! London, November ’08 here I come!

Mnemonics for Amino Acids

I was searching around for some good Mnemonics or acronyms or anything I could find to remember the 20 essential amino acids names and structures. I found an excellent article here relating the structures of all the amino acids with easy ways to remember them. I’m going to mention things I found helpful for me here.

For those amino acids having non-polar aliphatic side chains, it was suggested that GAVLIMP as a good acronymn. For pronounciations sake it could be like:

G= Glycine

A= Alanine

Va= Valine

L= Leucine

I= Isoleucine

M= Methionine

P= Proline

Put it together, it comes to GAVa-LIMP. Thing is, the structures of the amino acids increase in complexity as you go from Glycine to Proline with Glycine having a hydrogen atom for the “R”- group while Proline has a sort of “penta-cyclic” side chain. Another way I remember this is swapping the first letters of the GAVa and LIMP to give LAVa-GIMP. Those of you that use Linux, will know that GIMP is a famous photo editing cum drawing program. So I picture the programs mascot, Wilber glowing with lava/fire!

Josh Myers Band Rocks!

This has got to be one of the little Jem that I discovered in music this year. My personal music collection was a little low on Instrumental Music, so I was searching around and found the Josh Myers Band. After looking at some videos of the band at YouTube, I ordered their album Soul Serenade Sessions.

Put it in my home theatre and was treated to an hour of inspiring and beautiful music. I loved the very soulful style of the lead guitarist Josh Myers. I’m one of those people who likes shredding in moderation while relying on melodies. That is exactly what one finds in Josh. This guy has inspired me quite a lot and I like to listen to this album to observe and learn how the various riffs have been put together in creating a seamless song.

The guitar tones in some of the songs made me have “Eureka” moments. In fact some of the tones represent the ideals I aspire of achieving. Let me try to describe the some things I loved in this album: