Posted by Melvin on Feb 8, 2009 in
Stormy Life Epiphone guitars have a long story. Epiphone was a family business established in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulo, a greek violin maker, as “the House of Stathopoulo”. In 1923 they incorporated and at this stage made mostly high quality and fancy banjos. In 1928 the name was changed to “Epiphone” after Epi Stathopoulo, chairman of the company and one of the founder’s sons. In the 1930′s, the company modified its emphasis to guitars. Epiphone successfully switched to guitar production.
The C.G. Conn Company (a band instrument builder) bought Epiphone in 1953 and moved production to Philidelphia (although the labels still said New York). This was done because New York Epiphone workers were in conflict with the Stathopoulio family. Later, in 1955, the Stathopoulo family regained control, but few if any instruments were made in 1956 and 1957.
Epiphone guitars draw interest from different kinds of buyers. Someone collects older Epiphones as vintage guitars. Others buy the newer Epiphones as habitual playing and performance guitars, whether they find them new or used. Epiphone belongs to the Gibson family of brands. Many modern Epiphone models closely track the models sold under the Gibson brand, but they are considerably less expensive. Debate rages among guitar players as to whether the price differential is justified.
Many believe that Gibson brand guitars are of higher quality, and worth higher prices. Others love their Epiphones, and wouldn’t trade them for any other guitars. Meanwhile, vintage guitar collectors prize older Epiphones partly for their historical interest.
I collect and play mostly vintage Gibson guitars and recently started purchasing Epiphones to give the Gibsons a break. I have been very amused with the new Prophecy series from Epiphone. Futuras with the EMG’s and the SG GX with the Dirty Fingers all play and sound huge. I started purchasing Dirty Fingers PUP’s two years ago to replace standard Epiphone PUP’s in my other Epiphones when they first became available from Gibson. I’m very happy. Epiphone had the same idea and made this an easy purchase without my having to reconfigure the electronics. All I can say is if you get a chance to get a Epiphone Prophecy series guitar, buy it while they are still available. They are more than worth the small investment if you are a serious musician.
As a absolutely fan of Gibson guitars it very likely doesn’t surprise you that there are a lot of Epiphone guitars that I would buy and that I have recommended to other people. Epiphone’s are great for people who enjoy the look and feel of a Gibson, especially the Les Paul style guitars, but who’s budget doesn’t allow the luxury of a Gibson. Obviously if anyone thinks to compare the Epiphone Les Paul with a Gibson Les Paul, he has unrealistic expectations. But having said that, most Epiphones sound pretty well with some new strings and a set up. If you invest a few more dollars into a new set up pickups, you can really get some fantastic sounds that would be more than appropriate for a live application.
The Epiphone Les Pauls aren’t the only guitars that Epiphone makes. Their hollowbody and semi hollow body guitars are indeed great instruments and have tremendous value in terms of the quality of tone versus the price that you pay. And most of the Epiphone hollowbodys I have ever played play excellent right out of the box. Again you will very likely want to take it to your local guitar shop and get it set up with some new strings and maybe new pickups for the truely ambitious that want to customize their sound. But if you do that, you will have a great sounding guitar for a very affordable price and you don’t have to buy new pickups or get a set up as part of your initial cost so it makes it that much more affordable. If you love Gibsons but can’t really make that kind of financial committment for a guitar, I recommend trying an Epiphone and see how you like it. I think you will be intensely enthusiastic.
The Epiphone Tony Iommi Signature G-400 Electric Guitar is what you want for heavy hitting sound. Classic SG attitude is enhanced with black chrome hardware, mother-of-pearl cross fingerboard inlays and, on the solid mahogany body, a matching black finish. The Gibson USA Tony Iommi pickups put out the firepower required for maximum destruction and the slim-tapered mahogany neck is fast. Epiphone guitars can be a big surprise!
Starting from 1873, Epiphone instruments have been proudly played and endorsed by professional musicians. And while every Epiphone is the result of over 126 years of experience working directly with musicians, only a few embody a single artists individual creativity and spirit. The Epiphone Signature Collection guitars are as mythical and as individual as the artists themselves. The Les Paul guitar is equivalent of Rock and Roll. No other guitar is so powerful and and gives you the sustain and the sound of a Les Paul. If its got Les Pauls signature on the headstock, its the real thing… Don’t accept substitutes!
Posted by Melvin on Feb 8, 2009 in
Stormy Life David Ingram of CEN-TA Tax writes that Glen Kelleway is one of the few Metro-Vancouver mortgage brokers who truly understand the principle of making your residential mortgage interest tax deductible. Tax deductable mortgage interest is becoming a common way for residential property owners to benefit from the Canadian Tax laws.
Savvy financial advisors have been designing tax-deductible mortgages for their clients for years. Essentially you restructure your mortgage to do three things: save on your interest dollars; pay down your mortgage debt more quickly, and build a handsome retirement portfolio along the way; all without increasing your total debt load. It’s a different way to look at a residential mortgage, one that makes Canadian tax laws work for you.
You see, Canadian tax laws allow the deduction of interest on loans made for qualified investment purposes. With careful planning, you can convert your non-deductible mortgage debt into tax-deductible investment debt. The interest on the amount you borrow to invest now becomes tax deductible, possibly triggering a tax refund. The more principal you pay on your mortgage and then re-borrow to invest, the bigger your tax deductions.
Kelleway Mortgage Architects can help you set this up with either a re-advanceable mortgage or home equity line of credit. You simply convert your mortgage into one of these products. It’s legal, it’s perfectly sound and it’s smart.
Glen Kelleway at Kelleway Mortgage Architects can help you get started on making this strategy part of your mortgage plan. Located in Maple Ridge, he serves clients throughout British Columbia, Canada.
Posted by Melvin on Feb 8, 2009 in
Stormy Life Photovoltaic cells are tiny black squares placed on an array known as a solar panel to produce energy from the sun. They are much smaller in size compared to what was offered a few years back, hence it is possible to produce them for less. The price of solar power energy has reached the price of per hour per watt. Just 17 years ago, the price was double what it is today.
Our environment is greatly benefited by the solar powered electricity generation. Solar energy, an alternative source of energy, has no lethal emissions to pump into the environment and it uses one of the freest natural sources available for its production. Today, solar cells are abundantly found on the rooftops of people’s homes. They are not a difficult system to use for heating one’s home, creating hot water, or producing electricity. In the case of using the photovoltaic cells for hot water generation, the system works by having the water encased in the cells, where it is heated and then sent through your pipes.
Most of the solar attic fans on the market today will keep your home cooler in the summer. you should visit e solar attic fans for more information about solar attic fans.
Today, photovoltaic cells have become efficient enough to accumulate heat from the sun even when the weather is cloudy or stormy. It manages this by designing the solar cells to absorb and store more energy on bright sunlit days so that this can be used when the weather is not favorable.
Another system that can be used for using solar power is known as the PV system. A connection is made of the PV system to the nearest grid of electricity and when a particular home produces more energy using the solar cell, this excess energy is sent off to the grid so now the grid will use this energy for electricity production. These PV systems are good solutions for you to save on costs while at the same time, they allow you to use an environment-friendly source of energy and allow the grid to work under less stressful conditions. Some regions are engineering centralized solar gathering arrays in order to answer the needs of the particular geographical area.
Worldwide, there has been an active interest among large scale corporations to enter into the arena of solar power generation and among other things, it shows how feasible this concept is. 6 megawatt system on the roof of its corporate headquarters and soon, Wal-Mart is going to add a 100 megawatt plant of its own.
Many of the worlds nations have been furthering the cause of solar energy production by providing government subsidies or by giving tax breaks to companies and individuals who agree to utilize solar power for generating their heat or electrical power. It is highly possible that private players will join into this fray soon because of the new technologies being designed to trap more and more of the solar energy in effective ways.
Posted by Melvin on Feb 8, 2009 in
Stormy Life Usually the very first upgrade anyone considers making to their OEM car sound system is to add a subwoofer. It really isn’t surprising since OEM speakers are simply too small and not of sufficient quality to accurately produce low bass frequencies. Subwoofers provide the most immediate improvement one can make to a car audio sound system. Consequently one of the most frequently asked questions is: “How do I select a subwoofer?”
Actually, your selection will depend on several factors such as your personal preferences in music, your budget and available space in your vehicle. The amount of space you have to dedicate to your subwoofer’s enclosure should be the first thing you consider. In the majority of cases, this decision narrows the field very quickly. But what if space is no problem?
Subwoofers range in size from 6” to 18” in diameter. Most are round in shape but in recent years the new square shapes are becoming more and more popular. Materials used in the speaker cones can be made of treated paper, light metals such as aluminum and even various types of composites. Paper cone subwoofers tend to sound the most natural and true to life but paper is the least durable. Aluminum Cone woofers were one of the best materials to use for quick, tight bass response (sound quality applications-SQ) because they produced very low frequencies in small sealed boxes. There are some very good musical subwoofers today that offer excellent sound quality while also presenting exceptional SPL (Sound Pressure Level – An acoustic measurement of sound energy, typically expressed in dB-SPL).
I could go on but if you are considering buying a subwoofer for your vehicle, I strongly suggest you click thru and pick up some tips to make decision making a bit easier.
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