Articles by Joe Charupakorn
Sarah Longfield: Tapper’s Delight
February 19, 2019
An emerging guitar star brings two-handed tapping into a brave new world of melody and texture. And yes, she shreds, too.
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Is Erik Rutan Death Metal’s Renaissance Man?
February 7, 2019
With ultra-high action, a scalding tone, a jackhammer rhythm hand, classical melody and dynamics, and mad production skills, the guitarist scales his personal “Mount Everest.”
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Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200 Review
February 7, 2019
Solid-state circuitry makes this programmable powerhouse light, and super-flexible, too.
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Caparison Horus-M3 CC Review
December 24, 2018
Courtney Cox’s signature shred machine extracts shreddy versatility from a streamlined control set.
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MXR EVH 5150 Chorus Review
November 26, 2018
Eddie’s chorus pedal is full of idiosyncrasies and interesting tonal surprises.
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Revv G3 Review
August 30, 2018
Metal-melting high-gain tones are the tip of the iceberg in Revv’s purple amp-inspired monster stomp.
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Seymour Duncan Silver Lake Review
August 28, 2018
Dynamic response makes a dynamite reverb.
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Fantastic Negrito: The Real Punk Blues
August 16, 2018
With a right hand he calls “the Claw” and a pawnshop guitar jones, this blues-fueled 2017 Grammy-winner sticks to basic riffs and the truth on his second album, Please Don’t Be Dead.
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EVH 5150III 1x12 50W 6L6 Combo Review
July 10, 2018
Improvements to this 6L6 combo mean tone variation and versatility that transcend Van Halen sound templates.
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Orange Brent Hinds Terror Review
May 14, 2018
The Mastodon mayhem lord’s signature amp dishes killer clean tones as readily as filthy ones.
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Subdecay Vector Review
April 6, 2018
Analog dirt tones and digital control equal a crunchy to fuzzy to metallic distortion jack-of-all-trades.
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Hagstrom Fantomen Review
February 7, 2018
A legendary Swedish axe maker teams with Swedish metal merchants Ghost to deliver a thunderous and surprisingly adaptable solidbody.
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Epiphone Les Paul SL Review
December 22, 2017
Epi’s bargain-basement solidbody is full of surprises and inspiration.
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Mike Stern: Spirit Is Everything
December 7, 2017
After an unfortunate fall left him with two broken arms and a mangled right hand, the jazz-guitar maestro got up and turned his bad trip into an uplifting new album.
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Quick Hit: Mayones Hydra Elite
November 19, 2017
A headless Hydra? Yep! And with tones that kill.
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HeadRush Pedalboard Review
October 11, 2017
Intuitive design sets this impressive, powerful multi-effects unit apart from the pack.
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Henretta H-Bomb Trembrato Review
September 14, 2017
Vintage-hued analog modulations are married in an elegant and easy-to-use stomp.
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Meris Mercury 7 Review
September 3, 2017
An elegant ambient reverb machine with powerful sound-shaping capabilities.
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Seymour Duncan Andromeda Review
August 26, 2017
A deep and dynamic delay that’s an instrument as much as an effect.
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