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Articles by: Darran Charles

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PRS SE Mark Holcomb

By Darran Charles

  • £899
  • €966
  • $899

Periphery man gets a more affordable signature model

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Washburn PX-Solar160

By Darran Charles

  • £579
  • $699

A potent blast of Solar power

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Victory VX The Kraken

By Darran Charles

  • £829

A true djent

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Vintage V6M24

By Darran Charles

  • £219

Time to warm up the spandex…

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JST Toneforge Menace

By Darran Charles

  • $65

A plug-in for the metal connoisseur

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Charvel USA Custom Shop RTM San Dimas 1H

By Darran Charles

  • £1399
  • $1125

A lean, green shred machine with Californian custom shop credentials – and a 1980s price

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Schecter Keith Merrow KM-7

By Darran Charles

  • £1029
  • €1299
  • $1449

A healthy dollop of prog from Schecter

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Schecter Hellraiser Hybrid Tempest

By Darran Charles

  • £869
  • €1269
  • $1299

More metal goodness from Schecter

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Caparison Angelus M3B

By Darran Charles

  • £1875

A re-spec'd rocker

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Caparison Dellinger Prominence

By Darran Charles

  • £1995

Caparison's take on contemporary rock guitars is a blast of fresh air – but will we be blown away?

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Guthrie Govan on The Aristocrats' new album Tres Caballeros

By Darran Charles

The gifted guitarist speaks

The finish may not appeal to the more discerning metal player, but the combination of body woods results in an inspiring tone,

Schecter Banshee Elite-6

By Darran Charles

  • £939
  • €1279
  • $1449

The Banshee gives birth to a shred-worthy offspring

Vigier refuses to toe the line with fashion or convention: a '59 LP replica this isn't

Vigier GV Rock

By Darran Charles

  • £2169
  • €2745
  • $3999

A sharp-edged, slick-playing single-cut

You may be taken aback by the space-age appearance - but there's method behind the madness

Strandberg Boden 8

By Darran Charles

  • $3350

Mind-expanding eight-string electric

The hot-rodded S-type has been with us for many a decade - but make no mistake, this is a thoroughbred

Suhr Classic Pro

By Darran Charles

  • £1799
  • €2290
  • $2850

A double-cut with more to it than meets the eye

The Super Swede's influence is obvious, so as you'd expect, it has a mahogany body, maple top and set mahogany neck

Hagstrom Super Swede EMG

By Darran Charles

  • £799
  • €1359

The darker side of Sweden

The hearts and flowers inlays are modelled on those found on Gibson's Les Paul Artisan

Epiphone Ltd Ed Lee Malia Les Paul Custom

By Darran Charles

  • £599
  • €699
  • $1332

Bling me the horizon with this kitted-out LP

With its 80s double-cut shred appearance, the M3 MJR is a faithful nod to the Caparison team's past

Caparison Dellinger-M3 MJR

By Darran Charles

  • £2299
  • €2899
  • $3049

A high-end shred machine

Black chrome hardware gives the guitar a boutique appearance without betraying its metal roots

Caparison C2 ANG-QE

By Darran Charles

  • £1099

A stripped down 'pro' axe

The Seymour Duncan TB-6 provides all the grit necessary for even the most brutal of metal sounds

Washburn Parallaxe PXS29FRTBBM

By Darran Charles

  • £929
  • $1624

A 29-fret metal monster guitar

There's only one pickup, but fortunately it's the versatile Seymour Duncan JB

Kramer Baretta Vintage

By Darran Charles

  • £519
  • €589
  • $1165

A welcome blast from guitar's past

Active EMGs combined with the BW-1's semi-hollow construction provide surprisingly rich and varied tones

LTD BW-1FM/ET

By Darran Charles

  • £1159
  • €1664
  • $1784

Ben Weinman's signature for all seasons

Umphrey's McGee live onstage in London

Umphrey's McGee guitarists talk Similar Skin, Frank Zappa, live improvisation

By Darran Charles

In-depth interview with Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss