I’ve never accepted payment for reviews and I haven’t accepted free products to review. It kind of kneecaps me because I have to spend my own money to review gear.
This begs the question: “how do you make money?” The answer is easy: I don’t right now! No, I’m not independently wealthy (I wish!) but there are just too many poor quality “review” sites out there. I want Art of Shred to be different.
Will I accept gear for review? If it’s something I want to review then I’m open to it. I will be clear in any review in which I didn’t pay for the product myself, but I haven’t posted a review like that thus far. I also will not guarantee any company a good review and if I have to publish a bad review I will.
Going forward I will also use Amazon or other store affiliate links in which I might earn a commission. This doesn’t change the price of any product for you, and might earn me 1-5% commissions. If you do buy something after reading a review and clicking the link thank you so much! You’re helping fund more unbiased reviews.
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About the Editor
Hey, I’m Karol. Pronounced like Carl, not Carol. I’ve been playing guitar since the mid-90s and, although I was in a band in the early 2000s, I’ve mostly been a “bedroom player.” I grew up playing metal (Pantera, Metallica, Black Sabbath, etc.), but have expanded my horizons drastically as an adult and now listen to and play almost anything (yes, even country!).
Maybe you’re like me in that you like to make noise for the fun of it, without any expectations beyond enjoyment? Cool, Art of Shred is made for you.
Sometimes I write music and post it on Soundcloud, but usually I just like to jam although I have been getting into more focused practice lately (JamPlay has been great for learning new styles and licks).
My musical philosophy is to have fun and not take things too seriously. Make noise. Make songs. Make sounds. Whatever works for you. At the same time, I also love working on a riff over and over and over again to get it right (or as right as I can make it).
My gear philosophy is similar: I keep things simple. I don’t have a massive house or studio where I have a wall of guitars and amps so I have to be selective about what I keep. At the moment I still often play my 1994 Jackson Stealth HX, which was my first electric guitar and has served me well for all these years. That said, like a lot of musicians I sometimes suffer from GAS (gear acquisition syndrome), but I make it a point to rotate that gear via Craigslist and Reverb (and sometimes just giving it away) so I can continue to keep it simple.
About the name Art of Shred:
- It comes from the Pantera song The Art of Shredding.
- Try as I might, I can’t shred like Dime from Pantera. Some might say I can’t shred at all. 😉