Khan Manuel

Khan Manuel is a New Zealand-born Australian rock and fusion guitarist. He has played and recorded with Frank Gambale and Nuno Bettencourt, among others.

Early life

Khan Manuel was born in Southland, New Zealand. He learned to play guitar from his father at age 10. Manuel later studied at Southern Institute of Technology in Invercargill, NZ. During this time, he played in various cover bands in New Zealand. At 17, Manuel won the open Joe Satriani guitar competition held by Ibanez Australia and won a Joe Satriani signed guitar in the process.
In 2000 Manuel moved to Sydney, Australia.

Career

In 2008 his song The Knight peaked at number 1 on two charts in the U.S. and was reviewed in , Guitar World, and other guitar magazines.
In 2010 Manuel collaborated with Frank Gambale on a composition written by Manuel entitled "When Two Become One". The song was recorded in Sydney Australia and Los Angeles.

Style and equipment

Manuel is known for his sense of melody and use of counterpoint melodies. The style of Joe Satriani, Steve Vai in combination with George Benson, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Frank Gambale best describes Manuel's technique. He primarily uses Ibanez guitars with minimal foot pedals consisting only of a distortion pedal and Boss Digital Delay with a Roland Jazz Chorus amplifier. He also uses Maton acoustic guitars.