Charlie Hunter is an American jazz, rock and fusion guitarist. He grew up in Berkeley, California, where he graduated from Berkeley High School and took lessons from guitarist Joe Satriani., Hunter is best known for playing a custom, eight-string guitar made by luthier Ralph Novak of Novax Guitars. He plays the lead guitar on the top five strings (tuned ADGBe) and bass guitar (tuned EAD) on the bottom three strings simultaneously. With the addition of a Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere (a Leslie rotary speaker simulator), his unique style produces a sound similar to that of a Hammond organ -- an instrument he set out to imitate.