A-Punk
Vampire Weekend · Vampire Weekend · 2008
The A-Punk hook is a nearly clean, very bright single-note line — a semi-hollow bridge pickup into a small Fender Deluxe combo with the treble well up and the bass pulled back. Rostam Batmanglij, who produced and engineered the DIY debut, has said Fender Deluxe amps handled the guitars on the first two albums; the guitar itself isn't confirmed track by track, but Ezra Koenig's natural-finish Epiphone Sheraton II was his main electric in 2007–08. One gear database identifies the guitar in the A-Punk music video as an Epiphone Supernova in Manchester blue, which is a video prop-level claim, not a session credit.
Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record
Tuning
Standard tuning, no capo
The record sits at concert pitch in standard tuning; the hook is a single-note line on the top two strings up around the 9th–12th frets, and a second guitar doubles the chorus figure.
Guitar
- Epiphone Sheraton II · Epiphone mini-humbuckers · bridge pickup
Amp
Fender Deluxe combo
Producer Rostam Batmanglij has said Fender Deluxe amps were the main guitar amplification on the first two Vampire Weekend albums, but he never named which Deluxe; a Deluxe Reverb-style control set has no mid or presence, so on an amp that has them park mids near 5–6 and presence low. Keep the volume just under breakup — the riff stays clean with only a hint of grit when you dig in.
Tone character
bright jangle · thin and wiry · clean with slight breakup · trebly attack · tight, light low end · short room reverb
The riff is a fast single-note melody high on the top strings that needs even alternate picking and clean position shifts at tempo — no chords, but the speed exposes any sloppy note separation.
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