
Jonathan Horsley
Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.
Latest articles by Jonathan Horsley

MusicRadar’s July 2026 guitar gear roundup: featuring Orange Amps, Harley Benton, Epiphone and more
By Jonathan Horsley Published
Featuring hot new gear from Harley Benton, Epiphone, Bad Cat, Shergold, IK Multimedia, Mooer Audio, Gibson and more
![Mastodon pictured after performing on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2021 [L-R]: Brent Hinds, Troy Sanders, Brann Dailor, and Bill Kelliher.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5d46orkU4UrvRjSNCGXbBk-320-80.jpg)
Mastodon's Brann Dailor and Troy Sanders on their complicated relationship with the late Brent Hinds
By Jonathan Horsley Published
On new album Marrow Deep, the prog-metal behemoths pay tribute to their former guitarist who died last year

When Jimi Hendrix’s tech had to play his guitar after a wardrobe malfunction
By Jonathan Horsley Published
It was the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, one of the biggest gigs in Hendrix lore, when a trouser emergency struck

Hear Tony Iommi's new single World Alone as the Black Sabbath icon announces his solo album
By Jonathan Horsley Published
From The Dark will be released on October 23 and features Jorn Lande on vocals. Riffs guaranteed or your money back

Harley Benton is making hand-aged relic'd guitars for under 250 bucks
By Jonathan Horsley Published
Hitherto the preserve of custom shop and boutique makers, the German budget gear company is bringing us vintage mojo on the cheap – and there are five models to choose from
![Kirk Hammett plays a Jackson Rhoads [left]; Peter Green with the Les Paul that Hammett would eventually own.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qsoK48Bsg4aG2JX4jHeZhR-320-80.jpg)
“That song has so much voodoo in it”: Kirk Hammett on the Fleetwood Mac classic that defines heavy music
By Jonathan Horsley Published
The Metallica guitarist says he is in awe of The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown) and explains why metal owes a huge debt to the late Peter Green

Introducing Textures, the granular synth pedal from MXR that dreamy ambient tones are made of
By Jonathan Horsley Published
Textures could not be any more on trend for guitarists making soundscapes, film scores, or creating noise-rock chaos

Gretsch puts high-gain sounds on the menu as it adds the $249 CVT to entry-level Streamliner series
By Jonathan Horsley Published
The CVT is fast becoming a modern classic in the Gretsch catalogue and with high-output humbuckers it players with some serious firepower at an unserious price

Jim Adkins and Zach Lind on the making of Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American
By Jonathan Horsley Published
They had no label, no management and the money was running out, but they had the songs, and a hit that would catch the ear of Taylor Swift, Prince and the rest of the world

Sophie Lloyd pays tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne with a shred cover of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid
By Jonathan Horsley Published
The Machine Gun Kelly guitarist and YouTube superstar marks the first anniversary of Ozzy's death by giving a Sabbath classic the full-shred treatment

Jay Weinberg on the Bruce Springsteen test that left him “deathly afraid” when sitting in with the E Street Band
By Jonathan Horsley Published
It's one of the great rock stories. E Street Drummer Max Weinberg couldn't make a Springsteen tour. His teenage son replaces him

Harley Benton throws a big ol' T party and you are all invited, as it debuts the Fusion-T II series
By Jonathan Horsley Published
High-performance builds, roasted flame maple necks as standard, the choice of Tesla humbuckers or EMGs, and Babicz hardtail bridges or 2-point tremolos... It's all going on

Remembering Wayne Charvel, visionary luthier and Superstrat pioneer
By Jonathan Horsley Published
The Charvel founder and legendary custom builder for guitar's biggest names has died, aged 85

Dirty Boy teams up with Warm Audio for affordable versions of its boutique stompbox classics
By Jonathan Horsley Published
The Junior Series presents Dirty Boy fuzz, overdrive and boost circuits in a compact stompbox, priced just 169 bucks

Pete Townshend on how Stevie Wonder's producer inspired him to smash guitars
By Jonathan Horsley Published
We revisit the pivotal moment when the young Who guitarist watched Malcolm Cecil take a saw to a bass guitar

How cult heroes Acid Bath rose from the ashes to open stadium shows for System Of A Down
By Jonathan Horsley Published
Sammy Duet on the chaos of the sludge metal pioneers' early days and how the unlikely triumph of their second act is a fitting tribute to late bassist and co-founder Audie Pitre

“The final boss of the lost Dual Op-Amp circuit”: Electro-Harmonix unveils Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2
By Jonathan Horsley Published
This alternate take on the Muff fuzz sound now comes supercharged with enough features to make you consider an upgrade

NPR just posted its most brutal Tiny Desk Concert ever as Napalm Death bring grind chaos to the office
By Jonathan Horsley Published
Taylor Swift, U2, Dua Lipa... the UK grind pioneers join exalted company as they give NPR a performance for the ages

Now Fender hits Yamaha with a cease-and-desist as it widens legal campaign over Stratocaster copyright
By Jonathan Horsley Published
The legal battle over the design of S-style guitars takes a Goliath vs Goliath turn...

Gibson unveils Custom Shop reissue of a Michael Schenker and Kirk Hammett favourite
By Jonathan Horsley Published
They only made 350 of them back in the day but the 1971 Flying Medallion takes flight once more with a stunning VOS reissue

Queens Of The Stone Age drop a brand new single out of nowhere and it features Nikki Lane on vocals
By Jonathan Horsley Published
Easy Street is the band's first new track since 2023's Times New Roman

Blackstar shrinks Doug Aldrich’s fire-breathing tube head into a compact 5-watt combo
By Jonathan Horsley Published
Meet the DA5 Ruby, the house-trained version of Aldrich's 100-watter, with the same super-hot tone

Periphery's Jake Bowen unveiled as a Strandberg artist – when will we see a signature model?
By Jonathan Horsley Published
The Periphery guitarist had been playing various Strandbergs of late, and now joins Plini, Per Nilsson and Jacob Collier on the artist roster
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