
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

The most mighty mini amp modelling pedal just got mightier as IK Multimedia offers full MIDI integration and wireless editing on the Tonex One+
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Tonex One+ offers top-class sounds and is just as small as its predecessor – only now you have a lot more control over it

Meet the $99 stompbox that’ll crush your bits – JHS expands its affordable 3 Series with three exotic effects for your pedalboard
By Jonathan Horsley published
JHS Pedals unveils a ring modulator, glitch delay and bit crusher that's priced for beginners, because an affordable pedal can be fun and a little weird too

Eddie Van Halen-approved baked maple necks? Check. Flagship pickups? Check. EVH Gear unveils stunning refresh of the Wolfgang Special
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Wolfgang Special Baked Maple is offered with a Floyd or a fully adjustable EVH compensated bridge with fine-tuners. In other EVH news, a 5150III 6L6 2x12 has been added to the Hypersonic series

“So yes, it’s official: I’ve made the move”: Jared James Nichols switches to Marshall amps
By Jonathan Horsley published
The purveyor of Blues Power says his heart belongs to the sound of a cranked Plexi and Gibson guitars
![Sterling By Music Man Joe Dart Collection, ft. the Joe Dart I [left] and the Joe Dart Vision – the bass with no controls](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/T84T8dqzsnoPcjxdf6JAdJ-320-80.jpg)
No knobs? No problem – Sterling By Music Man takes bass guitar design minimalism to its logical conclusion with the super-cool Joe Dart Vision
By Jonathan Horsley published
The new Joe Dart signature bass has one pickup, no controls whatsoever, and it is available now in a timed release alongside his original SBMM bass. Order by end of May or miss out

You’ve seen Fender’s Godzilla Strat, now here the comes the pedal – and it’s a monster op-amp distortion with city-levelling tone (and a seriously cool graphic finish)
By Jonathan Horsley published
This limited edition collab features a wraparound graphic finish, a powerful distortion circuit, with an internal trimmer to adjust the mids

A sub-$600 shred machine with active EMGs and roasted flame maple neck? Harley Benton expands its Pro Series with 41 hot-rodded but affordable S-styles
By Jonathan Horsley published
With EMG pickups, locking tuners, roasted figured maple necks and Floyd Rose 1000 Series vibratos, Harley Benton is offering Champagne specs at beer prices again

Julian Lage wants to teach you guitar! The jazz virtuoso announces multi-day masterclass “diving deeply into everything” guitar
By Jonathan Horsley published
Inspired by those who taught him, Lage's first ever multi-day masterclass takes place on 19 to 23 August at the Wilson Center, in Brookfield, Wisconsin

With AI stem separation, component-level modelling, and access to 200,000+ neural captures, Blackstar's Beam Mini “redefines” the desktop amp
By Jonathan Horsley published
Introduced at NAMM 2026, the Beam Mini ups the ante for the digital practice amp, giving players access to AI-driven practice tools, Tone3000 NAM captures and top-class modelled sounds

Jake Kiszka on the time he went shopping for the world’s most expensive guitar amp in Japan
By Jonathan Horsley published
And it was then when the Greta Van Fleet guitarist realised that the über-rare holy grail tube amp was still a little steep for his liking...

Why an underground hero is calling time on one of 21st-century metal's greatest bands
By Jonathan Horsley published
Spirit Adrift released their sixth and final album, Infinite Illunination, and frontman/guitarist Nate Garrett says there is no going back for the heavy-doom champs

Crazy Tube Circuits’ Triptychon might just be the only pedal you need for classic rock
By Jonathan Horsley published
CTC delivers another super-ambitious build that looks very much like a shut-up-and-take-my-money stompbox for any player weaned on LedZep, Cream, Sabbath et al

Neural DSP unveils the Darkglass Ultimate plugin – a fully featured digital platform for studio-quality bass tone
By Jonathan Horsley published
Darkglass Ultimate expands upon the Ultra dual-preamp plugin with effects, cabs, full signal chain control and more – and it's a free update for Darkglass Ultra users

Harley Benton drops a sub-$250 baritone that proves you can do low tunings at low prices – and stay fashionably offset
By Jonathan Horsley published
Once upon a time a baritone offset was exclusive, a super-niche instrument that'd cost you, but the entry level JA-Baritone HH BK changes all that

Sadler Vaden on when he and Jason Isbell jammed Little Wing with Pearl Jam's Mike McCready
By Jonathan Horsley published
Vaden and Isbell were playing the Paramount in Jimi Hendrix's hometown Seattle when they invited another local legend onstage to join them. A top-tier performance ensues

Fender releases the Brian Fallon ’59 Telecaster Custom, a high-end replica of the guitar that built the Gaslight Anthem sound
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Brian Fallon '59 Telecaster Custom has Righteous Sound “Fourth Man” pickups, Dual Stack wiring, a Journeyman Relic finish and an eye-watering price tag
![Oliver Ackermann [left] playing on a red-lit stage and Richard Fortus playing his White Falcon live with Guns N' Roses](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/CcjY3C3kpgNSN94DKEHuGX-320-80.jpg)
Death By Audio’s Oliver Ackermann on the time he sold a pedal to Richard Fortus and disaster struck
By Jonathan Horsley published
Oliver Ackermann is great at making guitar effects – less so at parking

How Greta Van Fleet's Jake Kiszka met the Beloved – the ’61 SG Les Paul that became his talisman
By Jonathan Horsley published
With Gibson releasing a signature model inspired by his SG, Kiszka explains how he found his dream guitar – and admits he is a dangerous man to take guitar shopping

Gibson unveils signature SG for Greta Van Fleet’s Jake Kiszka
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Greta Van Fleet guitarist's signature SG is based on his battle-scarred '61 Les Paul SG and comes with an extra backplate signed and stamped by Kiszka

Martin marks Earth Day with a custom graphic 00L Biosphere IV acoustic in the name of penguin preservation
By Jonathan Horsley published
This stunning slope-shouldered 00-14 features artwork from Robert Goetzl, an FSC-certified build, and recognises a universal truth that the world is infinitely better with penguins in it

“Forged from the fires of Hell and made for players ready to take on the Lord of Hatred”: Calling all role-playing dungeon crawlers, Jackson has the unholy Diablo collab you’ve been waiting for
By Jonathan Horsley published
Jackson unveils a graphic finish Kelly to frighten the neighbours and celebrate the arrive of the Diablo IV: Lord Of Hatred videogame

FAO Jimi Hendrix fans, Strymon expands analogue range with the vintage Fuzz Face-inspired Canoga
By Jonathan Horsley published
What began a decade ago as an afternoon project of Strymon CEO Gregg Stock becomes only the brand's second ever analogue pedal

The tone-sweetener your rig has been waiting for? Walrus Audio's Highpoint is one serious compressor pedal
By Jonathan Horsley published
Studio-quality analogue optical compression and it has console-style VU meter LED lights on the front

“I was just a new guy, probably number nine on the list”: Larry Carlton on his nerve-shredding debut session with Quincy Jones – and the time he was called to play guitar on a Michael Jackson smash-hit
By Jonathan Horsley published
Carlton's experiences are a great example of why a session player has to be ready for anything
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