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
Linkin Park reunite, announce new lineup, live dates and album, livestream a show and share a single
By Jonathan Horsley published
That's a lot of stuff happening in one day but that's the music business for you, Colin Brittain joins on drums while Emily Armstrong of Dead Sara will front the band
Epiphone’s latest Gibson Custom Shop collab is the stunning Jimi Hendrix ‘Love Drops’ Flying V
By Jonathan Horsley published
This Inspired by Gibson Custom series Epiphone is equipped with Custombuckers and is a thing of beauty, based on Hendrix’s hand-painted Flying V of the late ‘60s
Seymour Duncan and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons team up for blazing new Tele and Les Paul pickups
By Jonathan Horsley published
There's a hotter-than-hell Hades humbucker set to soup-up your own Pearly Gates at home, and the Red Devil single-coil sized 'bucker for dropping into your Tele's bridge position
Harley Benton launches the DNAfx GiT Core – 55 amps, 151 effects, 80s looper and more for under $99
By Jonathan Horsley published
The latest amp modeller from the budget gear specialist promises realistic tube amp emulations, and is packed with 21st-century features
Jared James Nichols unearths another storm-ravaged Les Paul and it has a heck of a story to tell
By Jonathan Horsley published
Nichols has a lot of work to do to make this 1975 Les Paul Custom road-worthy but early signs are it will sound amazing and give him another vintage guitar with a legendary back story
“Competition is for sports”: Yngwie Malmsteen has an important message for anyone who plays guitar
By Jonathan Horsley published
The neoclassical shred virtuoso says leave competition to the athletes…
Gibson gives its SJ-200 and J-45 acoustics an exclusive (and exquisite) Blueberry Burst makeover
By Jonathan Horsley published
The King of the Flat-Tops wears Blueberry Burst well but you will only find it and its workhouse sibling direct from Gibson
Xotic Effects unveils the XW-2 – a wah with the wow factor and “beyond vintage” tones
By Jonathan Horsley published
It's metallic blue, smaller than your average wah, and a provider of talky, musical wah with a bit more oomph in the low-end
Lava Music’s carbon fibre smart acoustic just got a lot slimmer with the “ultra-thin” ME AIR
By Jonathan Horsley published
Measuring just 7.5cm deep, with a simplified control setup for its onboard effects, the Lava Music Ultra-Thin ME Air is even more lightweight and player-friendly
“Pure, unfiltered Dimebag tone”: Dimebag Darrell’s Warhead brand relaunched with high-gain mini-amp
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Warhead mini-amp channels Dimebag's signature Randall for a compact, solid-state vulgar display of power that promises “pure, unfiltered Dimebag tone”
Jon Gomm unveils new Ibanez signature model and it is a state-of-the-art high-performance acoustic
By Jonathan Horsley published
With Gomm's signature triple-source Fishman electronics, locking banjo tuners and Passionflower inlay, is this to the acoustic guitar what Steve Vai's JEM was to the electric?
Watch Nathaniel Murphy play a virtuoso solo Led Zeppelin cover on a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard
By Jonathan Horsley published
The guitar has since been sold so it might be the Murphy Lab for you if you're after that Burst vibe. In the meantime, here's the Murphy lad showing a holy grail electric guitar No Quarter
St Vincent reveals how a gift from Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready changed her mind about the Fender Stratocaster
By Jonathan Horsley published
Who couldn’t love a Strat? Well, according to St Vincent, there’s the weight of pop-cultural history and that can be hard to bear
“The essence of my tone in a portable, versatile amp”: Engl unveils Steve Morse signature tube head
By Jonathan Horsley published
This twin channel head is powered by a pair of EL84s, has switchable power, MIDI, and an onboard noise gate – and it's blue to match Morse's signature guitars
Third Man Hardware and Anasounds unveil La Grotte, a Jack White reverb pedal with a 3-spring tank
By Jonathan Horsley published
Make that three springs. That's right, inspired by Anasounds' Element, White's gear division and Anasounds have cooked up an epic three-spring reverb with an extra long decay
How Skunk Baxter grabbed a six-pack, a $35 guitar and tracked Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff in one take
By Jonathan Horsley published
First-call session ace Jeff “Skunk” Baxter says the opportunity to track one of disco’s greatest anthems nearly passed him by, but when it arrived it went like a flash
Martin celebrates David Crosby and the democratic process with the custom art D-11E Rock The Vote
By Jonathan Horsley published
This D-11E Rock The Vote is a six-string civics lesson with an L.R. Baggs M80 soundhole pickup, a dreadnought scale but 000 depth, and artwork by artist Robert Goetzl
Chase Bliss launches its first ever signature pedal with the limited edition Billy String Wombtone
By Jonathan Horsley published
Chase Bliss brings the discontinued analogue, envelope-controlled phaser back with some special twists for the bluegrass maestro. The catch? It’s a US-only release
Matteo Mancuso shares all the secrets behind his breathtaking style in Jam Track Central masterclass
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Sicilian maestro introduces his course with a blazing solo with JTC promising everything you need to nail his fingerstyle fusion approach, with easy-to-follow exercises, solos and more
Steve Vai and Positive Grid team up for a signature Spark Mini with preloaded custom presets
By Jonathan Horsley published
Vai has hand-signed 100 of these compact powerhouses. Sign up for a preorder for a chance to buy one
MXR unveils the Layers Pedal, opening a world to adventures in hi-fi guitar sustain and more
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Layers Pedal is one of those effects you have to hear to believe, and have to try before you fully understand, but soundscape players will love it and maybe soon we all will too
Cort adds the aggressively spec’d $349 G250 to its range of super-versatile S-style electric guitars
By Jonathan Horsley published
Just $349 and you get an HSS bolt-on electric with a roasted maple neck, 2-point tremolo, and Cort's new Voiced Tone pickups with 5-way switching and coil-split
Stake a claim in the frontier of wild west guitar tone with Old Blood Noise Endeavors’ Pardner Fuzz
By Jonathan Horsley published
So, let's get this straight. It is a fuzz, with dual voicings plus an onboard effects loop that has an overdrive circuit driving it for pairing it with other pedals... Yee-haw!
Gibson salutes two American musical greats with the Rosanne Cash J-185 and Johnny Cash SJ-200
By Jonathan Horsley published
These limited edition stunners take inspiration from the custom SJ-200s that Gibson made for the Man In Black and both feature signature custom pickguards and top-tier builds
“More gain, warmth and playability”: Origin unveils Bluesbreaker-inspired Halcyon Blue Overdrive
By Jonathan Horsley published
Origin's twist on the Bluesbreaker applies its Adaptive Circuity to proceedings for a low-gain drive that changes tone in response to your playing dynamics and guitar's volume knob
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