
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

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

No rig, no problem! This website lets guitarists design amps and effects tones by text prompt
By Jonathan Horsley published
“How'd you get that great tone?” “Oh, I found it on a website... And it was free to use”

Budget gear giant Harley Benton goes high-end for BassTheWorld signature bass
By Jonathan Horsley published
With Kloppman pickups, CTS pots, Gotoh hardware and premium tonewoods, this MV-4JB Plus an upscale J-style to challenge our preconceptions of Harley Benton as just an entry level brand

Eric Johnson on the $400,000 rig he hardly played, the Dumble that got away, and his masterplan for setting his playing free
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Texan virtuoso discusses inspirations from jazz greats, admits he was too busy practising to join a band, and tells us what we can expect from his career-spanning Texaphonic Tour

Yamaha expands TransAcoustic lineup with more guitars that look like regular acoustics but are anything but
By Jonathan Horsley published
Yup, more second-gen acoustics in concert, dreadnought sizes, with and without cutaways, and with Yamaha's clever onboard tech as standard

One of our favourite Les Pauls just got more affordable as Gibson gives the Double Trouble the Studio treatment
By Jonathan Horsley published
Okay, so you lose the body binding and the case is soft, but the Double Trouble Studio has Ultra Modern weight relief, push/pull coil-taps, and there is a considerable saving to be had

Gretsch's exquisite, limited run Penguin and Falcon are a pair of fine-feathered guitars to crow about
By Jonathan Horsley published
There is something about that metallic Emerald Night finish and gold hardware that screams "take all our money now"

Epiphone’s Futura Series reimagines Gibson classics with Chromashift finishes, ProBucker Ignite 'buckers and stainless steel frets
By Jonathan Horsley published
Unveiled at NAMM 2026, the unashamedly bold Futura Series comes replete with a host of player-friendly updates, including compound radius fingerboards and expanded electronics

How Allan Holdsworth blew Eddie Van Halen's mind and took guitar to a higher plane
By Jonathan Horsley published
We unpack the brilliance of jazz-fusion trailblazer Allan Holdsworth, with some help from Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, Paul Gilbert and Eddie Van Halen

“We set out to capture the defining moments that shaped Fender’s legacy”: Fender unveils the Vintera III series
By Jonathan Horsley published
The third generation of Fender's vintage-inspired lineup is all about the specs

UK amp pioneer Lyndon Laney has died, aged 77
By Jonathan Horsley published
Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi leads tributes to the founder of Laney Amplification, whose tube amps give helped birth heavy metal – and who also had a connection with Led Zeppelin, too

Robben Ford on rearranging John Lennon, iconic collaborations and paying tribute to the great Jeff Beck and amp guru Alexander Dumble
By Jonathan Horsley published
Two Shades Of Blues was conceived as a tribute to Beck and Ford's favourite amp builder, and it finds him exploring the Strat and making his own weather with his Overdrive Special

Could your next amp be Kurt Cobain’s stage-played Fender Twin? Nirvana’s Bleach-era touring backline goes up for sale
By Jonathan Horsley published
Black and silver panel Fender Twins loaded with JBL speakers – bring yer own Boss DS-1 and you're good to go...

“We are about to do something insane”: Guitar Center is launching its own guitar brand “from the ground up”
By Jonathan Horsley published
CEO Gabe Dalporto wants to build a “a revolutionary guitar” and would like you to slide into his sub-Reddit with some ideas

Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian has made a stunning custom Explorer – and Billy Gibbons is playing it onstage with ZZ Top
By Jonathan Horsley published
And the Gibson CEO also given us a sneak peak of the forthcoming DES lineup in the shape of a Ghost Burst SG?

Myles Kennedy on what it was like to play Jeff Buckley’s Telecaster – and how he felt unworthy to play it
By Jonathan Horsley published
Kennedy saluted one of his all-time heroes in 2019 when he performed Hallelujah live in Paris, and it was the first time Buckley's Tele had been played in public since his death in '97

Eric Johnson on why pick choice and picking style are fundamental to your playing – and how his favourite jazz player got his sound by using his thumb
By Jonathan Horsley published
Your guitar pick, the material it's made from and how you use it are "the beginning of the whole thing," says the Texan virtuoso
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