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

Ernie Ball Music Man and RATM’s Tim Commerford team up for limited run signature StingRays
By Jonathan Horsley published
Commerford's latest EBMM signature collab features a pair of doozies, one active, one passive, both with adjustable thumb ramps, ash bodies and roasted maple necks
![Session guitar ace Tim Pierce wears a ballcap and poses with a Powers Electric guitar [left]; a young Jon Bon Jovi rocks Super Rock 84 on Bon Jovi's first tour of Japan. His shirt is open. His hair is big. And he has a red Fender Stratocaster slung low by his hip.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hcRVrVWpPRxr5HrsXuDAxW-320-80.jpg)
Tim Pierce on why Jon Bon Jovi was destined for superstardom, and how he nailed his Runaway solo
By Jonathan Horsley published
Sometimes rock history is settled by the fickle finger of fate. When Pierce was asked to help a young Jon Bon Jovi track his 1981 demoes, he ended up playing guitar on a Bon Jovi classic – a song that set its frontman on his way to the top

EHX's Pico 360+ is a tiny $137 looping powerhouse with 360s of recording time and unlimited overdubs
By Jonathan Horsley published
A pedalboard space saver that's packed with features, the latest in EHX's Pico Series has 11 memory slots, overdub control and adjustable fade-out

Cort digs out the solid cedar for a pair of super-tidy $369 black-top cutaway electro acoustics
By Jonathan Horsley published
The handsome cutaway dreadnought and orchestra model acoustics feature solid red cedar on top, mahogany on the back and sides, Fishman electronics – and those ivory pickguards look cool against the black tops

Watch James Hetfield lead Metallica in a swampy blues version of fuel with a Danelectro Baritone
By Jonathan Horsley published
In 2009, Hetfield told us that the Fuel era was all about loosening up and on Friday night at the Helping Hands charity gig he made good on it as Metallica reimagined Fuel, slower and lower

Mooer Audio’s GL-100 looper is its most powerful yet, offering a whopping 300mins of looping time
By Jonathan Horsley published
This dual-footswitch powerhouse has 100 memory slots, supports full stereo operation, has a count-in feature and even auto-record feature that lets you record loops without touching the pedal

Kenny Wayne Shepherd on covering Hendrix, his fistful of Dumbles and the secret to great overdrive
By Jonathan Horsley published
Shepherd's tone on Dirt On My Diamonds Vol 2 is smoking hot, reference quality blues-rock, but like any master chef, it's all about the ingredients and how you use them

Behringer unveils $69 clone of Maestro BB-1 Bass Brassmaster, a ‘70s fuzz that’d cost $2000 vintage
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Bass Brassmaster Fuzz comes hot on the heels of the Centaur Overdrive and '69 Vibe, as Behringer continues its run of megabucks vintage stompbox replicas at entry-level prices

Has Furch just made acoustic guitar setups a thing of the past with its new CNR System Active neck?
By Jonathan Horsley published
The CNR System Active is designed to make setups as easy as turning a couple of screws, and once your guitar is setup, it is engineered to stay setup

EarthQuaker Devices marks two decades in stompbox design with Hoof Fuzz 20th Anniversary Edition
By Jonathan Horsley published
EQD takes it back to the very beginning with a deluxe reissue of the fuzzbox that started it all

Reverb reveals its top selling pedals of 2024 and a compact modeller is this year's big winner
By Jonathan Horsley published
Podium finishes for top-sellers overall include three modern pedalboard classics, but are we entering an era when small format modellers are going to dominate the charts?

Producer reveals tone secrets and custom Gibson acoustics of Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan biopic
By Jonathan Horsley published
Playing Dylan onscreen is all about authenticity and as executive music producer, Baxter could count on Gibson's help to ensure Chalamet had the right tool for the job

Hey, there’s a beverage here! Tosin Abasi demos extended-range nylon-string and says its coming soon
By Jonathan Horsley published
Tosin Abasi teases nylon-string version of the Larada 7-string and promises it is coming soon. Misha Mansoor wants one. We all do

Create 90 minute loops, add effects, rhythms and layer ‘em up with Zoom's new MS-90LP+ MultiStomp
By Jonathan Horsley published
The MS-90LP+ MultiStomp has 13 hours of recording memory, flexible routing options, full stereo operation and 68 rhythm patterns to work with – and it'll quantize loops to keep you in time

TC Electronic unveils the Plethora X1 "TonePrint loader": 14 effects, one little stompbox
By Jonathan Horsley published
Collecting the greatest hits of TC Electronic in one place, the Plethora X1 is a powerful TonePrint loader with a MASH footswitch and a lot of tones

“A tool for pros who like the guitar to do the work”: Fender American Ultra II Stratocaster HSS
By Jonathan Horsley published
In refreshing its state-of-the-art US line, has Fender made the original – and the best – Superstrat?

Orianthi on her Orange amp, soloing strategies and confetti gun hazards onstage with Alice Cooper
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Australian guitarist talks amp collecting, tone chasing and soloing strategies as she wraps up her forthcoming album with Kevin Shirley

Fender unveils the Bassman effects line – 5 $119 pedalboard essentials for bassists
By Jonathan Horsley published
There's overdrive, fuzz, compression, delay and reverb, all in a road-worthy aluminium enclosure, all at an affordable $119 price point

Crazy Tube Circuit’s Heatseeker is an amp-in-box to help you nail Angus Young’s high-voltage tone
By Jonathan Horsley published
Packing three vintage Marshall-inspired modes plus a preamp enhancer inspired by the AC/DC guitarist's not-so-secret secret sauce, the Heatseeker is a formidable drive and tone shaper for rock guitar

Joe Satriani and Steve Vai's SATCHVAI Band to take Surfing with the Hydra Tour to UK/Europe in 2025
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Surfing with the Hydra Tour is an early contender for guitar event of 2025, with over two dozen dates announced, and more to come, and the promise of new music from the SATCHVAI Band

Schecter has something special for the player who likes a squeaky sound and wants to hear some bark
By Jonathan Horsley published
Introducing the The Humbarker and The Chompest, dog toys with off-the-charts playability for the tone hound in your life, all for a good cause

Faith launches the all-new Eclipse cutaway acoustics, with Fishman electronics for percussive styles
By Jonathan Horsley published
Upgraded with Fishman's Ink Body pickup and preamp system, the Eclipse series gives players plenty of control over their amplified tone

Soldano’s promise a “complete SLO in a pedal” from its new dual-channel preamp stompbox
By Jonathan Horsley published
Now you can have both channels from the Super Lead Overdrive right there on your pedalboard
Get the MusicRadar Newsletter
Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here.