
Michael Astley-Brown
Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and 15 years' experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. His writing also appears in the The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.
Latest articles by Michael Astley-Brown

Summer NAMM 2019: Boss crams 121 synth sounds into the SY-1 Synthesizer pedal
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Downsized SY-300 offers polyphonic tracking for guitar and bass

Summer NAMM 2019: So, um, Martin has made a Brexit guitar...
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Acoustic giant turns satirist

10 questions for The Beths’ Liz Stokes: “You can’t not air-guitar the solo break in Weezer’s Buddy Holly - it’s illegal!”
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Indie-rocker on her first guitars, essential gear and onstage nightmares

Gibson threatened dealers with legal action unless they stopped selling Dean guitars, alleges Dean
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Armadillo Enterprises seeks to cancel Flying V, Explorer and ES-335 shape trademarks

Summer NAMM 2019: Vintage channels ’30s blues with affordable Paul Brett Statesboro ‘Whisky Sour’ acoustic guitars
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Acoustic and electro model available in orchestra, dreadnought and parlour body sizes

Summer NAMM 2019: Janktone’s Jankenstein promises “the first real and defining change to the humbucker pickup since 1955”
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Patent-pending guitar pickup boasts ‘variable stacking height bobbins’

Johnny Marr invites fan on stage to play guitar on This Charming Man… and he only goes and nails it
By Michael Astley-Brown published
The Smiths guitarist temporarily relinquishes six-string duties

Summer NAMM 2019: Supro reissues the Ozark electric guitar
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Jimi Hendrix’s first guitar recreated and reimagined

Guitar sales surge following The Cure’s Glastonbury set
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Schecter guitars see major uplift

Pete Townshend pays tribute to late guitar tech Alan Rogan
By Michael Astley-Brown published
The Who tech dies on eve of band’s Wembley show

Summer NAMM 2019: Is PRS about to launch a more affordable John Mayer Silver Sky?
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Strat-a-like signature guitar set to hit SE range

Graham Nash is selling 19 rare guitars from his personal collection
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Woodstock-played 1969 Martin D-45 acoustic guitar takes top billing

Illuminate your pedalboard with RockBoard’s LED Light
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Bathe your pedals in six glorious colours

Boss adds new tone-tweaking options to Nextone guitar amps with free V2 update
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Tube Logic combos get new deep-editing functions

Gallien-Krueger debuts the Legacy bass amp series
By Michael Astley-Brown published
New heads build on 800RB range

Singular Sound blurs the line between looper and audio workstation with the Aeros Loop Studio pedal
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Touchscreen and hands-free mixing onboard

Framus has metalheads and shredders in its sights with the Diablo II Progressive X
By Michael Astley-Brown published
High-end electric guitar boasts 3D carved top, Floyd Rose tremolo and Seymour Duncan humbuckers

Electro-Harmonix wants to combine your pedals in new ways with the Tri Parallel Mixer
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Effects creation and mixing hub pedal arrives

Someone let AI automatically name effects pedals - and the results are weird AF
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Mr. Bubblegum Powered By God Tube Distortion, anyone?

This stunning Vox AC30 cutaway print documents the entire history of the iconic British guitar amp
By Michael Astley-Brown published
We need this poster right now

Ernie Ball debuts ergonomic Axis Capo
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Dual-radius capo can be used on 6/7-string electric and acoustic guitars

High On Fire/Sleep’s Matt Pike just had his pedals stolen by airline employees
By Michael Astley-Brown published
Pedalboard lost then returned completely empty
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