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
Lerxst unveils replica of Alex Lifeson’s Hentor Sportscaster and it’s red with a mirrored pickguard
By Jonathan Horsley published
Built by Godin, Grace is red, has a mirrored pickguard, an HSS Mojotone pickup configuration, comes with the choice of tremolo systems and is a Reverb exclusive limited to 200 units worldwide
Origin Effects promises ‘50s Fender amp tones for your 'board with the Deluxe55 Tweed Recreation
By Jonathan Horsley published
A friend with Tweed is a friend indeed...
Martin brings a unicorn back to life with $19,999 replica of Joe Bonamassa’s 1941 000-45 acoustic
By Jonathan Horsley published
Pre-War mojo off the charts, but you’d better act fast – the blues superstar’s signature acoustic is limited to just 45 instruments
Guitar Center in Sherman Oaks flooded after car ploughs into fire hydrant
By Jonathan Horsley published
Stock could be seen “pouring out through the front and rear exits” of the Los Angeles store
Fender celebrates 50 years of Hello Kitty with kawaii Squier Strat, fuzz pedal and accessories
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Hello Kitty Stratocaster is officially back, available in pink or white, and if you are allergic to cute look away now...
Orianthi and Orange Amps join forces for the White Crush, a 20W solid-state practice-friendly combo
By Jonathan Horsley published
This limited edition practice-friendly 1x8 combo has two-channels, reverb, heaps of gain, cab simulated output and fancy white Tolex just like Orianthi's Rockerverb 50-inspired signature tube amp
Wampler Pedals unveils the Catacombs, a delay/reverb designed for gigging musicians and
By Jonathan Horsley published
Brian Wampler’s breadboard has been running hot this week. Besides this greatest hits of reverb/delay, his stompbox brand also unveiled Syntax, a MIDI-enabled micro-pedal to take control of your rig
Brian May on how The Night Comes Down was born of depression – and the desire to prove people wrong
By Jonathan Horsley published
With a radically-modded cheapo classical guitar, a head clouded by darkness, May wrote a great Queen epic and tore up the production rulebook that said you can’t mix electric and acoustic
Harley Benton expands Agufish series with two single-cuts and a 28” scale baritone for monster riffs
By Jonathan Horsley published
Harley Benton teams up with the YouTube star for the Standard lineup, featuring weight-relieved bodies, humbuckers with coil splits, roasted maple necks and locking tuners
Brian May and Roger Taylor on Freddie Mercury using the studio to become rock's greatest frontman
By Jonathan Horsley published
The making of Queen’s debut album was a learning process for all, none more so than Mercury who used the studio as a tool for radical self-improvement and take full command of his instrument
Meet the JAMster series, the $42 desktop guitar/bass amp from Harley Benton you can take anywhere
By Jonathan Horsley published
For a super-budget travel and practice option, the 10-watt JAMster series is hard to beat. It has Bluetooth connectivity, a headphones out and can be battery-powered. All for less than $50
JHS Pedals and Lari Basilio join forces for Violet – a stackable drive/distortion with a clever EQ
By Jonathan Horsley published
Basilio’s Violet is available now in Purple and Black and features a clever 3-Band EQ in which the midrange controls are placed before the distortion to expand your palette of tones
“I am about to delve into P-90 world”: Warren Haynes and Gibson working on two signature models
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Gov't Mule frontman says a Les Paul and a Firebird are incoming...
Supercool Pedals unveils The Barstow Bat, a Rat-style distortion with 3-band EQ and clipping options
By Jonathan Horsley published
Available in standard white or in limited edition black, the latter with a Turbo mode featuring NOS Germanium 1n34a diodes, this Bat is a mutant Rat with more than a few tricks up its sleeve
Jim DeCola details the mods he made to Randy Rhoads’ Sandoval V just hours before an Ozzy show
By Jonathan Horsley published
DeCola was still only a teenager in 1982 but he had already had a reputation for being able to work magic on a tremolo system, which he duly did on Rhoads' iconic polka-dotted Sandoval V
“We've taken the iconic pedal to new heights”: Ibanez unveils hand-wired TS808HW V2 Tube Screamer
By Jonathan Horsley published
Japanese-made, hand-wired with Mogami cables, and offering an extra 6dB of output… This is a beefed-up TS808 that promises a wider range of tones from a familiar looking green box
Charvel expands its MJ series with a trio of stunning S-styles with wenge necks and primo features
By Jonathan Horsley published
This trio of high-performance s-styles have everything going for them except a catchy name – MJ DK24 HSH 2PT W? It doesn't roll off the tongue. But looking at the spec here, we could get used to it
“At full bore, it’s brilliant fun for doomy metal riffs and speaker-blowing Stooges-style punk”: Beetronics Tuna Can Fuzz Pedal review
By Jonathan Horsley published
Vintage fuzz tones from an actual tuna can that will leave you hungry for more
Martin unveils 7-string Johnny Marr signature acoustic with an an octave G string for added jangle
By Jonathan Horsley published
The M7 Johnny Marr is one seriously cool Grand Auditorium with an East Indian rosewood back and sides, solid spruce on top, and there is a six-string version available too
“It breaks up in the perfect place”: Supro teams up with Tyler Bryant for signature tube combo
By Jonathan Horsley published
Lots of headroom, lots of mojo, and a whopping bass response, Bryant's new combo is a 1x12 powerhouse “you can be down right rude with”
Kirk Hammett has a second vintage Les Paul once owned by Gary Moore that Moore preferred to Greeny
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Metallica lead guitarist offers Mark Agnesi a tour of his epic guitar collection on GibsonTV, with a coffee table book to follow. But will we ever see his ESP KH-1 with the onboard theremin?
Kenny Wayne Shepherd on what people get wrong about Dumble amps and why the clones don’t measure up
By Jonathan Horsley published
Shepherd is a long-standing user of Alexander ‘Howard’ Dumble’s amps and was a friend of the late amp guru. Here he discusses amps’ mythical status and salutes the man who made them
“It still buzzes”: Brian May reveals the mods he made to his £10 acoustic for Queen’s debut album
By Jonathan Horsley published
Recently reissued and “rebuilt”, Queen’s 1973 debut was a time of learning and experimentation for the band, with May customising a cheapo acoustic for one of the coolest tones on the record
Fender unveils $20,000 Custom Shop Masterbuilt replica of John Frusciante’s 1962 Stratocaster
By Jonathan Horsley published
Masterbuilt by Paul Waller, featuring pickups hand-wound by Abigail Ybarra and an Ilitch Electronics onboard hum-cancelling system, Frusciante’s Stratocaster is the Custom Shop at the height of its powers
Third Man and Eventide unveil the Knife Drop, an octave-fuzz and synth pedal ft. Jack White presets
By Jonathan Horsley published
This unholy union of octave-fuzz and analogue synth combines Third Man's radicalism with Eventide Audio's functionality, and might just be the wild card your pedalboard has been waiting for
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