
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

The Gibson Custom Shop unveils its first Heavy Aged Murphy Lab acoustic guitars for
By Jonathan Horsley published
These stunners from Gibson's Bozeman, Montana facility go heavy on the mojo for that thoroughly played-in vintage vibe

Framus reissues John Lennon’s record-breaking $2.85m “Help” Hootenanny 12-string
By Jonathan Horsley published
Framus unveils a period-correct replica of the most expensive Beatles instrument sold at auction, the 12-string that Lennon played on Help! and Rubber Soul – and there’s a six-string too

Cream legend Jack Bruce’s EB-1 violin bass to go on display at the Gibson Garage London
By Jonathan Horsley published
The life of the late Cream bassist will be commemorated with an all-star jam to raise funds for the Jack Bruce Foundation as the Gibson Garage London celebrates its first anniversary

Brian May recalls the time he played live through Hendrix’s Marshall – and it didn’t go well
By Jonathan Horsley published
Hendrix might have had the Marshall stack under his spell but the Queen says he struggled to play a chord

Jerry Cantrell reveals how Jeff Beck and Martin Scorsese influenced new solo album I Want Blood
By Jonathan Horsley published
How archive footage of Beck with a curious piece of vintage gear and Scorsese's cinematic sensibility helped Cantrell jemmy open the doors of inspiration
![Joe Bonamassa [left] plays his Epiphone 1955 Les Paul Standard and wears a bright blue suit and polka-dot; Sammy Hagar [right] wears shades, a black Cabo Wabo T-shirt and plays his red Gibson Explorer with white pickguard.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mJhoR4YDuLs9qkUkeyS3vK.jpg)
“The track is a monster!”: Joe Bonamassa and Sammy Hagar have got the Fortune Teller Blues
By Jonathan Horsley published
Bonamassa played the entire track with an Ovation acoustic through an overdriven amp
![Joe Satriani [left] plays his Chrome Boy Ibanez signature S-style on stage, and wears a black T-shirt and wraparound shades; JImi Hendrix [right] wears a bright patterned shirt and plays his Olympic White Fender Stratocaster onstage at Royal Albert Hall.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sPWCirz8fjBvGixtRANGCo.jpg)
Joe Satriani explains the difference between today’s online virtuosos and Jimi Hendrix
By Jonathan Horsley published
Satch says Hendrix was never played anything that sounded like an exercise – he “just sounded like music”

“Put it away and get a proper guitar!”: Andy Fairweather Low on playing with Eric Clapton
By Jonathan Horsley published
Low got the Teisco Spectrum V bug after seeing Ry Cooder with one. Eddie Van Halen loved them too. Clapton? Not so much...

Guild has holiday strumming covered with the Travel Spruce, a compact acoustic with a “big sound”
By Jonathan Horsley published
This compact but perfectly formed spruce-topped acoustic has an arched back to give it a voice that belies its modest dimensions

Sophie Lloyd is auctioning stage-played signature Kiesel in fundraiser for Pasadena animal charity
By Jonathan Horsley published
The bidding is at $7,000+ for the shreddable collectible that Lloyd played at her Whisky-A-Go-Go LA debut, with 100 per cent of the funds raised going to the animal and wildlife charity

Adrian Belew has surgery to relieve carpal tunnel syndrome following BEAT Tour
By Jonathan Horsley published
The former King Crimson guitarist was operated on by the surgeon responsible for the first successful human hand transplant in America

“A vibrant update”: By popular demand, Gibson gives the ES-335 its Custom Color refresh
By Jonathan Horsley published
Spearmint, Watermelon, Ocean Blue, Blood Moon Burst, the ES-335 and its AAA figured maple siblings have never looked so bright

“It is pretty ludicrously loud for its size”: Orange’s O Tone 40 is a solid-state powerhouse 1x12 combo for small gigs and practice and it is priced just $399 street
By Jonathan Horsley published
Those 40-watts of Class A/B power can drive that single 12" Voice Of The World speaker hard, with plenty of juice for gigging – and there's onboard tremolo and reverb to sweeten the deal

DigiTech’s HammerOn is a radical Whammy-related pitch-shifter that lets you “play the impossible”
By Jonathan Horsley published
This dual-footswitch pitch shifter has a four-octave range, seven modes including "Impossible," and can be used to create automatic trills, note sequences and much more

Fender unveils the $599 Acoustasonic Standard: is this the moment the hybrid truly went mainstream?
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Indonesian-made model breaks new ground for Fender affordability and is sure to put the Acoustasonic into the hands of more players than ever when it starts shipping in April

Harley Benton’s expands YouTube star Maxxxwell Carlisle’s signature line with three shred machines
By Jonathan Horsley published
2025 brings us three sweet new finish options for the MAX Fusion plus the option of a Floyd Rose 1000 Series vibrato or a hard-tail bridge

NAMM 2025: Harley Benton’s dual humbucker S-style is here – it’s not just Blink fans who’ll love it
By Jonathan Horsley published
First impressions? Blink-182 fans are going to love it but with two humbuckers, splittable coils and stainless steel frets it is a very different beast to Tom DeLonge’s single-pickup powerhouse

NAMM 2025: Gibson launches 1955 NAMM Commemorative Edition Les Paul in five custom-colours
By Jonathan Horsley published
Thanks to Joe Bonamassa, you'll all be familiar with Copper Iridescent, but how about a P-90 loaded Custom Shop LP in Samoa Beige, Nugget Gold, Viceroy Brown and Platinum?

NAMM 2025: “I’ve honestly never felt a smoother neck in my life”: Cory Wong feels the humbucker heat as the funk guitar virtuoso and Ernie Ball Music Man team up for StingRay II and StingRay II Deluxe
By Jonathan Horsley published
Wong is still a paid-up member of the Stratocaster club but says he has been on the hunt for humbucker-equipped guitar for years and this is the one

NAMM 2025: DigiTech and MonoNeon team up for Whammy Pedal with “Hypersonic” 3-octave pitch shifting
By Jonathan Horsley published
DigiTech is calling this its “boldest” Whammy design yet and the specs back this up. Is the world ready for a pinch harmonic and a three-octave pitch rise? It’d better be…

Dunlop salutes David Bowie’s maestro of the cocked wah, Mick Ronson, with signature Cry Baby
By Jonathan Horsley published
This super-cool Cry Baby is based on Ronson's original vintage Italian-made model

NAMM 2025: Bluegrass phenom Billy Strings teams up with Martin for a pair of signature acoustics
By Jonathan Horsley published
One is classically high-end Martin, the other retails at $899 – both are built for pickin' quick
![Fender Standard Series: Launched at NAMM 2025, Fender's new affordable lineup comprises [L-R] the Jazz Bass, HSS Stratocaster, Stratocaster, Telecaster and Precision Bass](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/omnmbYXPH73KEG8JJzihMf.jpg)
NAMM 2025: Strats and Teles at $599? Fender launches budget-friendly Standard series
By Jonathan Horsley published
Five classic models, sweet finishes like Candy Cola and O.G. Butterscotch Blonde... These are going to be popular

NAMM 2025: Sterling By Music Man unveils Tosin Abasi, Rabea Massaad’s Sabre and Fluff Bruce models
By Jonathan Horsley published
Three creatively spec'd classics from the Ernie Ball Music Man signature series remixed for a more affordable price point – and you can get the Kaizen with six or seven strings
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