Jonathan Horsley
Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to publications including Guitar World, MusicRadar and Total Guitar. 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

Warren Haynes lends his epic solo chops to Dinosaur Jr. as he jams Neil Young and the Cure with J Mascis
By Jonathan Horsley published
The Gov’t Mule frontman became the latest high-profile guest on Dinosaur Jr.’s tour celebrating 30 years of Where You Been, when he joined them at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in New York

Myles Goodwyn, April Wine frontman and Canadian rock legend, dies aged 75
By Jonathan Horsley published
Goodwyn had stepped down from touring with the Canadian Music Hall of Famers in recent months

Harley Benton launches new DIY guitar kits – and one lets you carve the body yourself
By Jonathan Horsley published
Forget dry-walling and tiling the bathroom. Here's a DIY project we can all get behind

Paul McCartney’s “Paul McCartney Woz Here!” Hofner bass and a ’62 Strat played by the Beatles are headed to the auction block – and big money bids are forecasted
By Jonathan Horsley published
Elvis’ “Loving You” Gibson LG-1 acoustic has left the building, too – a little less conversation, a little more auction…

“Geordie was a true inventor of a massive sound that has influenced so damn many of us”: Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker has died, aged 64
By Jonathan Horsley published
Tributes pour in for the post-punk trailblazer whose influence was felt far and wide across rock and metal, with the likes of Metallica and Nirvana indebted to his vision for guitar

“This is nuts and my jaw is on the floor with how badass this one is. I am in Tone Heaven!” Jared James Nichols just got a ’57 Les Paul with the craziest refurb ever
By Jonathan Horsley published
In vintage guitar circles, they would call this 1957 Les Paul Standard a ‘turd’, but this glorious-looking instrument was one of the first Standards to be fitted with humbuckers – and it sounds the business

“A must-have for guitarists in pursuit of those legendary Beatles tones”: Aclam unveils The Mocker, a Fab Four-inspired fuzz pedal
By Jonathan Horsley published
All this Beatles talk got Aclam so excited it dug deep for some NOS Philips OA200 diodes for its take on the Vox UL730 series fuzz circuit – and it got a little weird with the AI on the demo video…

“I was blown away by how it sounded”: After 30 years of Marshall stacks, Slash has switched to Magnatone – and a “killer” new signature amp is in the works
By Jonathan Horsley published
Is this the end of an era as the Guns N’ Roses rock legend joins Billy Gibbons and swaps Marshall for Magnatone?

Kirk Fletcher makes a triumphant return to the stage following his recent stroke – and his blues chops were in full working order as he jammed with Joe Bonamassa in Tulsa
By Jonathan Horsley published
The modern blues maestro suffered a stroke onstage in July, with Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith launching a fundraising auction to support Fletcher with his medical bills

It’s official: pairing your guitar’s pickups with your amp’s speaker “like fine wine and cheese” is a thing – find out why it makes all the difference to your tone
By Jonathan Horsley published
Why the pickup and speaker combo is one of the key partnerships in your mission to achieve better tone

“I wanted to create an instrument that had that beautiful old-school P-90 sound”: Knaggs unveils the Billy Morrison Keya-J-M, a Fralin-equipped high-end signature model for the Billy Idol guitarist
By Jonathan Horsley published
Morrison's new signature model is a thicker-bodied version of Knaggs' Keya J P2, and with hum-canceling P-90s it looks a bona-fide rock 'n' roll machine

Supro seeks to “redefine the pinnacle of Supro tube amp tone” with the Custom Amplifier series, hand-built in the USA
By Jonathan Horsley published
Two “ultra premium” tube amp combos will be available, promising gourmet tone wrapped in delectable aesthetics

“You don't run into amps with that kind of clean channel that also have this incredible gain sound”: Revv debuts the D40 Dynamis, a vintage-voiced tube head with onboard Two Notes Torpedo tech
By Jonathan Horsley published
Sweetening traditional tube amp tones with 21st-century technology, the D40 Dynamis arrives with a formidable array of features – and has the Shawn Tubbs seal of approval

GayC/DC are on the hunt for their new “Malcolm Young” – formidable rhythm chops essential, ability to pun welcome
By Jonathan Horsley published
The all-gay AC/DC tribute act are looking to replace the irreplaceable following the death of guitarist Clint Yeager earlier in the year

Meet session legend Vernon Ice Black’s mythical ‘Sunnie’ Strat, the guitar that appears on some of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston’s biggest hits… and features a “whoop-de-do button”
By Jonathan Horsley published
Every great session player needs a hit-maker, and Black’s is Sunnie, which features no fewer than seven push-buttons for maximum tonal versatility

Balaguer refreshes and expands its $1,099 Standard Series and there’s something for everyone: retro offsets, baritones, T-styles and a super-shreddable S-style
By Jonathan Horsley published
Joe Balaguer stacks the specs high on the brand’s new-for-2023 Standard lineup, with roasted maple necks, ebony ‘boards, stainless steel frets and locking tuners on all instruments

“If you can make a record that feels like you have invented rock ’n’ roll, that’s a great feeling”: The Hives on how a need for speed – and the mystery of the elusive Randy Fitzsimmons – helped inspire them to make a comeback record for the ages
By Jonathan Horsley published
Nicholaus Arson and Vigilante Carlstroem discuss The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, and the elemental, perfect fusion of high-volume guitars, a beat, and a vocal

“We love the sound of DI guitars. We don’t make our lives easier with technology – it’s a tool to be abused”: Industrial riffers Saint Agnes break all the gear rules and embrace wrong notes in the name of intensity and aggression
By Jonathan Horsley published
Don’t let Kitty A. Austen and Jon James Tufnell’s proclivity for DI guitars and plugins fool you – the Saint Agnes sound is built on unsung fuzz pedals, unfiltered noise and no limits

“Dave Cobb’s ’40s Martin is one of my favorite guitars I have ever touched in my life – I really wanted to steal that guitar!” Grace Potter went on the mother of all road trips… then embarked on the mother of all recording sessions
By Jonathan Horsley published
How Grace Potter put a new spin on rootsy Americana with famous friends, oddball vintage gear and DIY guitar hacks

Jam with legends of Heart, Stone Temple Pilots and AC/DC: Nancy Wilson, Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo confirmed for Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp 2024
By Jonathan Horsley published
And Chris Slade of AC/DC and the Firm will be on the drums

Bob Dylan turns in a rare electric guitar performance as he surprises Farm Aid 2023 with the Heartbreakers backing him
By Jonathan Horsley published
Dylan was joined on guitar by Mike Campbell as they both rocked T-styles during an unbilled set that gave us performances of three classics from 1965

Brian May Guitars seeks inspiration from the Barbie color chart to give the Special LE a high-Kenergy Hot Pink makeover
By Jonathan Horsley published
It’s the Red Special as you’ve never seen it before – meet the Pink Special

Gibson’s paint-room party continues as it refreshes the Les Paul in a Dark Purple Burst
By Jonathan Horsley published
Hot on the heels of the Custom Color Series is a pair of limited-run Dark Purple LPs that offer an eye-catching figured top alternative to the Exclusive Collection's Deep Purple models

Corey Taylor unmasked and unplugged: The Slipknot frontman goes acoustic on Gibson’s ‘king of flat-tops’ in this Guitar World exclusive
By Jonathan Horsley published
Taylor dropped by Guitar World Studios with his SJ-200 to perform Silverfish in this intimate video session

The boutique electric guitar of the year? By popular demand, Nik Huber unveils the Krautster III, a high-end single-cut dream machine
By Jonathan Horsley published
Players kept asking for a Dolphin/Krauster Hybrid, and now it’s here – and there are plenty of custom options available
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