Latest articles by Jonathan Horsley
Slash explains why he used a Strat to cover a Peter Green track on his new blues album
The Les Paul loyalist dipped into his Fender collection for the new album, which was also recorded using a '50s Telecaster
Dweezil Zappa on selling his out-there guitar collection, mixing Hendrix and building an immersive rig
The Zappa Plays Zappa tour is heading out this summer and Dweezil has funded it with an immense gear auction – the steep price, he says, is worth it
Best bass amps 2025: killer low-end amplification options for bassists
Give yourself the gift of thunder with the best bass guitar amps money can buy – featuring Trace Elliot, Hartke, Ampeg and more
Best guitar wireless systems 2025: set your playing free, from the rehearsal room to the stage
Fed up with cumbersome cables? Here's our pick of the best wireless guitar systems for every budget
10 legendary blues guitars, featuring Lucille, Lucy, Greeny – and the Loch Ness Monster of Les Pauls
Named and famed! Behind every great blues player is a great guitar, and they don’t come more iconic than this...
Dweezil Zappa on the high-tech custom build that Eddie Van Halen dubbed “The Super Pluto Guitar”
The tale of a truly distinctive instrument that was custom-made for a trio of rock’s most innovative players in the 1980s
Best guitar picks 2025: recommended plectrums to upgrade your playing
Our expert guide to the best picks for bass, acoustic and electric guitar
Best amps for metal 2025: our top picks for high-gain heroes
These powerhouse metal amps from PRS, Orange, Friedman, EVH, and more will have you primed to seek and destroy
![The Gaslight Anthem's Alex Rosamilia [left] and Brian Fallon live onstage in London](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Z36eCsuZHnH5JrU68pYe7K-840-80.jpg.webp)
“Some people use one guitar, one amp, and then, ‘This is what I am going to use for the rest of my life’... We change it up as much as we can”: The Gaslight Anthem are on an eternal tonal quest
Brian Fallon and Alex Rosamilia give us the guitar story behind comeback LP History Books – and tell us why you might hear a Def Leppard influence if you listen closely enough
“It’s like Brian May walked over to his tone booth and just turned it up to 11!” Kirk Hammett names his favorite Queen song – and it’s a seriously deep cut
Metallica may have covered Stone Cold Crazy, but that’s not Hammett’s no. 1…
“My tone is already destroyed by the time it gets to the amp”: Yard Act are redefining post-punk guitar with plugins and ‘cheapo’ gear – and they reckon a Squier Bullet Tele sounds great DI’d
In a radical new album, Yard Act are blurring the lines between post-punk and hip-hop. Guitarist Sam Shipstone reveals how it was made – with sampling, budget gear and an experimental approach to tone
Best bass guitars 2025: long and short-scale bass options for beginners to pros
Our pick of the world’s finest low-end monsters, with the best bass guitars from Fender, EBMM, Yamaha and more…
“Didn’t want to re-invent the wheel, just wanted to make a wheel that could sound beautiful... or rip faces off”: Silktone unveils the Overdrive+, a drive/boost twofer that plays naughty or nice
Dial in some tone-sweetening heat or high-gain saturation for ripping leads, the choice is yours... Neat. But it's the “Strangle/Raw” boost modes that make this a very different animal
“Eric came in, played great, just one tasty lick after another. Jeff Beck’s contribution was spellbinding”: Mark Knopfler enlists Clapton, Townshend, Iommi, Slash and dozens more for all-star charity single
Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes raise funds for teenage cancer charities with an epic version of his Local Hero theme, featuring Jeff Beck’s final recording, and over 50 guitar legends – including David Gilmour, Joan Armatrading and Brian May
“It was a huge risk – to this day I’m wondering if I pulled it off or not. But it was how I felt inside. I didn’t want picture-perfect solos”: Kirk Hammett reflects on his all-improv lead approach – and explains why he doesn’t sweat onstage mistakes
Kirk Hammett looks back on a landmark year in Metallica, reveals how Joe Bonamassa helped him snag one of the rarest Les Pauls ever made, and explains what caused him to mess up the intro to Nothing Else Matters – and why it doesn’t matter
“A lot of kids think drop-tuning is this new thing that just came out and it’s like, ‘No way, Jimi Hendrix was doing that stuff a long time ago!’” Eric Gales on the lasting influence and innovations of the ultimate electric guitar icon
Gales says he wears his Hendrix influence with pride. Here, one of today’s greatest blues-rock guitarists shares his insight on the visionary and fearless experimentalist
“Joe Bonamassa texted me and said, ‘I know you love that black Les Paul. It’s at Carter Vintage right now. Call them ASAP!’”: Kirk Hammett says he only got his ultra-rare Factory Black ’59 Les Paul thanks to the help of his collector friend
The Metallica guitarist also reveals he had “30 guitars stolen” in a previous attempt to buy the unicorn electric guitar
Jazzmaster back scratchers, tweed amp humidors and, erm, shower curtains: Here are the wild Joe Bonamassa collectibles you didn't know you needed in your life
Move over KISS and Cory Wong – the President of Nerdville wins the award for the most amazing merch catalog ever
“Big jets moving, bombers, people in battle, distress, crying – the Vietnam War added a lot of darkness to his playing”: Kirk Hammett on how Jimi Hendrix’s guitar style helped birth metal and psychedelia
The Metallica man and Hendrix fan argues that the guitar icon's influence on metal is under-appreciated
Alien rhythms, god-level chops and samurai guitar duels: these are the best guitar albums of 2023
Guitar World staff and readers reflect on the finest fretwork captured on record this year
“At its best, the solo can tell a story, give us a sense of spectacle, and even offer a window into a player’s soul”: These are the best guitar solos of 2023
Guitar World staff and readers choose the outstanding lead efforts of the year – including “this decades's Eruption”
“We called that riff ‘The Batman Riff’”: Kirk Hammett admits Metallica lifted the Batman theme on 72 Seasons
Thought that riff in Shadows Follow sounded awfully similar to a certain classic superhero theme? Turns out Metallica knew exactly what they were doing
“A rhythmic motif so simple that even the most basic living organisms on this great planet can get down to it”: These are the best guitar riffs of 2023
Guitar World staff and readers name the finest riffs of the year – a list that unites the worlds of metal, rock, indie and more…
“I hate to say it, but non-musicians – who are the majority of the listening world – are not going to remember guitar solos”: Kirk Hammett says it doesn’t matter how good or flashy a solo is – most people are going to forget them anyway
According to the Metallica maestro, the average music listener doesn't share a guitar player's enthusiasm for a ripping solo
Warren Haynes lends his epic solo chops to Dinosaur Jr. as he jams Neil Young and the Cure with J Mascis
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
