About Guitar World Magazine

Guitar World has been exploring the ins and outs of guitar playing since the late, great Johnny Winter graced our first cover way back in July 1980. In the 45 years since, legendary artists have remained at the heart of our coverage. Yet, while we pride ourselves on our exclusive access to the biggest names in guitar, we also enjoy swinging that spotlight around to some of the lesser-known greats, not to mention the newest wave of brilliant young guitarists (including players you haven’t even heard of yet). We enjoy walking that fine line between “Here’s someone you know and love!” and “Here's someone you need to know about!”

And then there’s the gear! Every issue of GW features detailed, in-depth and impartial gear reviews you can trust - everything from guitars to amps to effects to accessories (from the super-affordable to the high-end). There’s also Power Tools, where we choose a particular piece of gear (like the 1976-present Gibson Explorer or the Jordan Boss Tone fuzz pedal) and detail its history and its impact on guitar-based music and the entire industry, and The Gear Hunter, where we focus on the past, present and future of a single manufacturer.

Finally, we hope to make you an even better player through our columns and video-supported lessons with top tutors and name-brand artists (including our current batch of columnists: Joe Bonamassa, Cory Wong, Sue Foley and Jared James Nichols), all of whom show you how to play with fire, fluidity and authenticity. And let’s not forget our three song transcriptions per issue!