Plus! The year's biggest and wildest guitar news, a transcription of Jeff Beck's final masterpiece, Dethklok, Buzzcocks, Paul Stanley's son and more!
(Image credit: Future)
In this sprawling issue – which is available during those final magical moments before Father Time and Baby New Year take turns dancing on 2023's grave – Guitar World takes one last look back on "the year that was"!
Coverage includes...
* Our editors and writers choose the guitarists of the year – 20 players who left their indelible mark on 2023, including our cover star (Wolfgang Van Halen), plus Nuno Bettencourt, Andrew Watt, Josh Klinghoffer, the Rolling Stones, John 5, Vernon Reid and a ton more.
* A recap of the biggest guitar news of the year – including the tragic death of Jeff Beck, the Rise of Nuno, the endlessly interesting "Mick Mars. vs. Mötley Crüe" saga, the return of Sunn amps, the unexpected reappearance of Mary Ford's 1961 Gibson and more.
* The GW gang chooses our favorite new gear of the year, including Fender's outstanding Tone Master Pro, those new Marshall pedals, Guild's S-100 Polara Kim Thayil, Boss's DM-101 Delay Machine and many, many more things that we'd love to own.
* A plethora of guitar stars – including Wolfgang, Kingfish, Devon Allman, Sophie Lloyd, Nuno Bettencourt, Zakk Wylde, Herman Li, Marty Friedman, Steve Morse, Jennifer Batten, Myles Kennedy and more – choose the year’s best solos, riffs, songs, guitar moments, guitarists of the year and more.
Cover star Wolfgang Van Halen (yes, there's that name again!) reveals the battle plan behind the huge sound of his latest album, 2023's Mammoth II.
We have new interviews with Buzzcocks guitarist Steve Diggle, Ariel Posen, Girlschool's Kim McAuliffe and Jackie Chambers, Evan Stanley (the son of that guy from Kiss), Dethklok, Teenage Fanclub, Laur Joamets (formerly of Sturgill Simpson fame), End Reign, and the man behind Fairfield Guitar Co.
Meanwhile, longtime GW columnist Joe Bonamassa discusses the finer points of his 1969 Fender Strat, Andy Aledort shows you how to emulate vocals on guitar, Josh Smith explains how to use repetition as a phrasing device and Andy Timmons shows you how to play the solo to Winterland.
This month’s song transcriptions are Patient Number 9 by Ozzy Osbourne (featuring the late, great Jeff Beck in one of his final guitar statements), Rebel Yell by Billy Idol and a new solo-guitar version of the Doors' Riders on the Storm, as seen/heard here.
We have reviews of the UAFX Evermore, Heavenly, Orion and 1176 pedals; the PRS NF 53 guitar; EVH's new Frankenstein Relic Series guitars; the Danelectro '59 Triple Divine guitar; and the Taylor GS Mini Sapele.
In Power Tools, Chris Gill explores the history and mystery of the Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress Flanger/Filter Matrix. It's a scene, man!
Can you dig it? We hope so. Read you in four weeks!
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
