— Damian Fanelli
HELLO, AND WELCOMEto the final issue of Guitar Worldto be produced in 2023. It’s also the first issue to actually come out in 2024, the first issue to feature Billie Joe Armstrong on the cover since March 2017 and the third Armstrong cover — Louis, Lance, Neil or otherwise — during my 13 years at GW. It’s also the issue that’ll be available at the 2024 NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, in January. Sadly, I won’t be able to make it to the show this year, so please give my regards to halls B, C, D and E!
With the end of the year so close that I can reach out and smack it upside the head, I’d like to thank our readers — everyone who subscribes; anyone who picks up an issue at a newsstand, book store or Jiffy Lube waiting room; everyone who writes in with opinions, requests, reader art, Defenders of the Faith entries or weird stories about Johnny Thunders. We truly appreciate your being a part of this crazy thing that we do over the course of every four weeks.
As much as I enjoy editing and assembling themed issues (like last month’s Eric Clapton special), I really love issues like this one, aka the “everything but the kitchen sink” issues — the ones where at least seven different features are overflowing from the table of contents. It’s where/how/when I feel the magazine does the most good in its
