The magazine's debut issue featured bluesman Johnny Winter on the cover and included pieces on the Allman Brothers Band, George Thorogood and pedal steel guitars.

[3] As former Editor-in-Chief Brad Tolinski wrote in the magazine's 40th-anniversary issue, "It was a decent start, but the design and editorial content was still a bit lackluster.

He edited several landmark issues in the magazine's first decade, including GW's fifth anniversary issue in 1985, which featured a cover-to-cover celebration of Jimi Hendrix; and a July 1986 tribute to Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, featuring a 15-page interview with the reclusive legend, along with early note-for-note transcriptions of Page solos to Stairway to Heaven and Rock and Roll.

Due to their divergent tastes in music (Bosso preferred covering rock 'n' roll artists while Resnicoff was a jazz-fusion devotee), the magazine suffered from a split-personality approach to its coverage.

"On one cover, a rather nervous-looking Allan Holdsworth hides timidly behind his Steinberger guitar, and on the next, Zakk Wylde explodes with pure animal fury while the headline screams SPECIAL REPORT!

In July 2015, a photo of Guitar World's annual "Gear Guide" featuring Deerhoof's Satomi Matsuzaki in a bikini placed next to a copy of She Shreds, a magazine dedicated to female and non-binary guitarists, went viral on the internet.

[8][9][10] Following criticism from the magazine and its readers, Guitar World's publisher, New Bay Media, announced in April 2016 that it would stop using women in bikinis on the covers of their annual "Gear Guides".

By 1984, GW began to multiply – spinoffs and offshoots became a large part of its focus as ownership looked to expand its reach into other markets and demographics.

In early 1992, the idea was revived as the semiannual Guitar World Legends, but with one major change: each issue was conceived as a tribute to an artist or genre, and included past GW interviews, lessons, equipment guides, rare photos and more.

When it hit newsstands in the spring of 2000, Revolver's debut issue contained a unique mix of content, including an oral history of the Doors, a behind-the-scenes look at the Japanese pop scene and members of Slipknot wearing fashionable men's suits.

[23] It is run by a separate team to the print publication and posts up-to-the-minute guitar news, features, interviews, lessons, reviews and buyer's guides, as well as select content from the magazine.