Color and B&W photos throughout

13 is your lucky number! The 13th Edition Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars is now expanded to 832 pages including a new 16-page color Photo Grading System. It also has guitar reference information and values on over 900 guitar manufacturers/distributors including Gibson, Martin, Ovation, Taylor, Alvarez, Epiphone, Takamine, Washburn, Gretsch, and Guild as well as many independent luthiers and custom builders. Other features include a database of over 3,500 acoustic guitar images available on our website, a detailed serialization section, and contact information for all current manufacturers. With over 7,000 acoustic guitars listed in the 13th Edition Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars, 13 will be your lucky number!

Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia is a tour through pop-music’s most celebrated musical instrument. Covering several decades of iconic pieces, this guide describes electric guitars produced by every significant manufacturer from Alembic to Zemaitis. Alongside every model is detailed information and a host of action pictures of key players, from Chet Atkins to Joey Z. 1,200 photographs really bring each guitar to life. With 800 classic, rare and unusual instruments from all major manufacturers in studio-quality photographs, plus illustrations of key players, original ads, and memorabilia, it’s easy to get lost within these pages. Comprehensive and informative text with a unique A-to-Z guitar directory covers makers’ histories, great guitarists, and musical trends. This is the definitive guide to the electric guitar, written and researched by the world’s leading authorities on the instrument that has shaped over 50 years of popular music. In words and pictures, detailed descriptions of just why the electric guitar is the most exciting icon of modern pop music.

In 1982, Fender revived an old guitar-string name for its new line of Japanese-made electric guitars. Millions of guitars later, and celebrating its 30th anniversary, Squier is almost as important to the company as the main Fender brand. Guitar pundit Tony Bacon reveals the stories behind the original (and collectible) Japanese-made Squier Series models, the way that Fender has often been more adventurous and experimental with Squier, away from its protected main brand, and the famous musicians who have chosen to play Squier instruments, from Courtney Love and her Venus model to blink-182's Tom DeLonge and his one-pickup/one-control signature Stratocaster. Full of the luscious pictures, absorbing narrative, and collector's data that characterize Bacon's best-selling instrument books, Squier Electrics is the only guide to one of the most popular guitar brands of recent times.

The most comprehensive book about the electric guitar. Its A-to-Z format covers more than 120 makers from around the world and details their successes and failures through 1,200 unique color, studio quality photographs.

The Bass Book offers a complete illustrated history of bass guitars from Fender's first in the 1950s through the models of the next 40 years that formed the foundation for modern music. The bass guitar is undoubtedly one of the most significant instruments of this century, yet this book is the first to study its history. Features original interviews with bass makers past and present, dozens of unusual, specially commissioned color photos, and a reference section that provides a wealth of information on every major manufacturer.

(Guitar Reference). Until the launch of the Flying V and Explorer in 1958, electric guitars were supposed to look like...guitars. Suddenly, Gibson turned conventional design upside down, almost literally, by using straight lines and angular body shapes, changing the way electrics could look and, in the process, creating a set of rare future collectables. Flying V, Explorer, Firebird tells the story of those first peculiar instruments and goes on to describe Gibson's second attempt at nonstandard designs with the Firebird of the early '60s. The book shows how most of these were a commercial failure at first and goes on to detail the influence of the designs on guitar-makers such as Hamer, Jackson, Dean, Ibanez, and BC Rich, all of whom embraced Gibson's original weird-is-good design ethic. In parallel with the story of the makers is an absorbing account of the players who discovered these odd-shaped instruments, including Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society), the Edge (U2), and Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick). Interviews with players and makers illuminate the story of this fascinating assortment of electric guitar innovations, alongside specially commissioned images of every key model and brand and an enviable collection of guitar memorabilia, plus a gallery of leading guitarists photographed in action with their instruments. If it's weird and has strings, it's in Flying V, Explorer, Firebird .

This all-color, fully illustrated practical book brings the unique Haynes ‘Build your own’ approach to a new audience. Comprehensive step-by-step procedures show both novice and experienced guitarists how to build their very own unique, high-spec custom S-type instrument, tailor-made for their needs, for far less than the cost of buying a factory-built equivalent. Various body, neck and hardware options are covered to suit all requirements, along with advice on how to build a guitar to give the desired sound. Details of fine-tuning, along with set-up advice, helps to ensure that the finished guitar will be a joy to own and play

This book explains step by step, with over 1800 photos and more than 600 illustrations how to layout and build your own electric guitar. Build an entire guitar in a small room on a homemade multifunctional work table. Only a router and some easy-to-make jigs are required to prepare the wood.

Gretsch electric guitars have a style all their own – a glitzy, wacky, retro charm that over the years has drawn players from all kinds of popular music, from timeless stars to unknown teens. The Beatles, Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy, and Brian Setzer all made their mark with Gretsch, and new bands continually discover and fall in love with the Falcons, Gents, 6120s, Jets, and the rest. The Gretsch Electric Guitar Book comes right up to the present, including Gretsch's alliance to the powerful Fender company, a move that has done wonders for the reliability and playability of the modern Gretsch axe. Every great model is here, but the book also tells the story of the lesser-known guitars and the projects that almost never happened. There are archival and fresh interviews with Gretsch personnel over the years and with many leading Gretsch players, including Chet Atkins, Billy Duffy, Duane Eddy, and Brian Setzer. In the tradition of Tony Bacon's best-selling series of guitar books, his updated and revised story of Gretsch is three great volumes in one: a compendium of luscious pictures of the coolest guitars; a gripping story from early exploits to the most recent developments; and a detailed collector's guide to every production electric Gretsch model ever made.