Featuring over 180 of the world's greatest guitar superstars, "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Guitar Heroes" is a definitive guide to those guitarists whose talents helped change the face of music forever and touched the lives of millions. From the heroes of rock - the likes of Hendrix, Clapton, Page and Beck - to classical maestros such as John Williams and Latin legends such as Paco de Lucia, this comprehensive catalogue of guitarists covers a wide range of musical styles. It will allow the reader to discover legendary players from the earliest blues pioneers right up to today's indie icons and everyone in between.Grouped into seven chapters based on the genre of music each guitarist is most closely associated with, each chapter is then organised chronologically according to the guitarists' birth dates, making the book easy to navigate. Written by an expert team of music writers and musicologists, the informative text tells the story of how each of these axemen rose up to stand out from the crowd, carving themselves a place in the history books. Learn what inspired them to create the music that led to their legendary status, how they achieved such greatness and the tools they used to get to the top.Supported by over 400 superb images that bring each page to life and capture the power and emotion behind the music, this encyclopedia is the ideal book for any aspiring guitar hero, and will satisfy even the most die-hard of music fans. The comprehensive reference section includes an extensive listing of a further 500 of the greatest musicians ever to pick up an axe, recommended further reading and a host of website links, all of which provide a further gateway into the lives of the greatest guitarists the world has ever known.

A guitarist fires off riffs. A drummer pounds out primal rhythms. Fans scream along to a booming chorus. These are the sounds of rock. When rock 'n' roll first shook up young audiences, parents and politicians screamed in protest. But artists soon used the music to make protests of their own. Since rock's birth in the 1950s, its sounds have been blasted from garages to stadiums. The music can be the soundtrack to rebellion, a tool for self-expression, or just a way to bang your head. Find out what inspired rock pioneers to pick up their guitars. Discover the stories of outrageous punks and grungy alternative rockers. And learn more about legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Metallica, and Green Day.

“A hot-rod joy ride through mid-20th-century American history” (The New York Times Book Review), this one-of-a-kind narrative masterfully recreates the rivalry between the two men who innovated the electric guitar’s amplified sound—Leo Fender and Les Paul—and their intense competition to convince rock stars like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton to play the instruments they built. In the years after World War II, music was evolving from big-band jazz into rock ’n’ roll—and these louder styles demanded revolutionary instruments. When Leo Fender’s tiny firm marketed the first solid-body electric guitar, the Esquire, musicians immediately saw its appeal. Not to be out-maneuvered, Gibson, the largest guitar manufacturer, raced to build a competitive product. The company designed an “axe” that would make Fender’s Esquire look cheap and convinced Les Paul—whose endorsement Leo Fender had sought—to put his name on it. Thus was born the guitar world’s most heated rivalry: Gibson versus Fender, Les versus Leo. While Fender was a quiet, half-blind, self-taught radio repairman, Paul was a brilliant but headstrong pop star and guitarist who spent years toying with new musical technologies. Their contest turned into an arms race as the most inventive musicians of the 1950s and 1960s—including bluesman Muddy Waters, rocker Buddy Holly, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton—adopted one maker’s guitar or another. By 1969 it was clear that these new electric instruments had launched music into a radical new age, empowering artists with a vibrancy and volume never before attainable. In “an excellent dual portrait” (The Wall Street Journal), Ian S. Port tells the full story in The Birth of Loud, offering “spot-on human characterizations, and erotic paeans to the bodies of guitars” (The Atlantic). “The story of these instruments is the story of America in the postwar era: loud, cocky, brash, aggressively new” (The Washington Post).

Featuring over 150 of the world's greatest guitar superstars, this updated edition of our successful Rock Guitar Heroes is a definitive guide to those guitarists whose talents helped change the face of music forever and touched the lives of millions. From the heroes of classic blues rock with the likes of Hendrix, Clapton, Page and Beck to modern artists such as Jack White and Muse's Matt Bellamy, this comprehensive catalogue of guitarists covers a wide range of musical styles. Learn what inspired them to create the music that led to their legendary status, how they achieved such greatness and the tools they used to get to the top. Supported by over 200 superb images that bring each page to life and capture the power and emotion behind the music, this is the ideal book for any aspiring guitar hero, and will satisfy even the most die-hard of music fans.

An encyclopedia of more than 100 guitars and the musicians who have mastered them. Guitars and Heroes is organized by era, from the rockabilly pioneers to the guitar heroes of the future. Each chapter contains portraits of guitarists (past and present) and their favorite instruments. The authoritative text describes the musician's favored guitar or guitars and why they prefer them, often revealing a hidden facet of the musician's artistic approach. Special photo spreads include The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Prince, Billie Joe Armstrong, AC/DC, Les Paul, anatomy of a Stratocaster, 5 Replica Guitars; Burst, the world's most expensive guitar; 5 Most Desirable Amplifiers, 5 Pedals That Changed the World, 5 Groundbreaking Sounds, The Chicago Blues in 5 Albums, 5 Essential Hard Rock Albums and 5 Design Gibson Mistakes. The book is organized into three sections (Birth of an Art, The Golden Age, Modern Times) and nine chapters, each with a selection of artists and their guitars, including these: Delta Blues and Rockabilly Robert Johnson, Jimmie Rogers, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Buddy Holly Chicago Blues and Jazz Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Trini Lopez, George Benson British Blues Boom Dave Davies, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Peter Green Surf, Garage Rock and Psychedelic Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Santana, Ry Cooder, Duane Allman Birth of Hard Rock Ritchie Blackmore, Neil Young, Brian May, Peter Frampton, Joan Jett Arena Rock, Shred and New Wave Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Edge, Joe Satriani, Slash Grunge and Alternative Rock Kurt Cobain, Buzz Osborne, Sonic Youth, Rivers Cuomo Metal to Djent Dimebag Darrell, John 5, Buckethead, Meshuggah, Tosin Abasi Guitar Heroes of the Future St. Vincent, Joe Bonamassa, Jack White, Ron Thal, Matthew Bellamy. Guitars and Heroes is a sensational encyclopedia for all guitarists, guitar geeks, collectors and avid listeners, and an essential purchase for all collections.

Issued in conjunction with the exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from February 9 to July 4, 2011.

The country music superstar shares what the guitar has meant to him as a means of finding his own voice, who inspired his love of music, and memorable stories about the great guitar players he has encountered over the years.

Power Chord is the story of one man’s epic pilgrimage to gain rock enlightenment from the gods and guitar heroes of the Golden Age of heavy metal. Author Scott McKenzie set off to make contact with the legendary metal superstars he worshipped in his rural Kentucky youth—men like George Lynch of Dokken, Glen Tipton of Judas Priest, and Ace Frehley of KISS—hoping to gain wisdom and a better understanding of the electric guitar mystique. The result is a veritable treasure trove of enthralling behind-the-scenes stories and “where are they now” revelations that will delight anyone who has ever felt a Mötley Crüe, Guns ’N’ Roses, or Black Sabbath song reach out from the speakers and grab them by the ears.

(Book). In this premier title in the Guitar Lick Factory player series, teacher/guitarist extraordinaire Jesse Gress takes you deep inside the styles of these three guitar heroes. Presenting more than 100 of the players' characteristic licks, Gress shows you the secrets of their styles and explains how you can develop your own playing by understanding the essence of each guitarist's approach. This book presents each example with its own mini-lesson, and Gress performs the licks on the accompanying CD.