A stunning visual guide to the history and development of all types of guitars, packed with detailed information and profiling everything from the legendary Martin flat-tops to Gibson's arch-tops guitars and Fender's twelve-string electrics. The Ultimate Guitar Sourcebook is divided by type into nine chapters, each telling the full story of a major type of guitar. It is sub-divided geographically so the reader gets a global picture of guitar making from the United States to the Far East and from Europe to Australia. The introduction examines the development of the world's most popular instrument over the years.

Presents a pictorial history of acoustic and electric guitars from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century, covering Fender, Martin, Gibson, Ibanez, Jim Burns, and other makers from around the world.

The Ultimate Guitar Book is a comprehensive, lavishly illustrated guide to guitars, from early acoustics to the latest electrics. No book has ever brought together so many guitars in such keen detail and rich portrayal, featuring specially commissioned photographs of over 450 famous, rare and vintage guitars. It is packed with construction and design information which brings each instrument to life. In addition, it contains profiles of great guitar designers and their pioneering innovative workshops. The Ultimate Guitar Book is quite simply the most beautiful book on the guitar ever produced: its opulent illustration is complemented by extensive factual narrative. The book is certain to become a definitive reference work on the subject, and makes immensely pleasurable browsing for guitar players and collectors alike, from beginner to professional. 9 inch. x 11 inch..

First published in 2010, Ultimate Star Guitars, the first illustrated history of ticonic guitars and their owners, is now expanded to include 32 additional instruments. Where other best-selling guitar histories look at the rank-and-file models, Ultimate Star Guitars is unique in profiling the specific favorites of famous players - oftentimes million-dollar babies, such as the 1968 Stratocaster that Jimi Hendrix burned at Woodstock and which sold at Sotheby's in 1993 for $1.3 million. Guitar journalist Dave Hunter explains the stories behind each: the important sessions on which they were used, landmark tours and gigs on which they were played, modifications made by their owners, and more. From twangy country to scorching metal, from full-throttle punk to sophisticated jazz, and from gut-punch blues to lo-fi indie rock, Ultimate Star Guitars is illustrated with performance and candid photography of the artists with their star guitars, relevant memorabilia, and more often than not, studio shots of the guitars or signature models based on them. An information-packed visual feast for guitar enthusiasts!

From the Gibson Les Paul Standard to the Fender Telecaster, Ultimate Guitars brings together a collection of the most important classic guitar models of all time. Over 50 studio quality photographs accompanied by an incisive text by Tony Bacon, well known expert on the history of guitars, this calendar is perfect for fans, musicians and collectors alike.

(Book). Why does an electric archtop sound so different from a solidbody guitar when they have the same strings and pickups? Why does Eric Clapton use a vibrato Stratocaster with the vibrato arm removed and the mechanism blocked off with a piece of wood? Why does a strings-though-body guitar sound brighter than an instrument with the strings anchored at the bridge? The sound of an electric guitar is the sum of many parts. Every component, from the wood in the neck to the metal in the tuners and everything in between including the amount of air in the body affects the overall tone of an instrument. In this book, Dave Hunter looks at the development of the electric guitar since the earliest instruments in the late 1930s, and how, since then, guitar makers and players have sought to define and refine all the elements that create a guitar's tone. This book includes: analysis of the different components that make up a guitar and how each affects the sound of an instrument; chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the main body types, their characteristics, and their strengths and weaknesses; in-depth specifications of over 70 guitars; interviews with significant people in the guitar-making world; audio examples of many of the guitar sounds described in the book. By looking at all the variables involved, this book will set you, the player, on the road to achieving that sound you've always wanted.