This illustrated encyclopedia to acoustic guitars demonstrates their elegant beauty and which famous musicians favored which brands throughout the years.
(Book). Part of a two book set, this book provides information on guitar bodies, necks, headstocks, bridges, woods, as well as other chapters covering Models by Style, the Custom Shop and limited editions. All the lesser known instruments like archtops, electrics, mandolins and ukuleles are included as well, all very collectible. The book ends with exhaustive appendices covering production numbers, retail prices, and instrument specifications. Since Martin guitars are the world's most collectible acoustic guitar line, this book will undoubtedly be the most sought after reference book by any collector or owner of a Martin. If you own a Martin, you own a piece of history and this book will help you discover when it was made and how. This authorized book will finally answer any questions on the stories behind some of the rarest instruments.
This beautiful book is a comprehensive guide to the new Golden Age of handcrafted acoustic guitars! Illustrated with full-color photos of custom instruments throughout, this rich resource also contains profiles of top luthiers, advice on buying a custom instrument, and an extensive directory with complete contact information for hundreds of makers. Encompassing steel-string flattops, nylon-strings, resonators and Hawaiians, archtops and more, Custom Guitars presents the history and current state of the art of guitar making. Includes an intro by Alex de Grassi.
The Art Of Lutherie offers a glimpse into the mind and craft of luthier Tom Bills, whom many consider to be one of the most talented luthiers today. In this beautifully written and enjoyable read, Tom elegantly and clearly shares his best- kept secrets and methods of custom guitar making - those which make his guitars favorites among top collectors and players. Tom's unique approach to The Art Of Lutherie will empower and inspire you to create more than just a guitar, but a truly unique work of art. The information that is generously shared within this insightful and timeless work is both practical and applicable. It contains the same hard-won wisdom that only comes from years of experience and experimentation that Tom uses in creating his inspiring instruments. Over the years, he has producedinstruments considered to be some of the bestsounding guitars ever made. Learning the steps of how to build a guitar is important, but understanding whymaster luthiers take those steps and make those decisions can empower you to make your own educated choices. This will allow you to create unique guitars, and the world needs your art, your guitars - your important contribution. The Art Of Lutherie, a truly unique and inspiring guide, can prepare you to reach new heights when designing and creating unique guitars. It is not often I heap such lavish praise on people; however, Tom is in this case more than deserving: I know of no other luthier whose work I respect more. Tom knows his craft inside and out; he pours his soul into every guitar he makes; heuses cutting-edge science to guide his work, and it shows...as head of Artist Relations and Product Development at Mel Bay, it gives me great pleasure topublish Tom's work, which will no doubt take the art of lutherie to a new level. I hope you'll spend some time soaking in this book - it will certainly augmentyour musicality - Collin Bay. Includes access to online video
Acoustic Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive guide of its type ever produced, covering decades of great instruments and the people who played them. You will find here the highest quality photos of acoustic guitars produced by every significant maker, from Alvarez to Zemaitis, plus detailed information, and a host of action pictures of important players from pop, rock, jazz, country classical, blues, and folk. An acoustic guitar need not be a simple brown box with a neck attached. Acoustic Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia celebrates the unusual, the different and the purely bizarre in addition to the assured roots-based craft of the finest unadorned instruments, underlining the sheer diversity and variety of the acoustic stringed instruments that have been built and sold and played through three centuries. Here are resonator guitars made since the 1920s by Dobro, National, and others, often with highly decorated metal bodies; revered flat-tops from Martin, Taylor, Gibson, and more; peculiarly shaped and oddly featured creations from many of the custom builders; early 20th-century harp guitars with extra strings and extended bodies; creative archtops from D’Angelico, Epiphone, Benedetto, and more; and plastic-equipped constructions from Ovation. The comprehensive and informative text is in a clear A-to-Z format organized by brand name, written and researched by a unique team of the world’s leading authorities on the subject. Acoustic Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia shows in words and pictures just why and how the acoustic guitar continues to be the most popular musical instrument in the world.
(String Letter Publishing). Acoustic guitarists can now better understand their instruments, preserve and protect their value, and get the sounds they really want, thanks to this new book from the experts at Acoustic Guitar magazine. This indispensable guide begins by acquainting players with their instruments and laying to rest some pervasive guitar myths, then proceeds through various aspects of basic care, setup, common repairs, and pickup installation. Whether it's cleaning and polishing a beloved guitar, protecting it from theft or changes in humidity, selecting a case, or performing diagnostics, readers will become more savvy acoustic guitar owners and repair-shop customers and can forego dubious advice from well-meaning friends and anonymous "experts" on the Web. Includes a primer and glossary of terms.
This book is for experienced luthiers and guitar designers in the industry, novice builders wishing to improve their designs, and guitar owners interested in knowing more about their instruments. It includes the most important technical information gathered from many sources, including the academic literature and the author’s own work, presented here in a clear, actionable form with a minimum of mathematics. The book begins with a historical survey on how important features of the acoustic guitar evolved over centuries. The review leads up to a chapter focusing on three iconic instruments that represent the most important types of acoustic guitars: classical, steel string flat top and archtop. As the guitar market is so strongly conditioned by familiar, traditional instruments, a successful builder must have a thorough working understanding of the most important designs to underpin their own work. Through this volume, Professor French lays out the entire design process and collects detailed information in one convenient source. Luthiers quite often compile notebooks of measurements, part numbers, specific design features and other details they routinely need. This book organizes much of that information, with tables of dimensions, material properties, and other details in one essential final chapter. The book also features concise side bar contributions by top guitar designers and builders including Tim Shaw, Chief Engineer at Fender Music; Bob Taylor, Co-Founder of Taylor Guitars; and Andy Powers, Master Guitar Designer and Partner.
Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build is for everyone who wants to understand more about designing and building acoustic guitars using methods based on the acoustical and engineering sciences and contemporary small workshop practices. For the first time, the sound output of a guitar is comprehensively related both theoretically and practically to the instrument's woodwork, providing a logical and scientific method for designing guitars and real answers to questions that have challenged luthiers for centuries. Instruments built using these techniques are measurably more powerful, in-tune, responsive and playable than just about anything for sale in a music store. The differences are immediately audible.First time builders and experts alike will find these volumes invaluable. Building instructions and full sized plans are provided for four different types of guitar. But the real purpose of these volumes is to provide a design and build methodology that will allow the reader to construct just about any type of flat top guitar; the "perfect guitar" for yourself or your customer, using the same techniques that provide the quality and consistency required by pragmatic luthiers who make guitars for a living.
The acoustic guitar has been around for centuries and has survived amps, electric guitars, synthesizers--and even Pete Townshend of The Who. Discover everything you ever wanted to know about acoustic guitars in Acoustic Guitar: The Illustrated Encyclopedia--the definitive A-Z guide to your favorite six-string instrument, from Alvarez to Zemaitis.-Updated for 2009, this is the biggest and most complete guide ever written for the modern guitarist--filled with everything you need to know about acoustic guitars.-Go back in time to learn how the world's favorite instrument evolved. Learn all about celebrated guitar makers such as Andres Segovia, Orville Gibson, and Les Paul.-Guitar picks! Meet some of the greatest axe players of all time and their signature guitars--Elvis Presley and Eric Clapton with their Martins, The Beatles and Johnny Cash with their Gibsons, and Mark Knopfler with his National.-Improve your style as you study ten essential modern genres, including rock, pop, blues, country, jazz and others.-Learn everything you need to take care of your instrument, including how to string, tune, and set up your guitar.-Researched and written by some of the world's leading guitar heroes, this book features 320 full-color pages, more than 1,200 photographs, cool memorabilia, original ads and more.