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Great Guitars From its roots in Renaissance Europe, the guitar has developed into a worldwide phenomenon. Today, the guitar is America's instrument, and the tremendous popularity of American blues, jazz, country, bluegrass and especially rock and roll, has taken the sound of American-made guitars around the globe. Millions of people in hundreds of countries now play guitars made by American craftspeople or modeled after classic American designs. And in recent years, vintage guitars have become a red hot collecting field for baby boomers who can now afford the instruments they coveted when they were younger. Great Guitars is a dream book for anyone who loves guitars. The book presents a gallery of outstanding guitars of the past and present, ranging from a magnificently decorated instrument by the seventeenth century German luthier Joachim Tielke to works by some of today's master craftspeople, which marry skills honed over the centuries with innovative use of modern materials and technologies. Stunning full color photographs of acoustic and electric masterpieces by Martin, Gibson, D'Angelico, Fender, Gretsch, and other esteemed makers are complemented by historic black and white photographs of important musicians with their favorite instruments. The book's informative and insightful text, written by historian and guitarist Robert Shaw, explores the technical and design innovations that shaped particular instruments as well as the ways in which such influential musicians as Andre Segovia, Robert Johnson, Leadbelly, Django Reinhardt, B.B. King, Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton have exploited and expanded the capabilities of the guitar. |
