Customer Reviews

The Classical Guitar: A Complete History

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Any lover of the classical guitar cannot help but appreciate this gorgeous collection of instruments, as well as the way in which they are displayed on the pages. Filled with information about the guitars and their construction, the luthiers, and which players'CDs you can hear them on, I highly recommend this fine edition. I take issue only with the subtitle "A Complete History", as the guitars are based on a single collection of instruments, owned by Russell Cleveland, and not necessarily what any other person would consider "Complete". That fact does not diminish my enjoyment of this exquisite book one bit.

This is an amazing book. It has a lot of information of todays luthiers and past luthiers. The photographs are beautiful and I would recomend this book to anyone who loves the classical guitar. It is however on the expensive side.

Though I like the book, the highlights are more about the luthiers and not so much on the quality of the guitars they make. The book is layed out in a chronological order, and focuses on just one luthier and guitar per year.. This is confusing, as many luthiers produce guitars across 40,50 even 60 years. So, this approach doesn't really work for me.

The book could have benefited from a comparison of major achievements introduced by each luthier, and focused on broad comparisons of different guitars. It instead focuses on the personalities of the luthiers.

If the reason you want to purchase the book is to help you find a concert guitar, this book will provide a good reference to the major luthiers operating today. However, if you are looking to find distinguishing features about the guitars, you will be hard pressed to do so, as the book provides just a few tidbits of information in that regard.

A mouthwatering book for any amateur classical guitarist. Large paperback format with fold-out double pages to enable full length illustrations of historic classical guitars. The book is in the form of a series of essays by several writers on the early development of the guitar, on guitar construction, and detailed chapters on the leading guitar makers from Antonio Torres to the present day. These are illustrated by watercolour sketches of the luthiers (guitar makers) and of the guitars. There are text boxes about the leading classical guitarists and their (changing) guitar preferences over the years, and even details about which guitars were used on which records or CD's - Julian Bream played two Bouchets on "Popular Classics for the Spanish Guitar" (one was stolen from the trunk of his car), a Rubio on "Twentieth Century Guitar" and on more recent discs a Romanillos.
Recommended background reading for any student about to buy an expensive instrument. Apart from anything else it unravels the intricacies of the Ramirez dynasty!

If you are a lover of guitars, specifically classical guitars, you owe it to yourself to purchase this book. There is nothing else like it. Great photography, details on some of the best guitars from some of the best makers...Romanillos, Smallman, Bernabe...They are all here. Inclusively, the book covers players (Williams, Bream, Segovia) as well as an in depth look at wood and the guitar market today. Great stuff and at ..., an incredible bargain.

For people interested in a detailed discussion of different types of guitar it may be just the ticket, but I was looking for something more general. There is precious little information about players, composers, repertoire, etc.
This book is for people interested in the construction of guitars and it's not really a "History of the Classical Guitar" as I understand the expression.
It's all very well for Amazon to say we can have a refund. What they don't tell you is that you have to post it back to America - and it's a large and heavy book!

This book is a goldmine for those who want to learn something about the classical guitar and for those who love the instrument.

Although it does discuss some of the great classical guitarists -- Segovia, Williams, Bream, etc. -- it is oriented more toward the great classical guitar builders and has detailed information on the great luthiers of the present and recent past.

A real plus is the selection of superb color photos of a number of gorgeous guitars; the photos make clear that a guitar can be a work of art as much as an instrument of music.

It is a book the lover of the classical guitar will return to repeatedly, just for the pleasure of looking at some unquestionably beautiful works of musical art.

This book is what I wanted. Great color photos of classical guitars from many makers. Its a good book for those who love not only the sound but the look of these great instruments. Only wish it were available in a hardback version. Luscious photos !

This book is simply great. The rich, colorful photographs brings the guitars to life. There's plenty of information for the reader without being overwhelmed. Any guitarist would do well to purchase this book at least to have a snapshot of the wonderful world of guitar history.