Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia [Paperback]

Tony Bacon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2006

From the award-winning team that produced the best selling Ultimate Guitar Book comes the most comprehensive book about the electric guitar. The A to Z format in Electric Guitars covers more than 120 makers from around the world and details their successes and failures through 1,200 unique color studio quality photographs.

This book focuses on the iconic electric guitar with an introduction that places it in an historical context, running from early acoustic instruments in the 16th century to amplification experiments in the 1930's. A 65-year period from 1935 to 2000 is covered.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Thunder Bay Press (March 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592230539
• ISBN-13: 978-1592230532
• Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 9.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #436,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #74 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Music

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye Candy for the Guitar Lover, November 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

This book has the greatest wealth of quality guitar pictures of any "coffee table" guitar book I have yet seen. As a bonus, there is a quite good history of a large number of guitar companies, from obscure to famous. I found that it leaned a little too heavily towards a few top brands (ie: 34 pictures of Fender Stratocasters), but others may find this to be a plus. I would rather have seen more equal space given to brands like Peavey, Yamaha and Ibanez, who have also produced a large variety of great electric guitars. All in all though, a wonderful book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book rocks!, February 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

I got this book as a gift and I can't stop looking through it. It has great historical info on the electric guitars and lots of beautiful photos of various models, odd and not so odd. I'm surprised at how many rock legends contributed their axes to be photographed for this publication, the Beatles, and many more are included in this feast for guitar lovers.

I'm impressed, I only wish it was three feet thick...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great history and beautiful photos, November 24, 2005

By 

Granite City Green Guy (St. Cloud, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

This book is now showing up as a remainder at under ten dollars-- at that price there's no reason anyone interested in electric guitars would not have a copy. It offers a generic history of the electic guitar that will be familiar to anyone at all versed in the intstrument; what's unique here is the comprehensive coverage of factory-built guitars over the past 80 years. Every company I've heard of (and several I've not) is covered. Gibson, Fender, et al. get long sections and dozens of photos, but even lesser-known importers like Aria are given strong coverage. For those who have only heard about makes like Mosrite, Teisco, Framus, etc. there are great photos and strong histories. As an aspiring guitar builder I bought the book for the photos; the well written text is an added bonus.