Gibson Guitars: Ted McCarty's Golden Era: 1948-1966 [Paperback]

Gil Hembree (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2007

Gibson Guitars: Ted McCarty's Golden Era is a long overdue book that covers the world's greatest period of guitar manufacturing. As CEO of Gibson Guitars from 1948 to 1966, Ted McCarty presided over the production of nearly one million instruments and amplifiers. 1950s Gibson Les Paul Standards, Flying Vs, Explorers, and ES-335s are considered to be some of the most valuable fretted instruments in the world. This book is Ted McCarty's first and only complete biography, and a book that gives us a glimpse into a golden era of his factory and his loyal employees who made some of the world's most desirable guitars. It features over 100 photographs, some from Ted's personal archives and never before published. "Ted McCarty was the architect of a Golden period in Gibson's history. During his 18-year tenure, he helped to reestablish the company's historic leadership in the industry through a number of musical innovations that still resonate today." Gibson Chairman and CEO Henry E. Juszkiewicz

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Gil Hembree began collecting guitars in 1966 while working at Kitt's Music in Washington, DC. Familiarity with the professional musicians playing on Georgetown's M-Street allowed him to dabble in early buy-sell, but his academic interest in finance led to a corporate job in Michigan. In 1993 he started writing for Guitar Digest where he developed the first vintage-guitar price index. Throughout his financial career he played in bands, and searched for original-owner vintage guitars in cities like Flint, Saginaw, Bay City, Port Huron, Pontiac, Battle Creek, and Kalamazoo. In 2000, freshly retired from corporate finance, Hembree was contracted by Vintage Guitar to co-author the Official Vintage Guitar Price Guide. In 2007, the Hal Leonard Corp released his biography of Ted McCarty: Gibson Guitars: Ted McCarty's Golden Era: 1948 - 1966. After residing in Michigan for 35 years, Hembree and his wife, Jane, relocated to Austin, TX.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: GH Books (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423418131
• ISBN-13: 978-1423418139
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,205,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gil Hembree began collecting guitars in 1966 while working at Kitt's Music in Washington, DC. Familiarity with the professional musicians playing on Georgetown's M-Street allowed him to dabble in early buy-sell, but his academic interest in finance led to a corporate job in Michigan. In 1993 he started writing for Guitar Digest where he developed the first vintage-guitar price index. Throughout his financial career he played in bands, and searched for original-owner vintage guitars in cities like Flint, Saginaw, Bay City, Port Huron, Pontiac, Battle Creek, and Kalamazoo. In 2000, freshly retired from corporate finance, Hembree was contracted by Vintage Guitar to co-author the Official Vintage Guitar Price Guide. In 2007, the Hal Leonard Corp released his biography of Ted McCarty: Gibson Guitars: Ted McCarty's Golden Era: 1948 - 1966. Hembree is also co-author of the Vintage Guitar Price Guide which is updated and released once a year.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A difficult to read, not very compelling book, May 3, 2007

By 

C. Basner (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gibson Guitars: Ted McCarty's Golden Era: 1948-1966 (Paperback)

As a huge fan of anything Gibson, in particular, anything Gibson built during the McCarty years (which includes the most famous of Gibson's guitars such as the 1958-1960 Les Pauls, the Flying V and Explorer, among others) I was excited at the thought of a book devoted to that era. Unfortunately, the book was a disappointment. While it may be true that certain information about Mr. McCarty and about Gibson in the 1950s is only available in this book (I don't know this to be true), the writing 'style' is bad enough to make this volume entirely unsatisfying. Numerous typographical errors, and extensive cases of just awful use of the English language (incomplete or incomprehensible sentences) and in many cases, just terribly simplistic language, made reading this book a challenge, at best. It makes me wonder if an editor ever went through this book prior to publication. I'm usually one to give any product the benefit of the doubt, but in this case, I'd have to strongly recommend avoiding this book.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive work on the greatest guitar manufacturer of all time, Gibson Inc., March 20, 2007

By 

DeeringAmps - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gibson Guitars: Ted McCarty's Golden Era: 1948-1966 (Paperback)

Gil Hembree has created the one, and only, history of Gibson Guitars and its president Ted McCarty. If you are a fan of Gibson guitars this is, simply put, a MUST HAVE! Gibson was always the premier builder of archtop guitars in the country, but under Ted's leadership Gibson developed what would become the premier electric solid body, and semi acoustic guitars, leaving his personal stamp on the sound of Rock `n' Roll. The Les Paul Model, the Humbucking pickup, the Tune-o-matic bridge, the ES 335, the Flying V, the Explorer, the SG, and the Firebird. All developed under Ted's tenure as President of Gibson, Inc. The employee interviews are priceless, and serve to define why Gibson became the industry giant. Great people, who stayed with the company, working under great leadership. Gibson guitars from the "Golden Era" remain some of the most sought after instruments on the vintage market, and rightfully so. We all have Ted McCarty to thank for that, and Gil Hembree for telling his story, and the story of the people who worked for him.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Golden Era of Gibson, October 2, 2007

By 

Rupert Gruebl - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gibson Guitars: Ted McCarty's Golden Era: 1948-1966 (Paperback)

I am really impressed with this book because it offers a totally different approach than any other book which I have read on the topic. The author - Gil Hembree - puts emphasis not on Gibson guitars or amplifiers but on the persons who made them. About one third of the book is dedicated to one of the most important men in the history of this company, Ted McCarty, who was CEO from 1948 to 1966 - an era during which the most important Gibson products were launched: The Les Paul, ES 335/355, Explorer and Flying V guitars. The other two thirds are used to introduce other people at Gibson from important engineers down to simple workers who were all proud to be working for this company.
For all those who think they have read everything about Gibson: Get this book and learn even more - not only about the Gibson company - but also about the USA from the late 1940s to the mid 1960s.