Tony Bacon

Brief overview (95 pp) published in 1993. In the internet era, this sort of short compendium is perhaps outmoded, but there are many colour illustrations and a great deal of relevant information about manufacture and design variants, and no hint of a company info-mercial slant. New to me was information about the short-lived 3/4 size Les Paul of the late 1950s, and the low-impedance series, the LP Personal/Professional/Recording of the 1970s. Today there is a burgeoning market for recreated show more popular vintage versions complete with make-believe aging, presumably for retired would-be guitarists with too much time and money on their hands. Still, it's entertaining reading for anyone suffering from Gear Acquisition Syndrome. show less

This is a nice book that covers Fender's guitars and basses (and amps and steels). It really touches on everything, not just Strats/Teles + P-bass/J-bass; the steels are there, the other guitars & basses are there... Nice layout, grouped by year, with 2 pages per year - text highlights the major developments during the year while photos show a combination of instruments, artists, original Fender advertisements, and/or album covers pertinent to the year highlighted. This book is certainly not show more a deep dive (more 'light reading') but the text is informative and its an easy and enjoyable read. If you're looking for a comprehensive history of Fender you may want to pass, but for those looking for a high-level overview of what the company has done since the beginning this is a great place to start! show less

This coffee table book is incredibly popular in our library. It covers history of guitar that goes along with history of guitar music. Amazing story spins through the pages in words and pictures, captivating readers’ attention and giving new insight into the musical styles and guitar techniques. It contains the samples of popular musical pieces and explains how the instruments are designed to enable musicians to do the best in their performances.
Any time when the library is opened, one of show more the patrons checks out the book to sit at the library table and rediscover the popular guitar music. show less

50s jazz and skiffle, 60s folk and rock, 70s punk--and lots of terrific information on the club scene. Downside is a faded and small, almost unreadable font.