Totally Guitar


Book Description

This is a compendium of guitar playing, providing everything you need to know about the world's most influential and popular instrument. It teaches the skills for playing a range of musical styles, provides an understanding of guitar and amplifier sound, and reveals the stories behind guitar makers old and new.




Tipbook Electric Guitar and Bass Guitar


Book Description

(Book). This owner's guide for electric guitarists and bassists features numerous tips on auditioning and buying a (bass) guitar, choosing new strings, maintenance and tuning, and other aspects that are unique to an electric guitar. This book also includes chapters on the history and the production of these instruments, as well as an index, a glossary, and the unique Interactive Tipcodes that allow you to hear online audio examples.




Guitar Makers


Book Description

It whispers, it sings, it rocks, and it howls. It expresses the voice of the folk—the open road, freedom, protest and rebellion, youth and love. It is the acoustic guitar. And over the last five decades it has become a quintessential American icon. Because this musical instrument is significant to so many—in ways that are emotional, cultural, and economic—guitar making has experienced a renaissance in North America, both as a popular hobby and, for some, a way of life. In Guitar Makers, Kathryn Marie Dudley introduces us to builders of artisanal guitars, their place in the art world, and the specialized knowledge they’ve developed. Drawing on in-depth interviews with members of the lutherie community, she finds that guitar making is a social movement with political implications. Guitars are not simply made—they are born. Artisans listen to their wood, respond to its liveliness, and strive to endow each instrument with an unforgettable tone. Although professional luthiers work within a market society, Dudley observes that their overriding sentiment is passion and love of the craft. Guitar makers are not aiming for quick turnover or the low-cost reproduction of commodities but the creation of singular instruments with unique qualities, and face-to-face transactions between makers, buyers, and dealers are commonplace. In an era when technological change has pushed skilled artisanship to the margins of the global economy, and in the midst of a capitalist system that places a premium on ever faster and more efficient modes of commerce, Dudley shows us how artisanal guitar makers have carved out a unique world that operates on alternative, more humane, and ecologically sustainable terms.




The Guitar Amp Handbook


Book Description

(Book). There's a huge amount of hype and mythology surrounding tube amplifiers in the guitar world. For years, experts have argued over the tiny details of exactly how they do what they do, and how their various components interact. What's undeniable is that, far more than being just a "loudness booster," the unique combination of tubes, capacitors, resistors, and transformers in these amps can contribute enormously to the quality of sound derived from any electric guitar. In this thorough and authoritative book, Dave Hunter cuts through the marketing hyperbole, and the blind faith, and supplies all the information you need to choose the right amp, and get the best from it. The book also features exclusively conducted, in-depth interviews with leading figures in the tube amp-building world including Ken Fischer, Mark Sampson, and Michael Zaite and even provides full instructions on how to construct your own high-quality tube guitar amp from scratch.




Guitar Rigs


Book Description

(Book). The sound of rock, blues, country and jazz is not just the sound of electric guitars. It's the sound of electric guitars through amplifiers. For the first time, Guitar Rigs examines the great guitar/amp combinations that have created more than 50 years of fantastic music. Each section includes a full history of guitar and amps and details the construction, components, performance, qualities and drawbacks of each combination. Guitar Rigs is not just a celebration of the collectable treasures of the guitar and amp world. Along the way it evaluates many more instruments, amps and effects, offering alternatives for those trying to conjure great sounds from less-exalted equipment. And it comes with a CD that demonstrates these and many more combinations so you hear them for yourself.




Feel My Big Guitar


Book Description

Contributions by Ignatius Calabria, H. Zahra Caldwell, Brian Jude de Lima, Sabatino DiBernardo, William Fulton, Antonio Garfias, Judson L. Jeffries, Tony Kiene, Molly Reinhoudt, Fred Shaheen, and Karen Turman With his signature blend of genres and lyrics that touch on myriad societal issues, the artist Prince (1958–2016) has challenged and captivated the minds and hearts of countless listeners. Feel My Big Guitar: Prince and the Sound He Helped Create is a wide-ranging collection that seeks to place Prince at the center of contemporary musical scholarship, putting him in proper cultural and political context. This edited volume includes a mix of essays and reflections by scholars and fans, as well as interviews with people who worked with and knew Prince personally. Employing a blend of methodologies, contributors offer a body of fresh, intriguing, thought-provoking, and mind-bending work about Prince—an artist whose music exemplified those very characteristics. The volume examines Prince's musical influences, his rivalries (both real and imagined), and instrumental eroticism. It includes enlightening interviews with early mentor Pépe Willie and Gayle Chapman, Prince’s first female bandmate. These personal reflections and interviews grant readers a unique lens through which to view Prince, enriching our overall understanding of the man. Ultimately, Feel My Big Guitar serves as a space for sharing musicological analysis and memories about an artist whose work has touched and inspired so many. Years in the making, this is the first book in an ongoing scholarly project, PrincEnlighteNmenT: A Study of Society through Music, intended to investigate and reveal the full spectrum of Prince’s life and work.




The Totally Interactive Guitar Bible


Book Description

The most original resource available for all those that play the electric guitar, or for those who are just fascinated by guitars and guitar players. The 'Bible' has four fully interrelated components - a DVD, a reference book, a tutor book, and a CD - that come in a semi-concealed wire-o binding that converts into a reading stand. In a nutshell - a comprehensive overview of the electric guitar and how to play it!




Play Acoustic


Book Description

The acoustic guitar is the instrument of the people and Play Acoustic tells the people how to play it. This detailed and beautifully illustrated book explores the history of the acoustic guitar, from the jazz age to the folk revolutions of the early 1960s and late 1990s to the current rebirth of bluegrass and the singer-songwriter boom of the past decade. Skilled professional musicians and experienced tutors coach the reader through 11 styles, using exercises suitable to novice players new to each style and working up to full pieces and advanced techniques. Entire chapters are devoted to folk, rock and pop, blues, country, bluegrass, jazz, and more, with detailed guidance through both musical notation and tablature, diagrams, and explanatory text. Accompanying audio also offers listening examples of the most crucial of these exercises, to help players master each style.







The Art of Lutherie


Book Description

The Art Of Lutherie offers a glimpse into the mind and craft of luthier Tom Bills, whom many consider to be one of the most talented luthiers today. In this beautifully written and enjoyable read, Tom elegantly and clearly shares his best- kept secrets and methods of custom guitar making - those which make his guitars favorites among top collectors and players. Tom's unique approach to The Art Of Lutherie will empower and inspire you to create more than just a guitar, but a truly unique work of art. The information that is generously shared within this insightful and timeless work is both practical and applicable. It contains the same hard-won wisdom that only comes from years of experience and experimentation that Tom uses in creating his inspiring instruments. Over the years, he has producedinstruments considered to be some of the bestsounding guitars ever made. Learning the steps of how to build a guitar is important, but understanding whymaster luthiers take those steps and make those decisions can empower you to make your own educated choices. This will allow you to create unique guitars, and the world needs your art, your guitars - your important contribution. The Art Of Lutherie, a truly unique and inspiring guide, can prepare you to reach new heights when designing and creating unique guitars. It is not often I heap such lavish praise on people; however, Tom is in this case more than deserving: I know of no other luthier whose work I respect more. Tom knows his craft inside and out; he pours his soul into every guitar he makes; heuses cutting-edge science to guide his work, and it shows...as head of Artist Relations and Product Development at Mel Bay, it gives me great pleasure topublish Tom's work, which will no doubt take the art of lutherie to a new level. I hope you'll spend some time soaking in this book - it will certainly augmentyour musicality - Collin Bay. Includes access to online video