Guitar: The World’s Most Seductive Instrument

by David Schiller

Celebrate the significance, the magic, and the mojo of the world’s most seductive instrument.
 
An obsessive, full-color book presented in an irresistible slipcase, Guitar features 200 instruments in stunning detail. Here are icons, like Prince’s Yellow Cloud, Willie Nelson’s “Trigger,” Muddy Water’s Thunderbird, and “Rocky,” lovingly hand-painted by its owner, George Harrison. Historic instruments—Fender’s Broadcaster, Les Paul’s “Log,” the Gibson Nick Lucas Special, the very first artist model. Hand-carved archtops, pinnacles of the luthier’s art, from John D’Angelico to Ken Parker. Stunning acoustics from a new wave of women builders, like Rosie Heydenrych of England, who’s known to use 5,000-year-old wood retrieved from a peat bog. And quirky one-of-a-kind guitars, like Linda Manzer’s Pikasso II—four necks, 42 strings, and a thousand pounds of pressure.
 
Marrying pure visual pleasure with layers of information, Guitar is a glorious gift for every guitar-lover

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This incredible book has gorgeous photos and information about over 200 guitars and the amazing people who play them. It includes bios on famous guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, Willie Nelson, Joni Mitchell, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Maybelle Carter, and even Jimmy Page with his double-necked guitar.

There is a page showing the anatomy of a guitar, and details on how hundreds of beautiful guitars are made by artisans all over the world. There are stats about wood materials, sound quality, and pounds of pressure from the strings.

The stories behind some of these guitars are absolutely extraordinary, like the Moderne model guitar that Gibson designed but never produced, instead destroying the prototypes in a creepy bonfire. There are extravagant double-necked guitars, and crazy guitars shaped like a map of United States. You never know what beautiful history or wild past might be lurking behind these guitars, but one thing is for sure... they are all glorious instruments!

I am so impressed with the exquisite photos and stunning design of this book. It comes with a thick slipcase that showcases the cover design in a special way. Every page is full of rich color and elegantly organized with information and stats. The index makes it easy to find any guitar or musician you are looking for.

This would make the perfect gift for any guitarist or music enthusiast!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley to read and review.
GUITAR: THE WORLD’S MOST SEDUCTIVE INSTRUMENT is a stunning book from David Schiller that is filled with beautiful photos of legendary and one-of-a-kind historic pieces, as well as rare oddball or just beautiful one-offs that merit inclusion in this collectible reference that should be a must-add to any guitar aficionado’s collection of reference material, or just as a beautiful coffee table book always available.

I enjoyed seeing many guitars here that I hadn’t previously, even though I’ve pored over books on guitars throughout my life going back to the early seventies as a teen.

Especially of interest to me was several from the Scott Chinery collection, in particular the “Blue Guitar” project where he commissioned 22 prominent modern day luthiers to produce what they thought was the ultimate archtop guitar with one stipulation; it must be blue. Wonderful examples of what this project produced alone make this book worthwhile, but there is so much more.

5 stars.

[Paul Sutter]

The title of the book notes the guitar as “The World’s Most Seductive Instrument.” That is not far from the truth. How often have people been serenaded and charmed by the gentle notes from a guitar? How lonely would we be if the guitar had never been created?
David Schiller succeeds in this book with a most complete tribute to the guitar. He mentions more than 200 in the book. There are a myriad of these stringed instruments including special creations and one-of-a-kind instruments that rocked the music world.
Encased in a fancy slipcase cover, any aficionado of guitars will find the book music to their ears. There is a two page spread of guitars with some of the craziest shapes. There is the Karamer Triax, a Star Trek inspired guitar that was designed for NAMM, the guitar industry’s trade show. There are rumored to be only ten of this model in creation.
There is a Maltese cross edition of a guitar built in 1966, years before heavy metal bands wielded something similar to it. The book has tributes to some of the most notable guitarists such as Jimmy Page, Chuck Berry, and Joni Mitchell. It is mentioned that Mitchell learned to play guitar thanks to a Pete Seeger tutorial.
The list of guitars and their origins is most impressive. All models are noted, along with year they were built, type, whether it was acoustic or electric, and whether the body was solid or semi-hollow. Such classics as Silvertone 1415, Dobor Resonator, Hauser Classical Acoustic, and Le Domino Regal, highlight a great book. Photos of every guitar makes this a guitar lovers dream come true.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like to check this sort of book out from the public library - sometimes I just page back and forth, but in this case I eventually more or less read through it from beginning to end.

I don't understand how the author organized the order in which the instruments are presented - no order, really. For the most part each guitar discussed gets a single photograph taken dead on from in front against a white background with the name of the model, builder, and type, as well as a brief "of note" description followed by a paragraph or two of varying kinds of added history. Some of the guitars are noteworthy because of the provenance of the particular guitar in the photograph but mostly not.

There is an index organized by maker (manufacture) and then by model name - in some ways this was a significant way of looking through this book. "OK, here's a Les Paul, what other Les Paul models are in here?"

There are about a dozen different guitarists featured in full page photos with a few paragraphs about their significance in guitar music, usually opposite a page with the guitar the person was playing. Some of that is interesting.

All types of guitars are included, with a strong representation of non-standard instruments - exotic guitars one might easily never see or play. I don't understand the rationale for including quite so many of these.

I would have liked this a lot more with more photographs from different angles and fewer exotics.

[Serge Pierro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for books on guitar. Having played professionally for 40+ years, I’m always interested in seeing classic instruments from the past. David Schiller’s, “Guitar: The Worlds Most Seductive Instrument”, is an interesting book with high production values. The copy that I read had a D’Angelico headstock embossed on both the front and back covers, and the book was printed with quality paper and binding.

However, what makes this book really stand out is the inclusion of some rare/zany guitars that aren’t usually featured in books such as this. Sure, there’s the inclusion of classic guitars such as Strats and Les Pauls, but this book includes such oddities as the Gittler guitar and other strange offerings of the past. It should be noted that there are some mini-biographies of famous guitarists scattered throughout the book, as well as some interesting facts to accompany them.

This would be a welcome addition to any guitarist’s collection of books, as the variety of guitars and the high production values offer value that other books don’t touch upon.

[Dogg724 · Rating 3 out of 5]

My biggest gripe is that it isn't organized in any way. I don't know anything about the bodies of guitars or the people who make them. I can't orient the changes or make comparisons or group players or brands. It's just an assortment of guitars. If you want to remember nothing and read overburdened uses of the words "famous," "legendary," and "iconic" with straight on shots of guitars, this book is for you. A bathroom reader if you will.

[John Bialas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't wait to see the print edition of "Guitar: The World’s Most Seductive Instrument" by David Schiller because it's difficult to judge the book by its ARC, but from what the PDF showed me, I saw fascinating vignettes about musicians and the tools of their trade and color photos of axes as bold and beautiful as love, a play on Hendrix words.

The ARC gave me the chance to see George Harrison's "Rocky" Fender Stratocaster for the first time and now I can't stop looking at it. Schiller writes that it was "decorated by its famous owner with gloppy Day Glo paints and some of Pattie Boyd's nail polish."

The guitar, customized in 1967, is a psychedelic masterpiece worthy of display in a world-class art gallery.

Thanks to Workman Publishing Company and NetGalley for the ARC.

#Guitar #NetGalley

[William Dury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvelous little book for guitar geeks. Hard to pick a favorite, but I’m leaning towards the Fleta archtop. I think I had heard the creature existed, never expected to see it. Man. Some nice wood in this thing.

[Geoff Sheehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book. Though a couple of omissions that I would have added. John Lennons Rickenbacker 325 for one.

[George Săraru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im a guitarist, of course I like this book

[Eoin Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically guitar porn