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Totally Guitar: The Definitive Guide
Totally Guitar is the biggest and most complete book on the world's most popular instrument, full of expert tips and fascinating stories for both beginning and advanced players. An unrivalled guide to the guitar, here are the stories behind 100 key electric guitar makers, from Alembic to Zemaitis, with fabulous color photos of all the greatest models from the 1930s to the 2000s. Here too is advice on how to string, tune, set up, clean, maintain, and store a prized instrument. Add 1,250 bars of music, 250 chords, the biggest glossary of guitar terms ever assembled in one book, and hundreds of essential tips on 10 hot playing styles from acoustic to rock 'n' roll and the result is a modern bible for the guitar-obsessed.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
608 pages, Hardcover
First published October 21, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 18, 2022
If anyone wants a great coffee table book that can take you from novice to intermediate guitar player and beyond, I recommend Tony Bacon and Dave Hunter's "Totally Guitar".
What you'll find in this book:
-An alphabetical listing of every major (and minor) guitar manufacturer of the last 100 years. A textual history is given and accompanied by pictures of important models.
-Comprehensive guides to repairing and modifying your guitar as well as setting it up to your favored playing specifications.
-Instructions and examples for nearly a dozen genres including rock and pop, jazz, latin, metal, country, and blues music. The examples are written in both guitar tablature and musical notation, and they are accompanied by short but helpful textual explanations.
I bought this book from a Costco nearly 20 years ago. I must say that the amount and degree of knowledge contained within intimidated me. I thought it impossible to tinker with my guitar because many of the maneuvers the book described seemed crazy. However, years later, I found myself taking a deep dive into guitar during the pandemic. Thanks to YouTube, I gained enough knowledge and confidence to perform a fret dressing, make a bone nut replacement, solder in new pickups along with pots and wiring, and even install new tuners. When I looked back in curiosity at my old Totally Guitar book, I saw that everything I performed was accurately described in the book all along!
The musical examples also seemed too far out, and I never really delved too far into them. But recently, having learned rhythmic notation, I tried again and I'm finding them quite helpful. The examples aren't often more than a 4-8 bars, but they introduce musical concepts well and quite efficiently.
What you'll find in this book:
-An alphabetical listing of every major (and minor) guitar manufacturer of the last 100 years. A textual history is given and accompanied by pictures of important models.
-Comprehensive guides to repairing and modifying your guitar as well as setting it up to your favored playing specifications.
-Instructions and examples for nearly a dozen genres including rock and pop, jazz, latin, metal, country, and blues music. The examples are written in both guitar tablature and musical notation, and they are accompanied by short but helpful textual explanations.
I bought this book from a Costco nearly 20 years ago. I must say that the amount and degree of knowledge contained within intimidated me. I thought it impossible to tinker with my guitar because many of the maneuvers the book described seemed crazy. However, years later, I found myself taking a deep dive into guitar during the pandemic. Thanks to YouTube, I gained enough knowledge and confidence to perform a fret dressing, make a bone nut replacement, solder in new pickups along with pots and wiring, and even install new tuners. When I looked back in curiosity at my old Totally Guitar book, I saw that everything I performed was accurately described in the book all along!
The musical examples also seemed too far out, and I never really delved too far into them. But recently, having learned rhythmic notation, I tried again and I'm finding them quite helpful. The examples aren't often more than a 4-8 bars, but they introduce musical concepts well and quite efficiently.
January 3, 2009
Great reference book, lots of information, music, stories, and all kinds of good stuff. Not to be confused with a straight through reader.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews