MUST HAVE GUITAR BOOKS FOR GUITAR PLAYERS
Guitar Players love books about guitars! My library grows every year and I love learning about the guitars that I have and the ones I want to purchase in the future. Nothing makes you or the guitar player in your life happier than a new guitar book, especially if it’s a great one.
As a kid, I would read everything I could get my little guitar player hands on about these great electric instruments that revolutionized modern music in the 1950s and ushered in Rock and Roll.
So what makes these guitar books great?
I think two things do: History that is accurate and complete and great Photographs.
These books about guitars and the authors I have selected here for you, have taken special care to artfully combine the history of the instruments with superb illustrations. With that being said, here are some Must Have Books for Guitar Players that are in my library and that I deeply treasure and I think you or the guitar player in your life will also treasure and enjoy.
THE GREAT LES PAUL
Besides Leo Fender and Paul Bigsby, the advanced design and impact on the future of music from 1950 to today pretty much starts with the one and only Les Paul. His career as the most famous guitarist in the world in 1950 and his lifelong inventive nature brought his vision of the electric guitar to a new level of prominence in music. Life has never been the same.
I was honored to receive a gratis copy of this book “LES PAUL IN HIS OWN WORDS” from the Les Paul Foundation. It is an amazing personal account of Les in his storied playing career, marriage to Mary Ford, his dealings with Gibson, his friendship with Leo Fender (and how the Les Paul guitar was almost produced by Fender!) and the real inside story about the epic guitar he envisioned and made into reality.
If you are a history buff like me, prepare to take an archaeological journey into the past world of Fender Guitars.
This book digs deep and sheds new light on the inspiration behind these revolutionary guitars and amplifiers, the personalities and motivations of the key players at Fender and the environment in which they were created and brought forth to all of us to enjoy.
The Source Material is the Thing
The author was given access to a lot of incredible source materials to tell this incredible story, including:
Handwritten Notes
Don Randall's Archives
Fender File Storage Near Corona
Photo Galleries
Leo Fender's Drawing-Board Sketches
Personal Logbooks
In-House Memos
Production Totals
True Guitar Archaeology
This book is really part history, part archive, part scrapbook and part treasure chest. Great pains were taken to give all of us an inside glimpse into the inner workings of the Fender Company. A company that truly changed not just guitar and instrument making, but in my opinion, largely contributed to changing music and inspiring the generations of guitarists who have showed us all what was possible with these amazing guitar innovations.
In 2019, the Play It Loud Exhibit at the New York Metropolitan Museum was a spectacle to behold. Assembled in one place were the instruments that led to the creation of electric amplified music and the birth and evolution of Rock and Roll.
The coffee table book of the Met Museum’s exhibit last year. Stunning!
NOTE: This is simply the definitive guide to have to know what a guitar is worth and is the industry standard guide everyone in the guitar business uses to gauge guitar prices. If you are doing any buying, selling or collecting of guitars, you simply must have this Guide, published annually by Vintage Guitar Magazine and written by Gil Hembree and Alan Greenwood and a panel of vintage guitar experts made up of some of the best vintage guitar dealers in the world.
Vic DaPra
Vic DaPra has authored many books and the Burst Believer Series is his best selling series on original late 1950s Gibson Les Paul Bursts. Vic is an amazing guy who works with the Gibson Custom Shop to develop Artist Series, Collector's Choice Series and other limited special model Les Paul runs for Gibson.
Vic is a friend and you can watch our interview and read our article about Vic by clicking here. Vic is a good friend of Guitar Stories USA and one of the nicest and most knowledgable guys in the guitar business.
The updated book by Vic DaPra, following up on his best seller below, the original “Burst Believers.” A thorough account of the Gibson Les Paul “Burst” and it’s incredible story.
The original best seller by Vic DaPra. Truly great and a must have for the Les Paul Burst lover in all of us.
THE BOX SET WITH BURST BELIEVERS I & II PLUS PLENTY OF BONUS MATERIALS
Tony Bacon
Author Tony Bacon has written many great guitar books from more of a historical perspective with must know facts about the great guitars and their often unknown stories from behind the scenes.
This book has become a standard in Les Paul lore since it was first published in 2002 and really opened the door to many more great books by Author Tony Bacon.
The updated version and more in depth coverage of the 1958-1960 Les Pauls. Known as the Sunbursts, or Bursts, it really gets into what made them come back in 1968 after their production was abruptly halted after 1960. Learn why it made the comeback and since has become the most beloved of all electric guitars.
This Tony Bacon book is a more general index and anthology of many models of the electric guitar. It is a great starting point for learning about many manufacturers and models besides just the popular Gibson & Fender Stories.
Everything you want to know about the first widely manufactured electric guitar that set the production standards for every model and brand that followed it.
Learn all about Fender’s answer to the elegant and popular Les Paul that was stealing the market from Fender’s Telecaster. A great book about what is the surely the most popular and widely played electric guitar ever invented.
The Beatles, The Byrds, Tom Petty….there is a reason that the Rickenbacker is like no other electric guitar and was the first company to actually manufacture the first electric guitar. It came up with the Frying Pan in the 1930s and in many ways, everything that came after based their features on the Rick. What happened in the 1950s set the stage for the acts of the 1960s and beyond. One of the few books out there with the facts!
I love this little book. Small but a great comprehensive reference. A great mini sized general reference of the many types of guitars ever made. Very informative and portable!
Andy Babiuk
All guitarists love gear and especially the gear history of the greatest bands. Author Andy Babiuk is a great author of some of the best band gear history books ever written. Not only does Andy deal in rare vintage guitars and gear but he’s also a great musician and bassist. He’s currently in a band called “The Empty Hearts” with Elliot Easton (The Cars) and Clem Burke (Blondie). These are premium higher end books but the research and personal knowledge Andy puts into them makes them priceless.
THE BASS GUITAR BOOK
When it comes to books about guitars we can’t forget the Bassists and the incredible advancement in the 1950s that is the electric bass guitar. As a Bassist since 1976, I can tell you that I played upright Bass in Jazz bands and I hate them! When Fender came out with the modern electric bass guitar, it was a game changer.
Geddy Lee of the band RUSH is by any musician’s standard, one of the greatest Bassists to ever play the instrument. He has finally written a book about bass guitars and takes us deep into his huge personal collection of vintage, rare and amazing bass guitars.
If you are a Bassist or love one, this is a book they will cherish forever.
The 2025 Orlando Guitar Show (Orlando International Guitar and Music Expo) is happening February 1st and 2nd…