(Book). These beautiful instruments have long been a favorite with musicians. This book is a history, source book and owner's manual for players and fans which covers the facts and figures necessary for serious collectors. In addition to many black and white historical photos, there is also a color section highlighting models. The book covers the company's full history, specific styles and models of all instruments, Hawaiian, blues, and jazz artists who have used Nationals, a history of their advertising, set-up and maintenance, and much more. Appendixes include serial numbers for all instruments, a company chronology and a Hawaiian Artist Discography.

First published in 2001 and now updated and expanded, History of the American Guitar begins in New York City in the 1830s with the arrival of Christian Martin, from Germany, to set up the Martin company. From that historic moment, the book takes readers on a fascinating and comprehensive visual tour of U.S. guitar history. Over 75 brand names are represented, with more than 300 guitars photographed in stunning detail, including Bigsby, Danelectro, D'Angelico, D'Aquisto, Ditson, Dobro, Dyer, Epiphone, Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, James Trussart, Kay, Maccaferri, Martin, Micro-Frets, Mosrite, Oahu, Ovation, Regal, Rickenbacker, Stella, Stromberg, Suhr, Taylor, Vega, Washburn, Wilkanowski, and many more. The interrelated stories of the guitar, mandolin, and banjo are mixed seamlessly with the history of the diverse American music that grew and prospered with these instruments, from country to blues, from jazz to rock. The bulk of the instruments illustrated were part of the celebrated collection of Scott Chinery, photographed before Chinery's untimely death and the subsequent break-up of his unique collection. The book presents every important episode in the story of the American luthier's art and is an unparalleled resource for every musician, collector, and music fan.

The guitar is one of the most evocative instruments in the world. It features in music as diverse as heavy metal, blues, indie and flamenco, as well as Indian classical music, village music making in Papua New Guinea and carnival in Brazil. This cross-cultural popularity makes it a unique starting point for understanding social interaction and cultural identity. Guitar music can be sexy, soothing, melancholy or manic, but it nearly always brings people together and creates a common ground even if this common ground is often the site of intense social, cultural, economic and political negotiation and contest.This book explores how people use guitars and guitar music in various nations across the world as a musical and symbolic basis for creating identities. In a world where place and space are challenged by the pace of globalization, the guitar provides images, sounds and styles that help define new cultural territories. Guitars play a crucial part in shaping the commercial music industry, educational music programmes, and local community atmosphere. Live or recorded, guitar music and performance, collecting and manufacture sustains a network of varied social exchanges that constitute a distinct cultural milieu.Representing the first sustained analysis of what the guitar means to artists and audiences world-wide, this book demonstrates that this seemingly simple material artefact resonates with meaning as well as music.

"In The Electric Guitar, scholars working in American studies, business history, the history of technology, and musicology come together to explore the instrument's importance as an invention and its peculiar place in American culture. Documenting the critical and evolving relationship among inventors, craftsmen, musicians, businessmen, music writers, and fans, the contributors look at the guitar not just as an instrument but as a mass produced consumer good that changed the sound of popular music and the self-image of musicians."--BOOK JACKET.

Approaches country music through an interdisciplinary lens, Features close analyses of gendered and racial disparities in country music, Examines politics of both the performance of country music and the scholarship surrounding it Book jacket.

This book will help all guitar players make better friends with their present guitar or decide on features to look for in a new one. They will learn about the differences in guitar woods (and how they sound), simple guitar maintenance, how to choose an instrument for their style of playing, what to expect from a music dealer, and the mystique of collectible guitars. This new edition includes more details on amplifying acoustic guitars, and a guide to guitar companies' Web sites.