Unofficial Warmoth Recommends: Guitar Books

[hannaugh]

I'm starting this thread as a general info thread for everyone to go to when they need a recommendation for a book or DVD on various guitar building topics.  Please enter your recommendations by first putting the topic, followed by the title and author, and any other important notes (ie, out of print, DVD, StewMac, etc...).  

I'm doing this because I can remember that there was a conversation in which a book was recommended, but I don't have an easy way of searching for it because I don't remember what the overall thread was about, and I can't remember the title or author of the book.  But I know it has been recommended several times, and it sounds good.

IMPORTANT:  Don't worry if it's been recommended already, just write down your recommendations.  I will write down everyone who recommended it, that way you can see if Tonar, CB, and dmraco all recommended the same book on finishing (so you know it must be good).  


I'll start it by putting down some of my own and writing down the topics:

General Guitar Building:
    Assembling a Solidbody Electric Guitar - StewMac DVD by Dan Erlewine (hannaugh)
    Build Your Own Electric Guitar by Martin Oakham (koshersteel, djf67)
    Building Electric Guitars by Martin Koch (koshersteel)
    The Luthiers Handbook by Roger Siminoff (koshersteel)
    Making an Archtop Guitar by Bob Benedetto (koshersteel)
    Classical Guitar Making by Bob Bagdonavich (koshersteel)
    The Responsive Guitar by Ervin Somogyi (koshersteel)
    Guild of American Luthiers (publisher of books and American Lutherie magazine) (koshersteel)
    Electric Guitar Construction by Tom Hirst (knucklehead G)

Guitar Repair:
    Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine (Blue 313, TonyW, Return of Guitlouie, stubhead, dbw)

Guitar Setup:
    How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great by Dan Erlewine (hannaugh, Return of Guitlouie)

Guitar Finishing:
    www.paintyourownguitar.com (MedianMusic1)
    Guitar Finishing - Step by Step (Stew-Mac) (koshersteel, Tonar8353)
    Complete Illustrated Guide to Finishing by Jeff Jewitt (koshersteel)
    Wood Finishing Book by Michael Dresdner (also has a website www.michaeldresdner.com) (stubhead)

Fretwork:
    Fret Work Step By Step by Dan Erlewine (Blue 313)

Playing:

    Doug Marks' Metal Method (DVD) (Xplorervoodoo)
    Zen Guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo (hannaugh, Return of Guitlouie)
    The Complete Guitar Player by Bennett, Curwen, Douse, Noble, Riley, Skinner, and Wylie (hannaugh)
    The Guitar Grimoire series by Adam Kedmon (Blue 313, dbw)

Guitar Electronics:
    Guitar Electronics by Tim Swike (available as a paperback or book on cd-rom) (hannaugh)
    Pickups by Mario Millan (TonyW)

Amp Building:
    The Ultimate Tone series by Kevin O'Connor (available at www.londonpower.com)(mayfly, dbw)
    Inside Tube Amps by Dan Torres (Blue 313)
    VOX Amplifiers The JMI Years by Jim Elyea (Tonar8353)

Pedals/Effects:
    Electronic Projects for Musicians by Craig Anderton (texicus)

Mixing/Recording:
    Modern Recording Techniques  http://www.modrec.com/ (AndyG)
    The Audio Cyclopedia by Howard M. Tremaine (AndyG)
    Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Handbook by Gary Davis & Ralph Jones (AndyG, mayfly)


Acoustic Guitar Stuff:
    The Acoustic Guitar Guide by Larry Sandberg and Artie Traum (hannaugh)
    The Responsive Guitar by Ervin Somogyi (koshersteel)
    Classical Guitar Making by Bob Bagdonavich (koshersteel)
    Acoustic Guitar Owner's Manual by String Letter Publishing (hannaugh)

Guitar History:

    The Steve Howe Guitar Collection by Steve Howe (Marko)
    The Story Of Paul A. Bigsby: The Father Of The Modern Electric Solidbody Guitar by Babiuk (mayfly)
    The Blackguard: a detailed history of the early Fender Telecaster years 1950-1954 by Nacho Banos (Tonar8353)
    The Fender Stratocaster by A.R. Duchossoir (Tonar8353)
    The Fender Telecaster by A.R. Duchossoir (Tonar8353)

Band/Artist Bios:
    Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd by Nick Mason (Xplorervoodoo, djf67)
    Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer & Trower: Their Lives and Music by Dan Muise (TonyW)
    The Beatles Anthology by The Beatles (hannaugh)
    Twenty Thousand Roads : The Ballad Of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music by David N. Meyer (Return of Guitlouie)
    Iggy: Open Up and Bleed by Paul Trynka (Return of Guitlouie)
    Crazy From The Heat by David Lee Roth (djf67)
    Slash by Slash (djf67)
    Run To The Hills by Mick Wall and Chris Ingham (djf67)
    Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton (djf67)
    Shakey by Jimmy McDonough (about Neil Young) (kboman)
    Nick Drake: the Biography by Patrick Humphries (kboman)
    Riding Shotgun:  35 years on the road with Rory Gallagher by Gerry McAvoy (TonyW)
    Power, Passion and Beauty by Walter Kolosky (a history of the Mahavishu Orchestra) (stubhead)
    John Coltrane by Lewis Porter (stubhead)


Inlay:


Misc:
    Hell Bent For Leather: Confessions of a Heavy Metal Addict by Seb Hunter (hannaugh)
    Guitar: An American Life by Tim Brookes (hannaugh)
    The Blue Book of Electric Guitars (Marko)
    2009 Official Vintage Guitar Magazine Price Guide: The Only Complete Guide! (annual magazine) (Marko)
    Secrets From the Masters by Guitar Player Magazine (compilation of interviews from GPM over the years) (stubhead)
   

Thanks ahead of time, guys.  I hope we can fill in all of these topics.  

 

[blue313]

Guitar Repair:
Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine

Fretwork:
Fret Work Step By Step by Dan Erlewine

 

[TonyW]

Guitar Repair:
Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine

Fretwork:
Fret Work Step By Step by Dan Erlewine

Guitar Repair:
+1Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine +1 i have edition 3

Pickups
A book of the same name by Mario Milan

 

[MedianMusic1]

Guitar Finishing:

www.PaintYourOwnGuitar.com

 

[Xplorervoodoo]

Band/Artist Bios:

Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd by Nick Mason

Playing:

Doug Marks' Metal Method (DVD set, good for absolute beginners or intermediate players.  Personal experience - I'm only on the third dvd, so I'm not sure if expert players would get anything out of it.)

 

[koshersteel]

"Guitar Finishing - Step by Step" Stew-Mac
mostly covers nitro and waterbase laquer finishing techniques. Also a great section on applying different color finishes

"Complete Illustrated Guide to Finishing" Jeff Jewitt
a great book dedicated entirely to the topic in great detail. not a guitar book specifically but a must for all who apply thier own finishes

"Build Your Own Electric Guitar" Martin Oakham
my first book on the subject and still a favorite, covers design and construction of an electric guitar

"Guitar Electronics for Musicians" Donald Brosnac
an almost comicly antiquated book, written in the early 80's and declares that soon passive pickups will be entirely replaced w/ active electronics. Still a great reference since guitar pickups really haven't changed much since the early 70's

"Building Electric Guitars" Martin Koch
my favorite book on the topic of electric guitar construction. Covers many different types of electric guitars

"The Luthiers Handbook" Roger Siminoff
and excelent introduction to some of the more "mystical" aspects of lutherie

"Making an Archtop Guitar" Bob Benedetto
the definitive work on the subject by the master of the current era

"Classical Guitar Making " Bob Bagdonavich
an excelent modern and well illustrated guide to spanish style guitar making

"The Responsive Guitar" Ervin Somogyi
hot off the presses, this 2 volume set is by far the most comprehensive work on the subject of acoustic guitar design and function. Somogyi is the self proclaimed "greatest luthier in the world" but it aint brag if it's true

ANYTHING printed by the Guild of American Luthiers, particularly the 5 Red Books which are compilations of the quarterly magazine "American Lutherie" which is included with every annual membership.

I've got some other books in my library but these are the ones I can recommend

 

[TonyW]

Band/Artist Bios:
Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer & Trower: their lives and music

 

[m4rk0]

some of the ones I would recommend are already mentioned.. can't go wrong on most Dan Erlewine books!

now:
one Bargain Hunting:
the blue book of Electric Guitars
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1886768730/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1886768269&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1XP6AEMW7Q3KTHPG0ADF
I always keep one of those and this one http://www.amazon.com/Official-Vintage-Guitar-Magazine-Price/dp/1884883206/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b in my car, just in case I pass by a pawnshop!

On Guitar Collecting/Collections, this is a really interesting one:
The Steve Howe Guitar Collection..
http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Howe-Guitar-Collection/dp/B002IXT80U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258169792&sr=1-2

 

[hannaugh]

This is great, keep em coming, and don't forget:

IF YOU SEE A BOOK YOU WOULD RECOMMEND ALREADY ON THE LIST, POINT IT OUT SO THAT I CAN LIST YOUR NAME NEXT TO IT.

Thanks!

 

[mayfly]

Tube Amp Books:

The Ultimate Tone series by Kevin O'Connor
http://www.londonpower.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=3

 

[Return of Guitlouie]

I looooooooove to read.  So, my "recommends" list could be rather long.  I'm going to keep it short right now, and maybe I will come back and fill it out later when I don't have to get up so early the next day.

+ a googleplexianth to these two Erlewine books: The Guitar Players Repair Guide, and How To Make Yor Electric Guitar Play Great

+ a googleplexianth to Zen Guitar.  Not just about guitar playing, it's really about living life.

Two great artist bios, though hardly guitar-centric, are Twenty Thousand Roads (The Ballad Of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music), and Iggy, Open Up and Bleed. 

 

[whyachi]

Electric Guitar Construction by Tom Hirst, got mine at Borders books. Its a step by step guide specifically for first time builders. Includes finishing techniques. Its a little rough on formatting but easy enough to follow.

 

[blue313]

A couple more

Tube amp book:
Inside Tube Amps by Dan Torres


Guitar playing:
The Guitar Grimoire by Adam Kedmon

 

[stubhead]

Because of Maryland's amazing inter-library loan program, I read them all, and the only one you need to assemble Warmoths is Dan Erlewine's "Guitar Player Repair Guide." There's a lot of good books on wood finishing, too, but the single-source bible is Michael Dresdner's "Wood Finishing Book." A lot of this stuff is online, too... if you want to wire up superswitches and all, it gets more esoteric.

http://www.michaeldresdner.com/

I love music books, I have a lot, but more oriented towards playing them - building is the easy part. Really. :hello2:

 

[dbw]

Good thread idea hannaugh  :icon_thumright:

Playing: Guitar Grimoire series.  Not for beginners, but good if you don't know what to practice to get better.
Amps: +1 to The Ultimate Tone.  You must understand basic electronics (R, C, V, I) to understand this book.

Guitar Player Repair Guide is *THE* must-own for a Warmoth builder.  Easily the most useful guitar book I own.  Should be #1 on the list!

 

[djf67]

Biogs -
Crazy From The Heat - Dave Lee Roth autobio
Slash by Slash autobio
Run To The Hills - Maiden bio
Clapton's autobio, if only to see the man was a complete arse for at least 3/4 of his career

+1 for Nick Mason's Floyd book
Another +1 for Martin Oakham's book for giving me confidence that I could make my own bodies.

 

[hannaugh]

I just won an ebay auction and picked up Guitar Finishing Step-by-Step, Fretwork Step-byStep, The Luthier's Handbook, and some book called Double Bevel Sharpening.  Score!

 

[hannaugh]

Hey guys, can we get some more recs?  There are some highly respected members that still haven't endorsed some of these books, and we have whole topics that are still blank. 

 

[mayfly]

A guitar history one:

The Story Of Paul Bigsby

 

[kboman]

"Shakey" about Neil Young by Jimmy McDonough
"Nick Drake: the Biography" by Patrick Humphries (although opinion on it seems very divided)