Tony Bacon: 8 books

In 1982, Fender revived an old guitar-string name for its new line of Japanese-made electric guitars. Millions of guitars later, and celebrating its 30th anniversary, Squier is almost as important to the company as the main Fender brand. Guitar pundit Tony Bacon reveals the stories behind the original...

The latest addition to Tony Bacon's acclaimed series of guitar books, 60 Years of Fender gives a year-by-year history of the most successful electric guitar maker. In 1950, Leo Fender introduced to the world the solidbody electric guitar – the instrument known as the Telecaster. He soon added two...

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...

Lavishly illustrated with color photos throughout

When the Byrds recorded their hit version of Dylan's “Mr. Tambourine Man ” they popularized a new sound in pop music: the electric 12-string guitar. Rickenbacker is the guitar maker that brought the electric 12-string to market and has since been almost single-handedly responsible for establishing...

Introduced in 1954 as one of Gretsch's “Guitars of the Future ” the White Falcon was an overwhelmingly impressive instrument. The influence of this spectacular new guitar spread to other models and guitar manufacturers. It was the dawn of a half-century of awe-inspiring guitars which are now favored...

Leo Fender's company changed the course of popular music in 1954 when they introduced the Stratocaster. Since then, the Strat has been played by countless guitarists, from Jimi Hendrix to Buddy Guy and Jeff Beck. In this book, interviews with important Strat players from every decade illustrate the...

The Bass Book offers a complete illustrated history of bass guitars from Fender's first in the 1950s through the models of the next 40 years that formed the foundation for modern music. The bass guitar is undoubtedly one of the most significant instruments of this century, yet this book is the first...