The Guitar Handbook

My copy, though tattered, missing it's cover and pretty well trashed, lies in the spot of honor on my bookshelf as the book that gave me more insight and inspired me more than any other. I purchased it used at a pawn shop that I bought one of my first guitars, and even though that guitar is long gone, this book, now over 10 years later is the book I recommend to all MY guitar students.

Well done Ralph!


Probably the best you will find   July 14, 2003
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

This is probably the best overall book you will find about guitars. It covers quite a bit of material. The details about how a guitar works and how to maintain a guitar are the best I have ever personally read. For example, setting the scale length of a guitar, a very important part of getting a guitar to sound good, is covered in easy to understand terms. It helped me fix some minor tuning issues on my Stratocaster.

This is also an effective book if you are interested in buying a guitar. You will be able to identify problems with most guitars because you will know what to look for. For example, checking for a warped neck. There is a great two page section that gives you the basics about how to look for that kind of defect.

And don't let any of these other reviews convince you that there is not enough theory in here. Granted, if you are brand new to playing or music in general it probably won't make much sense and you will struggle. But if you understand some basic scale and chord structures this book will help you gain a better understanding of how it all works. Odds are that those who do not like the theory in this book either do not like the approach or didn't actually read the entire book.

This book will NOT make you sound like your favorite guitarist. All the great players are great because they practice and the greatest players just have the gift. So do not expect that out of any book or instructor.

Lastly, do not buy the hard cover edition. Get the soft cover/paperback edition. You will want to have this book in front of you when you are working on your guitar or playing it. The only thing that would make this book a 5 star is if you could get it in spiral bound format.


not the "Guitar Handbook..."   March 5, 2003
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

this is the GUITAR BIBLE! This is the best possible reference in book form that you could get for the guitar! I really loved reading the bios of some of the guitar legends...it got me into Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt. It does present basic THEORY, but the goal of this book isn't to give you a theory course, it's to provide you with as much information about the guitar as possible. It certainly achieves that! Buy this book and you won't be sorry.


Three thumbs up! A wildly popular and comprehensive resource   February 3, 2003
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

A wildly popular and comprehensive resource for beginners and experienced guitarists alike, acoustic or electric. With great full-color photos, this new edition surveys recent guitar models and profiles current masters. It includes an expanded guitar music lesson section, and encompasses 10 years of technological change in recording and amplification. Take a quick breeze through the many reader comments about the book - it's all good here baby! CleverJoe gives it three thumbs up!