No comments about Complete Electric Bass Method: Mastering Electric Bass (Complete Electric Bass Method).

1 comments about The Gretsch Book: A Complete History of Gretsch Electric Guitars (Guitar Profile S.).

1. This texts is a great resource for anyone interested in the history of one of America's most beloved electric guitars. If you're a player or just a guitar enthusiast this book will keep you happy for hours. Plus it's chock full of sweet pictures.

1 comments about Exotic Scales and Licks for Electric Guitar: 16 Tantalizing Scales and 80 Great Ways to Use Them (Book & CD).

1. I got this book looking for some ways to break away from the same old blues scales.
   
   It is good for what it is - just a collection of licks in different scales. This is one of the only books I've read that contains licks in these scales. Other books just tell you the scale and that's it. There are only about five licks for each scale. What the book lacks is a complete diagram of the scales on the fretboard, but if you want that, you should get the Guitar Grimoire book. This book just lists the notes of the scale and the harmonization at the beginning of each section. It's a pretty slim book, only 35 pages. It doesn't contain notes on what fingers to use where either. I may be spoiled after reading so many Troy Stetina books, which map out everything exactly for you.
   
   
   Overall, this book met my expectations. Most of the licks are pretty cool and I'll have fun learning all of them and incorporating them into my playing.

4 comments about Fuzz & Feedback : Classic Guitar Music of the 60's.

1. Excellent book!!!



2. Along with its companion volume 'Twang and Echo: Classic Guitar Music of the '50s', this book provides a richly-illustrated account of electric guitars and their manufacturers from a seminal period in the history of popular music. From the classic to the bizarre, from the familiar to the esoteric, they are all here in big picture and full-colour. Its magazine-type layout and writing approach makes for very easy perusal, providing an entertaining overview of the period and these fascinating time-pieces.
   BUT BE WARNED ... this book was previously published in 1996 in hardcover under the title 'Classic Guitars of the '60s'. To the best of my knowledge no mention is made anywhere of this in the write-up.



3. I love this book. The title is misleading however.This book focuses on bitchen electric guitars, their history, the wild and unusual models, the classics, and specific legendary guitars used by the guitar gods like Hendrix, Clapton, etc.. It's full of photos and great facts, and the lineage of models and history of the manufacturers. What is really neat are the photos of all the odd models made by companies other than the big names like Fender and Gibson. Besides all the fine photos and great layout, there is a lot of interesting information about the influence and use of various guitars on different bands and sounds from the sixties. The layout is really something--not only are there photos of cool guitars, there are also photos of vintage magazine ads for various guitar models, photos of rarely seen album covers from obscure sixties guitar bands, etc. Reading is not necessasary to enjoy this book! But there is plenty to read as well. This is a fun book. Anyone who has ever looked longingly at some old electric guitar on stage or hanging on a shop wall is sure to get a kick out of this book. Great gift.



4. I'm one of the macaroons that didn't notice that these two books Fuzz & Feedback, and Echo and Twang are actually older books with brand-spanking new Titles and Covers.
   
   They were originally: Classic Guitars of the '60s, & Classic Guitars of the '50s.
   
   I ordered them from Amazon thinking they were cool new books by Bacon and Company. Bacon's books are usually similar to DK books with great pictures and good text, so I normally just order them when I see them.
   
   I've reported this to Amazon and we'll see if they'll let me exchange them.
   
   
   (Update: I reported this to Amazon on 12-29-06 and as of 1-5-07 I have heard nothing)

5 comments about Eddie Van Halen - Know the Man, Play the Music (Fretmaster).

1. Malcolm Dome is an idiot! It's sad that classic VH went right over this rock journalist's head. He couldn't even comprehend Van Hagar either. He seems very bitter VH did not tour Europe so he spews his venom here. Kiss Van Halen's American ass! This book is filled with inaccuracies, mispellings, and grammatical errors. Too many to mention. He's a professional journalist? It seems the only recording he understood was Van Halen's debut. Stay clear of this garbage and get Van Halen 101 written by a fan who knows what he is talking about. Abel Sanchez is a huge fan, but can still write objectively and has done his homework. "Van Halen is America's Led Zeppelin!"



2. Its not as bad as everyone is saying. It has a very extensive history of Van Halen (the band) and their ups and downs. I did not notice any mistakes. The writer is British and uses interesting phrases at times. I appreciate that he gives some opinions or makes some speculations rather than the cold hard facts, and includes quotes from others too. I actually learned a number of little details I didn't know before. There are also a lot of details about Eddie's guitars and their modifcations and other equipment through the years, and there are some decent black and white photos from over the years.
   
   The "play the music" section is weak I agree. Its geared toward beginners, and most advanced players already know many of the tricks. It does come with CD to accompany the method, and the book is hard bound but with a spiral to lay flat - so thats great.
   
   I guess I would sum it by saying this is a good book about Van Halen but not a definite advanced study on his technique.



3. The word extensive shouldn't be used to describe it and it's as bad as everyone's saying. The only thing worse than the book was the press release Backbeat Books put out. False advertising to the enth degree. They said Eddie would be telling his story in his own words by recounting each step of the band's career. That was a grotesque lie. Eddie was in no way involved in the making of this book and neither was anyone else in the band. Eddie's own words were nothing more than a few ancient quotes cut and pasted into the book. They said the book pours over Eddie's style with expert detail. Another lie. The lessons if you can even call them that are sad to the point of being hysterical. They didn't even include the tablature for any Van Halen songs! The lessons are some hamhanded attempt at copping Eddie's style that fall well short. The history if you can even call it that is more a discography masquerading as a history. They said the book included quotes from all the different guitar players Eddie influenced. Another lie. There's one or two quotes from Leslie West and no one else. I could go on and on but I don't care to. You get the point. They even messed up Eddie's birthday. He was born in 1955 not 1957. If you need a good Van Halen book pick up the VH Encyclopedia by CJ Chilvers or the recently released Van Halen 101 by Abel Sanchez. The knowledge those two men have about VH is a million times stronger than that of anyone involved in this pathetic attempt to cash in on the Van Halen name. By a country mile. Dome and his crew couldn't carry Chilvers or Sanchez jock.



4. This book is terrible. The writing is completely subjective, biased, and opionated, it lacks very little, if any factual information. Never does the author note any relationship between himself and Eddie, no interviews, nothing, and yet he seems to proclaim that he knows what Eddie was thinking and when Eddie was thinking it. it seems that the author's thesis is that Van Halen I was the bands greatest work and that everything they released afterwards was sub-par. Along with this the author seems to attest that the rest of the band was holding Eddie back and that the genius of EVH was absolutely stunted by his band mates.
   
   As for the playing part of the book... Well let's put it this way, it was worse than the writing! The CD tracks are awful MIDI backing tracks that have the worst groove I've ever heard. The guitar players tone, (as noted in other reviews) is terrible and lacks any characteristics of the brownsound. And finally the riffs, and licks aren't Van Halen, they are just "in the style of", and are just poor, ugly variations on VH tunes....
   
   Fortunately for me, I never purchased the book, I just borrowed it from the library... This is how mad it made me and I didn't even shell out any cash for it! If you want to learn about the psyche of Eddie then check out the "Guitar World Presents" book with interviews with the real EVH. For playing, I recommend the Guitar Anthology or just listen to the recordings and transcribe em!



5. I read all of the reviews on this book, but yet still ordered it, as I am a huge Van Halen fan and a guitar player. Plus, at this point, it isn't really expensive.
   
   Executive Summary: If you are a VH fan, and especially a guitar player interested in his style, buy the book (on sale), but skip the first 60 pages.
   
   Like the other reviewers have eluded to, this is kinda 2 books in one spiral bound package. The first part, by Malcolm Dome, is an effort to provide the history of the band all the way up to the 2004 reunion tour with Sammy. However, where it is lacking detail and correct facts, those gaps are filled in by the author's own opinions. Even including his personal thoughts on every single track off of every album. Ug.
   
   From that standpoint it is a hard read because I found myself on more than one occasion asking "WTF is he talking about?!"
   
   If you want a more factual history of the band, done by a much better writer, then you need to read: "Everybody Wants Some" by Ian Christie.
   
   The second part by Rob Fogg contains exercises and explanations of Eddie's style of playing. It has been criticized that all of the examples are not from actual VH songs, but more of "in the style of..." EVH. I actually like that aspect since I already have plenty of books/DVD's that tell me how to play the stuff note for note. Instead I want to better understand the overall style, direction, technique and theory that is behind Eddie's playing. In that regard, this book does a decent job.
   
   PROS: Nice Spiral Binding, Guitar instruction is good.
   CONS: Malcolm Dome is a tool, and his work on this book is really bad. His contribution to this peice is worth skipping.

1 comments about Mel Bay Christmas Music for Electric Guitar Book/CD Set.

1. This book is good to learn some basic electric guitar Christmas music. I used it for my intermediate guitar students at Christmas. The songs aren't extremely difficult, but they do have duets and trios that you can put ensembles together for a Christmas program.

No comments about Electric Guitar Handbook.

No comments about Electric Guitar Man: The Genius of Les Paul (Great Inventor Biographies).

1 comments about Gibson Electrics - The Classic Years.

1. I'm not the foremost expert on vintage guitars as I currently own only two pre 1965 Gibson Archtops but this book is outstanding. I have been searching for a source to identify my current guitars and Mr. Duchossoir has provided me so much more. Mr. John Sprung's photos are outstanding as well. They cover the different variants from year to year as well as what hardware, from pickguards to volume knobs, tuners, bridges etc. The most complete book I've ever found with history and personal accounts of each Gibson model. A definite must for any player/collector of vintage Gibson guitars.

2 comments about Electric Bass Guitar (Guitar Player Basic Library).

1. This book is very helpful and it covers many different styles of playing and different techiniques such as the "in and out" technique which makes playing sixteen notes eaiser. It covers slapping, and just basic right hand technique. It also has a whole chapter on soloing and explains basslines and turnaround and chords. The only problem is that there is no tablature,so you have to learn to read music, which there is a chapter on. I really recommend this book.



2. This book is a collection of articles from Guitar and Bass Player's magazines. Because of this format it lacks am amount of cohesiveness that some people might be looking for in an instructional book. The articles themselves are well-written and interesting, with diagrams and anecdotes. It seem to be a good book for someone who has already learned the basics and wants to refine styles, learn new tricks, and get that extra insight into the bass guitar. Good for the intermediate player, I would think.