Great Guitar Books, Catalogs & Price Guides

-
We all know that when dealing with high priced guitars new or used, old or vintage, it can be a dirty market, if you don't know much about guitars you can easily get burnt. I learned the hard way, 20 years ago I decided to collect only Gibson guitars and as you can see I'm a big fan.

I also worked in music stores, Ive seen the good the bad and the ugly, there are many dishonest collectors who take advantage of naive musicians who are not to familiar with the vintage market, and as for new guitars its even worst.

Some salesmen in music stores love when they know you have no knowledge of guitars because they can push you the junk that has been sitting in their store for years for higher commissions. 

Here are some great Gibson guitar books that I can recommend with my outmost confidence because i've actually read them. If you are a Gibson lover and you want to educate yourself these guitar books pretty much cover everything. 

You'll be able to buy or sell new, or vintage Gibson guitars with confidence and nobody will take you for a ride. You can probably buy these books at your local music store or better yet you can buy them from amazon.

Official Vintage Guitar Price Guide 2021 
The Official Vintage Guitar Price Guide has a 15-year tradition of being the most accurate, authoritative, and detailed publication to tackle the seemingly impossible task of placing values on thousands of vintage and recent-model guitars, amps, basses, effects pedals, mandolins, lap-steels, ukuleles, and new this year.

Guitar Catalogs
Hard to find guitar product catalogs full of great information from different guitar companies and brands.

Gibson's Fabulous Flat-Top Guitars: History & Guide
This volume offers a lavishly illustrated history of the Gibson company and its classic flat-top guitars. The book's release coincides with the company's centennial celebration. From the 1920s to the present, Gibson and its guitars have been a slice of Americana. Whether an established musician is Northern or Southern.

This splendid book chronicles 100 years of the companies that building Gibson guitars, banjos, and mandolins. Beautifully illustrated with countless pictures of guitars and the musicians who made them famous...

Since the inception of the first "electrical" guitars in the 1920s, no other manufacturer has produced a greater variety of professional quality models than Gibson. This book presents a documented account of the instruments released during a highly creative period from the 1930s .

> Here is a list of the Most Popular Gibson Books.

Comments

  1. Anonymous9:10 PM

    just receivede the guitar price guide book , awesome ...thnx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:35 PM

    i was dissapointed with the "gibson american icon book ( 100 years )" because i found it talked too much about gibson's history and not enough info on their guitars ..

    ... but i did find the guitar price guide very useful ..thnx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous2:15 PM

    Just how does one go about finding out the value of their guitar....I see so many posting of people asking about their guitar...but I am trying to figure out value for insurance purposes....mine is a Les Paul Studio serial number 00601382 with Made in USA stamped underneath it. Gibson Les Paul model on headstock in gold. Gold hardware....Deluxe on tuning pegs. Translucent red color...
    I need help...can someone offer me a value of this guitar

    ReplyDelete
  4. Online Guitar Lessons9:46 AM

    i need gibson user list.. like Lenny Kravits and other.
    Brother your blog very great.. wanna exchange wth my Online guitar lessons i'm guitarist.. and i like everythink about guitar.. thank's you very much brother.. ROCK !!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Electric Guitar2:18 AM

    thanks for the list it help us better to understand about the guitar history

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fred Flintstone10:05 PM

    What is your take on The Chicago Music Exchange? I know Reverb and CME are the same company. I've questioned Reverbs pricing recommendations for a while now. I don't necessarily believe them when they report pricing recommendations are based upon past sales on Reverb. They know what the prices should be, to say otherwise invites more questions. CME is right there in Chicago with the Reverb staff, so it seems inexcusable to be so far off with pricing recommendations. It gives the appearance of dishonesty, even if there is nothing untoward going on. They seem to have conflicting interest? Thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:05 AM

    A couple years ago my wife bought me a copy of “The Ultimate Gibson Book” by Paul Day and Walter Carter. It is focused on electrics but contains an accompanying DVD where you can view and hear samples of these wonderful guitars. Highly recommend it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gibson Gospel Guitar

-
Gibson Gospel Acoustic Guitar (1972-1979)  The Gibson gospel guitar originated in 1972-73 and it was intended to be a deep sounding vocal backup instrument . It was a flat top , had square shoulders, arched back, maple neck, laminated maple back and sides and had a tortoise style body binding Were available only in natural finishes. The guitar was not only designed for gospel music, the Gibson gospel acoustic guitar is also a wise instrument choice for bluegrass, folk, country music and even blues.   Gibson Gospel Reissue (1992 -1997)  In 1992 Gibson again offered the gospel acoustic model, the reissue is actually superior compared to the original.  Gibson chose mahogany over maple for the reissue, it has multiple white binding, multi ply arched back (very deep sounding), unbound rosewood fingerboard with pearl dot inlays, scalloped braces like those on the more expensive models, and finishes were available in natural or sunburst. Selling Or Buying Advice Always c...
Read more

Gibson Serial Numbers, Specs & Info

-
Image
If you are having trouble dating and identifying a Gibson guitar the first thing you want to check is the serial number.. Gibson's serial number system through out the years have changed multiple times, their serial numbers can give you some valuable information on a particular guitar if you know how they worked. Here are some good pointers to remember without going into details.. 1. If you are buying a vintage Gibson guitar and the seller claims that it was made in 1935 the serial number can not be more than 5 digits and can not have a letter. From 1902 to 1947 Gibson serial numbers started at 100 to 99999. 2. From 1947 to 1961 Gibson serial numbers started with an "A" usually followed by 3 to 6 digits. 3. From 1961 to 1969 Gibson gave their guitars random serial numbers, they are the hardest to identify during these years but luckily there is a guide. Below are the serial ranges and dates. For example if the guitar had this serial number: 64555 the guitar was made in...
Read more

Gibson C Series (Classical Guitars)

-
Gibson C-O Classical Guitar ( 1961-1971 ) In late 1961 Gibson introduced the Gibson C-O Classical Acoustic Guitar , It had a spruce top , mahogany back and sides with a bound top , and were made in natural finisheS . Gibson Dicontinued these guitars in 1971    Gibson C-1 Classical Guitar ( 1957-1971 ) The Gibson C-1 Classical Guitar were first made in 1957 , more or less the same features like the C-O but with bound body instead of only top , and were discontinued in 1971 , were always made in natural colors . Later On in 1960 they introduced the gibson C-1 E which was fitted with a ceramic bridge pickup ( e for electric ) , discontinued in 1967.  In 1961 gibson also produced a classical guitar called the gibson C-1 S Petite Classical which had a smaller student size body ( 13 1/4 " ) , these guitars were discontinued in 1966 .   Gibson C-2 Guitar ( 1960-1971 ) In 1957 to 71 Gibson introduced the gibson c-2 classical guitar , the body was made with maple woo...
Read more

Gibson Explorer Guitars

-
Gibson Explorer Guitar (1958 - 1963)  History Of Explorer Guitar Models The Gibson Explorer was on the market in 1958, the guitar was designed to look futuristic, it had a symmetrical shaped solid korina wood body, 22 fret unbound rosewood fingerboard, two hum buckers, ink stamped serial numbers, gold plated metal parts, 4 ply white plastic pick guard and were made in natural finish.  In 1958 the Gibson Explorer met with little success, due to the low demand Gibson ended production in 1959, however they still sold overstocked korina explorer bodies during the early 60's until 1963 with nickel plated parts.  Records show under 25 guitars were sold during 1958 and 59. Explorer - Korina, Mahogany & Alder Body  (1975 to 1989)  From 1975 to 1982 Gibson reissued several explorer guitars that had mahogany bodies, two hum buckers, gold plated hardware, pearl logos, white pick guards and were in natural, white or black finishes.  In 1976 a special limited editi...
Read more