Fender Bass for Britain

Fender Bass for Britain
Author: Barry Matthews
Publisher: Authorhouse UK
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009
Genre: Bass guitar
ISBN: 9781438946627

The book "A Fender Bass for Britain" tells the story of a rare bass guitar made in 1966, the heyday of classic rock bands. Only a few of this particular bass with it's unique combination of features were ever made, and they mostly came to Britain. There are many Pictures of John Entwistle and others, with the bass, never been seen or published before. This book tells of the man that made them, the men that played them and where some of them ended up. The book features interviews with the stars that used the bass, such as John Entwistle of The Who, Chip Hawkes of The Tremeloes and a number of others. The author, Barry Matthews, came across this bass in the Seventies and was intrigued. Then, in the Nineties, he started a systematic search to track them down and write the story behind them. He has travelled to the USA and to a number of places in England in the process of compiling this fascinating account.

Fender Bass Manual

Fender Bass Manual
Author: Paul Balmer
Publisher: Haynes Manuals
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2010-01-01
Genre: Bass guitar
ISBN: 9781844258178

by Paul Balmer This manual covers the Fender Bass guitars in detail, explaining how to maintain them, set them up to get the best sound, and repair them when things go wrong or damage occurs. Leo Fender s design concept based on his own Telecaster guitar was the first large-scale production bass guitar and changed the sound of popular music forever. Superbly illustrated and designed, this manual includes case studies of key models everything from the Bass VI to a Fretless Jaco Pastorious Jazz model.

Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass

Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass
Author: Geddy Lee
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 1512
Release: 2018-12-18
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0062747843

“A treasure trove for any fan of the four-stringed (and occasionally more) instrument.” — Billboard "It's not surprising that sooner or later I'd dive down the proverbial rabbit hole into the world of vintage bass guitars."—Geddy Lee From Rush frontman Geddy Lee's personal collection of vintage electric bass guitars, dating from the 1950s to the 1980s, comes the definitive volume on the subject. Geddy's love of the bass has been nurtured over a lifetime spent in the limelight as one of the world's premier rock bassists. For the past seven years, he's dedicated himself to studying the history of the instrument that's been so essential to his career, collecting hundreds of basses from around the globe. Written with arts journalist Daniel Richler, gorgeously photographed in breathtaking detail by Richard Sibbald, and with insight from Geddy’s trusted bass tech and curator, John "Skully" McIntosh, Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book of Bass profiles over 250 classic basses from Geddy’s extensive collection. Representing every tone in the bass palette, every nuance of the rock and roll genre as well as blues, jazz, pop, and country, this one-of-a-kind collection features so-called "beauty queens"—pristine instruments never lifted from their cases—as well as "road warriors"—well-worn, sweat-soaked basses that proudly show their age and use. Complete with personal commentary from Geddy that showcases his knowledge both as a musician and an aficionado, this luxuriously produced volume is a revelatory look at the heavy hitters in the world of bass—Fender, Gibson/Epiphone, Rickenbacker, Höfner, Ampeg—and lesser known but influential global luthiers such as Antonio Wandr Pioli, Dan Armstrong, and Tony Zemaitis. The book also features interviews with John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin); Adam Clayton (U2); Robert Trujillo (Metallica); Jeff Tweedy (Wilco); Bill Wyman (The Rolling Stones); Les Claypool (Primus); Bob Daisley (Rainbow); Fender expert and owner of the legendary Gibson Explorer, Bass Ken Collins; veteran guitar tech for The Who, Alan Rogan; plus comments from many other great players across three decades of rock and roll. Written in Geddy's singular voice, this book reveals the stories, songs, and history behind the instruments of his inimitable collection. Complete with an index and a graphically designed timeline of the history of the bass, as well as an up-close look at Geddy's basses on Rush's final R40 Tour, his stage and recording gear from 1968 to 2017, and forewords by author and respected vintage expert, Terry Foster, and Rush band member, Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass is the ultimate compendium for the consummate collector, musician, Rush fan, and anyone who loves the bass guitar.

The Story of Paul Bigsby

The Story of Paul Bigsby
Author: Andy Babiuk
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2009-01-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 9780615243047

(Book). Most musicians are familiar with the famous Bigsby Vibrato, but not as many know about the wonderful guitars that Paul Bigsby built in the 1940s. Bigsby, who was responsible for developing and refining the pedal steel guitar, also built the first modern solid body electric guitar for Merle Travis in 1948, predating Leo Fender and Gibson's Les Paul by a number of years. The Story of Paul A. Bigsby tells how Bigsby influenced Fender and Gibson, as well as a number of other guitar manufacturers, in building techniques and design. This deluxe illustrated coffee table book contains over 300 color and black & white photos. Many of these have not previously been published, and over 50 are actual Bigsby instrument photos taken by fine arts photographer Greg Morgan. The book also comes with an audio CD of Paul Bigsby, recorded in the late 1950s, telling stories of his business.

The Bass Book

The Bass Book
Author: Tony Bacon
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Total Pages: 122
Release: 1995
Genre: Music
ISBN: 9780879303686

A complete illustrated history of bass guitars.

The Musical Instrument Collector

The Musical Instrument Collector
Author: Kenneth R Ball
Publisher:
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2020-10-20
Genre:
ISBN:

" ... is an informative, yet entertaining collection of interviews with notable collectors and repairmen, among them, George Gruhn, the Mandolin Brothers, and Mugwumps Magazine publisher Mike Holmes. The primary focus is on the art of collecting guitars and banjos, even though other instruments such as violins and basses are mentioned. The 121-page compilation is a good cross-section of what collecting is all about and is chock-full of interesting anecdotes and opinions ."-Guitar Player Magazine

The Bastard Instrument

The Bastard Instrument
Author: Brian F. Wright
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2024-07-16
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0472221701

The Bastard Instrument chronicles the history of the electric bass and the musicians who played it, from the instrument’s invention through its widespread acceptance at the end of the 1960s. Although their contributions have often gone unsung, electric bassists helped shape the sound of a wide range of genres, including jazz, rhythm & blues, rock, country, soul, funk, and more. Their innovations are preserved in performances from artists as diverse as Lionel Hampton, Liberace, Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, the Supremes, the Beatles, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Jefferson Airplane, and Sly and the Family Stone, all of whom are discussed in this volume. At long last, The Bastard Instrument gives these early electric bassists credit for the significance of their accomplishments and demonstrates how they fundamentally altered the trajectory of popular music.

British Rock Guitar

British Rock Guitar
Author: Mo Foster
Publisher: McNidder & Grace
Total Pages: 720
Release: 2021-12-20
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0857162284

The guitar has become the most emotive musical instrument of the last 50 years of rock and roll. From the early days when wannabee stars fashioned homemade guitars out of old tea chests, to today's sophisticated instruments the impact has been phenomenal. In this book, Mo Foster, one of the industry's most prestigious bass guitarists, and renowned producer, composer and session musician draws upon his own recollections and those of some of the greatest exponents of the rock guitar, from Hank Marvin to Eric Clapton and Brian May. Once managed by Ronnie Scott, Foster has recorded and toured with many of the world's biggest musical icons including Jeff Beck, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Gerry Rafferty, Van Morrison and George Martin. In this insightful, passionate and humorous book Mo Foster has written the definitive history of the importance of the guitar in the development of British music over the last 50 years.

The Birth of Loud

The Birth of Loud
Author: Ian S. Port
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2019-01-15
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1501141767

“A hot-rod joy ride through mid-20th-century American history” (The New York Times Book Review), this one-of-a-kind narrative masterfully recreates the rivalry between the two men who innovated the electric guitar’s amplified sound—Leo Fender and Les Paul—and their intense competition to convince rock stars like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton to play the instruments they built. In the years after World War II, music was evolving from big-band jazz into rock ’n’ roll—and these louder styles demanded revolutionary instruments. When Leo Fender’s tiny firm marketed the first solid-body electric guitar, the Esquire, musicians immediately saw its appeal. Not to be out-maneuvered, Gibson, the largest guitar manufacturer, raced to build a competitive product. The company designed an “axe” that would make Fender’s Esquire look cheap and convinced Les Paul—whose endorsement Leo Fender had sought—to put his name on it. Thus was born the guitar world’s most heated rivalry: Gibson versus Fender, Les versus Leo. While Fender was a quiet, half-blind, self-taught radio repairman, Paul was a brilliant but headstrong pop star and guitarist who spent years toying with new musical technologies. Their contest turned into an arms race as the most inventive musicians of the 1950s and 1960s—including bluesman Muddy Waters, rocker Buddy Holly, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton—adopted one maker’s guitar or another. By 1969 it was clear that these new electric instruments had launched music into a radical new age, empowering artists with a vibrancy and volume never before attainable. In “an excellent dual portrait” (The Wall Street Journal), Ian S. Port tells the full story in The Birth of Loud, offering “spot-on human characterizations, and erotic paeans to the bodies of guitars” (The Atlantic). “The story of these instruments is the story of America in the postwar era: loud, cocky, brash, aggressively new” (The Washington Post).

Beatles Gear

Beatles Gear
Author: Andy Babiuk
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2001
Genre: Music
ISBN: 9780879306625

Chronicles the Beatles' use of instruments from 1956 through 1970, including photographs and discussion about Paul's 1963 Hofner 500/1 violin bass, John's Rickenbacker 325 12-string, and George's Gibson Les Paul.