Drawing on his years of experience as a history professor and longtime guitar dealer, author Jay Pilzer leads us on an entertaining and thoughtful journey through the fascinating, diverse, and sometimes wild history of the guitar in America. Viewed through the broad scope of the American experience, this retrospective cleverly melds together such unexpected guitar-related subjects as the Tulip Mania of 1636, the swaying hips of hula girls in Hawaii, and what really powered Jimmy Hendrix's Stratocaster at Woodstock.
Our author ponders all aspects of guitar history, including:
- How the period of the Enlightenment was an influence on guitars
- Why the economics of the 1600s were a prelude to guitar prices of the twenty-first century
- The surprising influences on guitar designs and styles
- How the advent of American steamboats and railroads helped guitar sales
- The development of blues and jazz, and the types of instruments used for each style
- The affects of installment buying on guitar sales after the Great Depression
- How and why guitar quality declined in the 1970s
- Why guitar executives cringed at the sound of disco in the 1980s
These, and many more aspects of guitar history, are covered in this fully-readable and enjoyable book. Whether you play or listen, this romp through the history of guitars will truly entertain