(Now, excuse me while I flash-forward a decade or so, and concentrate on books acquired since resuming making music in the late 1990s after a long work-related hiatus.)

5. Beauty of the 'Burst: By the late 1950s, the sales of Gibson's Les Paul Standard electric guitar were falling. Gibson blamed it partially on the somewhat conservative gold paint scheme that Les Paul initially recommended to Gibson for his namesake instrument, especially when compared with the wild automobile industry-inspired colors that rival Fender was spraying its guitars with. In 1958, Gibson replaced the somewhat staid "goldtop" Les Pauls with beautifully figured flamed maple tops painted in Gibson's traditional sunburst style. Unbeknownst to Gibson though, the paint they initially chose faded over time when exposed to sunlight, meaning that each of the Les Pauls built from 1958 to 1960 now have a unique one-of-a-kind appearance.

Despite their efforts, the change in the Les Paul's aesthetics didn't boost its sales, and the original design was dropped. But then, as we noted above, Eric Clapton and Mike Bloomfield came along only a few years later, discovering that the Les Paul was perfectly suited to their amped-up versions of Chicago-style electric blues. Other famous guitarists, including Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Duane Allman joined them in playing Les Pauls made from 1958 until 1960. Gibson revived manufacturer of the model in 1968, but it would be decades before they could produce a reissue that came close to matching the details (especially the paint) of these late 1950s versions.

Given their relatively low production numbers, and superstar pedigree, the original sunburst Les Pauls are the Holy Grail of electric guitar collectors, and typically sell in prices well north of $100,000 — if you can find one.

Beauty Of The 'Burst, written by Yasuhiko Iwanade, was originally printed in Japan in 1996, and republished in the States in 1999. Iwanade employed a group of professional photographers to photograph as many of the namesake style Les Pauls as could be found. The results are a group of stunning photos of the most handsome electric guitars ever made. As well as photos of many of the most famous musicians in rock to play the model, and an encyclopedic appendix describing, in engineering terms, why those guitars not only look like no other, but in the hands of the right musician, sound like no other as well.

4. How To Make Your Guitar Play Great: Keeping a guitar in good repair — not to mention properly tuned and intonated — is always a challenge for new guitarists. And occasionally veterans of the instrument as well. Which is where Dan Erlewine's How To Make Your Guitar Play Great! comes into play. Erlewine has been around since the early 1960s, when he played with the likes of Mike Bloomfield, the American equivalent to Eric Clapton (Erlewine unknowingly helped launch the popularity of Gibson Les Paul when he sold Bloomfield his first Les Paul!) For years, Erlewine had a column in Guitar Player magazine, when he wasn't running his Ohio-based, but nationally frequented repair shop.