The Only Time I'm Happy's When I Play My Guitar - Page 2

It's A Clean Machine

Of course, as good as a book like The Guitar Handbook is (and it's been updated since its initial publication twenty years ago, with Denyer updating some of his gallery of greats, and some of the technology mentioned in the book), it can only give an overview of each aspect of guitar. It's a wonderful introduction, not a panacea.

One area it lacks is in its examples of lead playing, which is where Jesse Gress's Guitar Licks Factory can help fill the void. Using a Detroit auto manufacturer as his metaphor and structure, Gress tours assembly lines of licks, ranging from hard and heavy rock, to blues, to jazz. For most guitarists, lead guitar playing is a combination of scales, phrases that outline chords, and prefab licks. And Gress's book contains both conventional music staves and guitar tablature to flesh out the latter. If the book has a fault, it's that some beginning guitarists won't be sure what a particular lick should sound like, and it would have been nice if there was an accompanying audio CD of the licks enclosed.

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 (Erlewine unknowingly helped launch the popularity of the 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. These days, Dan alternates between writing books, running his shop, and offering sage-like advice in his own section of the Les Paul Forum on the 'Net.

While the encyclopedic nature of a book like The Guitar Handbook forces it to only devote a page or two to tuning and setting intonation, Erlewine has a whole chapter devoted to the subject. He also a full range of instructions, ranging from simple screwdriver adjustments, to fairly intensive procedures, in keeping a guitar up to snuff. There are a few things in Erlewine's book that I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to try myself, but at least I'll like I know what I'm talking the about next time I take my Les Paul or Telecaster into the shop.

Article Author: Ed Driscoll

Visit Ed Driscoll's author page — Ed Driscoll's Blog