Squier Electrics

SQUIER ELECTRICS: 30 YEARS OF FENDER'S BUDGET GUITAR BRAND

(Book). In 1982, Fender revived an old guitar-string name for its new line of Japanese-made electric guitars. Millions of guitars later, and celebrating its 30th anniversary, Squier is almost as important to the company as the main Fender brand. Guitar pundit Tony Bacon reveals the stories behind the original (and collectible) Japanese-made Squier Series models, the way that Fender has often been more adventurous and experimental with Squier, away from its protected main brand, and the famous musicians who have chosen to play Squier instruments, from Courtney Love and her Venus model to blink-182's Tom DeLonge and his one-pickup/one-control signature Stratocaster. Full of the luscious pictures, absorbing narrative, and collector's data that characterize Bacon's best-selling instrument books, Squier Electrics is the only guide to one of the most popular guitar brands of recent times.

During the 1920s and '30s, Major General George Owen Squier was one of the most famous men in America and abroad, as a scientist, soldier, military strategist, electrical communications expert and inventor, aeronautical pioneer, diplomat, and philanthropist. He rose from humble beginnings in Michigan to the position of Chief Signal Officer of the United States Army. He led the effort in World War I to equip the United States and its allies with American-made airplanes and engines, an effort which started slowly but at the time of the Armistice was rapidly coming to fruition. He also equipped American forces with modern communications, the first belligerent in the war to do so. As an inventor he is not well known today compared to his contemporaries Alexander Graham Bell and the Wright Brothers, who respected his intellect and originality. Yet his inventions in communications technology are fundamental to today's telephone system and were the technical basis for the company he founded, Muzak. Despite his many achievements no biography of George Squier has, before now, been published.

The early 1950s were a boom time for British aviation. The lessons of six years of war had been learned and much of the research into jet engines, radar and aerodynamics had begun to reach fruition. In Britain, jet engine technology led the world, while wartime developments into swept wing design in Germany and their transonic research program were used to give western design teams a quantum leap in aircraft technology. At English Electric, 'Teddy' Petter's design team were keen to capitalize on the success of their Canberra jet bomber and rose to the challenge of providing a high speed interceptor for the RAF. Martin W. Bowman describes the career of the Lightning in detail using first-hand accounts of what it was like to fly and service this thoroughbred. Illustrated with over 200 color and b/w photographs, appendices listing Lightning squadrons, production totals, individual aircraft histories and with the first in-depth analysis into why a third of all Lightnings were lost, The Men Who Flew the English Electric Lightning is a fine record of the last truly great all-British fighter.

This new version of Tony Bacon's Six Decades of the Fender Telecaster shows how the world's first commercially successful solidbody electric guitar still attracts musicians more than 60 years since its birth in California. Today, it is more popular than ever and for many guitarists has overtaken the Stratocaster as the Fender to own and play. The Tele is the longest-lived solidbody electric, played by everyone from Muddy Waters to Keith Richards, from Radiohead to Snow Patrol. Its sheer simplicity and versatility are vividly illustrated here through interviews with Jeff Beck, James Burton, Bill Kirchen, John 5, and more. The book is three great volumes in one: a compendium of luscious pictures of the most desirable Teles, a gripping story from the earliest days to the latest exploits, and a detailed collector's guide to every Tele ever made. Packed with pictures of great players, collectable catalogs, period press ads, and cool memorabilia, The Telecaster Guitar Book is the one Tele book that all guitar fans will want to add to their collection.

"Guitars inspire cult-like devotion: an afficionado can tell you precisely when and where their favorite instruments were made. And she will likely also tell you about the wood they were made from and its unique effects on the instruments' sound. In Following Guitars, Chris Gibson and Andrew Warren trace guitars all the way back to the tree. It is a book about musical instrument making, the timbers and trees from which guitars are made. It chronicles the authors' journeys across the world, to guitar festivals, factories, remote sawmills, Indigenous lands, and distant rainforests, in search of the behind-the-scenes stories of how guitars are made, where the much-cherished guitar timbers ultimately come from, and the people and skills involved along the way. The authors are able to unlock insights on longer arcs of world history: on the human exploitation of nature, colonialism, industrial capitalism, and cultural change. They end on a parable of wider resonance: of the incredible but unappreciated skill and care that goes into growing and felling trees, milling timber, and making enchanted musical instruments; set against the human tendency to reform our use (and abuse) of natural resources only when it appears too late"--