Gibson Guitars 100 Years of an American Icon Review

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(More customer reviews)Gibson has unleashed a propaganda piece on an unsuspecting audience of guitar freaks.By having their in-house historian write it and by publishing it themselves, Gibson has ensured that they retain complete editorial control over all of the content.Here's an example of the hypebole that is present throughout the book: in reference to the oncoming wave of solid body electrics Walter Carter writes, "...Gibson would lead rather than follow the pack as the electric guitar era began to take shape."I think Leo Fender would take exception to that statement if he were still around.The book features lots of well-known players with a Gibson in their hands.The captions border on outright fraud."Jimi Hendrix reached new guitar heights with an SG Custom."Gee, I thought that 99% of his playing was on a Fender Stratocaster."Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards plays a custom single-pickup L-55."Maybe he does in that picture, but any casual Stones fan will tell you that Keef plays a Tele.There are countless other examples of this type of misreprensentation.As much as I dislike that lame marketing approach, I completely despise the self-congratulatory chapter on the trio of Harvard guys who bought the company in 1986.I personally think they have done more to damage the image of Gibson in the eyes of players than Norlin ever did.They even went so far as to include a staged photo of Juszkiewicz between rounds in a boxing match with the caption: "Berryman and Zebrowski revive Juszkiewicz after a tough round in a negotiations course at Harvard business school."It's almost too much to stomach.

Having said all of that, the book is not completely without merit though.If you are a diehard Gibson fan and already own Duchossoir's essential book "Gibson Electrics - The Classic Years," then this book may make a nice, if somewhat trivial, addition to your collection of guitar books.

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