Inventing the American Guitar: The Pre–Civil War Innovations of C. F. Martin and His Contemporaries from Hal Leonard

Hal Leonard Books’ Inventing the American Guitar describes the early history of American guitar design in detail. With essays by prominent writers and spectacular color photographs of almost fifty guitars, many of which are newly discovered, this book tells the story of how a European instrument was transformed into one with all of the design and construction features that define the iconic American flat-top guitar—all within a mere twenty years.

Inventing the American Guitar traces C. F. Martin Sr., – America’s first major guitar maker and the founder of the Martin Guitar Company – and his evolution as a craftsman and entrepreneur and explores the influences and experiments that led to his creation of the American guitar that is recognized and played around the world today.

Retail price: $50.

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