Legendary Guitars  guides you through the electric guitars of the 1950s and ’60s and the culture, styles, and music that shaped them. “Finding ways to use the same guitar people have been using for 50 years, to make sounds no one has heard before, is truly what gets me off.”  —Jeff Beck Legendary Guitars: An Illustrated Guide  recaps how the great instruments created and produced between 1950 and 1969 went on to define the design, looks, and playability of today’s electric guitars. Legendary Guitars  draws direct lines between the mid-century originals and many of today’s most highly-prized instruments. Alongside classic originals, you’ll see great examples of more recent instruments, showing how today’s guitar makers have produced fresh interpretations that draw on the venerable ’50s and ’60s templates. The guide details everything from highly accurate (and highly priced)  vintage remakes  and  artist models  to the broader influences and mashup qualities of  modern retro creations . The 1950s marked the birth of so many now-classic electric guitars: from the  Gibson Les Paul  and the  Fender Telecaster  (as seen with Bill Haley & His Comets and with Little Richard’s band) to the Gretsch 6120 and the  Gibson Flying V  (twanged by Duane Eddy and touted by Albert King). In the 1960s, players pushed the sound of the electric guitar—bending, distorting, and overloading the instrument to within an inch of its life—all to fire some of the most extraordinary music ever created, not least by Jimi Hendrix with an upside-down  Fender Stratocaster , Eric Clapton with a psychedelic  Gibson SG , and George Harrison with a  12-string Rickenbacker . The work of more than 50 guitar brands —past and present—is highlighted, including Airline, Ampeg, Antoria, Aria, Baldwin, Bigsby, Burns, Coral, Danelectro, Eko, Epiphone, Fender, Framus, Futurama, Gibson, Goya, Gretsch, Grimshaw, Guild, Guyatone, Hagstrom, Harmony, Hofner, Hopf, Ibanez, Kawai, Kay, Kent, Kustom, La Baye, Magnatone, Messenger, Micro-Frets, Mosrite, National, Rickenbacker, Silvertone, Stratosphere, Supro, Teisco Del Rey, Tokai, Vega, Vox, Wandre, Watkins, and Yamaha. Alongside the eye-popping  guitar photographs  is a unique collection of  classic advertisements ,  period catalogs , and other  rare memorabilia .  Legendary Guitars: An Illustrated Guide  also contains a  chronological narrative of world events  that places these remarkable instruments in the context of two decades of mesmerizing contrasts and revolutionary invention. Legendary Guitars  takes you on an illustrated journey through the guitars and culture that drove the sound of rock ‘n’ roll, blues, and country, from 1950 to present day.