The Guitar Collection: Flat Top ’43 edition Deluxe Hardcover Limited Edition Review

Posted by Francois in Books, Photography on Nov 19th, 2011 | 0 comments Review submitted by Dale T.
It’s not often that I find myself absolutely flabbergasted at the site of a book. But this is a clear exception. The Guitar Collection is without a doubt the most insane and awesome book ever made on my favorite subject: guitars.

This is not a big book. It is a HUGE book. And when I say huge I don’t mean slightly above average book size either. It is 23 inches wide and 11 inches tall and weighs 20 pounds! Not the kind of book you will be able to fit on your book shelves. So the publisher came up with an awesome alternative: the book comes with its own hand crafted leather carrying case.

This custom leather case has satin nickel latches and is lined with beautiful fabric just like a real guitar case. The case holds the book itself as well as a companion piece with stories on the guitar collection, a certificate of authenticity and a stunning print signed by photographer John Peden. The sheer size and quality of this publication is very much remniscent of the insanely large original Helmut Newton release from taschen in 1999: You have to see it to believe its real.

Now, if the almost 32 inches wide 10.5 pound stunning case with burgundy fleece lining and the 24×12 inch museum grade print alone weren’t enough to win you over already, then the contents, 670 full color high definition images most certainly will. The photographs are of a truly jaw dropping quality and are bound in well over 500 pages. The companion book contains an additional 180 photographs and stories on the subject.

The Guitar collection contains guitars from the Country Musical, Rock and Hard Rock Halls of Fame and features pictures from Paul McCartney, Jim Page and Keith Richard instruments along with pictures of guitars from over 40 locations in North America and the United Kingdom including the legendary J45 from Buddy Holly.

This limited edition book is published in a run of only 1,500 hand-numbered English-language copies and contains a photographic print of said J-45, signed by photographer John Peden. It is a beautiful image of the the leather covered Gibson that was customized by Buddy Holly himself. While browsing the book I felt like a kid in a candy store. All the legends are there. There is no doubt in my mind that you will not ever find a better or more comprehensive book on legendary guitars than this truly stunning piece of art.

The Verdict

This is the mother of all guitar books. Period.

Unfortunately awesome things tend to come with an awesome pricetag. The recommended retail price for this insanely large book is $1500. That is quite steep, but still not bad considering the size and quality and sheer exclusivity of the entire package and the amount of detail and effort that went into this publication. Similar limited editions with signed and numbered prints in other book categories tend to be far more expensive and I cannot think of any other guitar book that even comes close to this one. In fact I was sold the second I first laid eyes on this book. Turns out I was a bit too eager because a few weeks later I found an online retailer that now offers a $400 discount(!) on the list price. Needless to say this upset me a bit after my rather expensive shopping spree. So if you want to buy one of the last remaining in stock I highly suggest shopping here instead.

BUY IT HERE