Pete Prown

Ultimate Heavy Metal Guitars: The Guitarists Who Rocked the World, by Pete Prown, is a fun look at both the guitarists and their equipment (musical). I rounded up simply because I think the book accomplished what it set out to do, namely highlight the great guitarists and guitars without being too technical.

At first I only read the main title and wasn't sure I wanted to read only about guitars, pick-ups, amps, and other accessories. The subtitle makes clear that this is about the guitarists first then then instruments they used. That sounded appealing. I first imagined a book where a guitar would be detailed, then variations mentioned, then as an afterthought which artists used them That would not have appealed to me, I can barely play guitar. Instead, I found a brief profile of each performer with what they used at different points in their careers. Because the guitars were mentioned in relation to a guitarist, I went and looked up additional information on things that piqued my interest. So this format worked very well for me.

That said, if you're more interested in the specifications of each pick-up, pedal, amp, etc then you may be somewhat disappointed. But if you're a fan first and already have a basic understanding of the popular guitars over the years, this will be a fun read for you. I also liked the inclusive nature of Prown's choices, better to cover more music than nitpick over definitions.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (plus d'informations)