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List Price: $14.00 | | Publisher: Free Press
Salesrank: 115788
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| Our Price: $5.99 |
| Used Price: $5.51 |
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| Media: Paperback |
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Editorial Review:
New York Times bestselling author Allen St. John started off looking for the world's greatest guitar, but what he found instead was the world's greatest guitar builder. Living and working in Rugby, Virginia (population 7), retired rural mail carrier Wayne Henderson is a true American original, making America's finest instruments using little more than a pile of good wood and a sharp whittling knife. There's a 10-year waiting list for Henderson's heirloom acoustic guitars -- and even a musical legend like Eric Clapton must wait his turn. Partly out of self-interest, St. John prods Henderson into finally building Clapton's guitar, and soon we get to pull up a dusty stool and watch this Stradivari in glue-stained blue jeans work his magic. The story that ensues will captivate you with its portrait of a world where craftsmanship counts more than commerce, and time is measured by old jokes, old-time music, and homemade lemon pies shared by good friends.
Clapton's Guitar: Watching Wayne Henderson Build the Perfect Instrument Reviews:
Great in several ways 
2008-05-13 - Not just for guitar junkies, but a great story of a skilled builder, wonderful picker, and pretty good human being. And the storytelling ain't bad neither....seriously.
The good, the bad and the ridiculous 
2007-12-27 - I have some very ambivlaent feelings about this book. It is basically well written, the subjects (guitar building, music,etc) are interesting, and it is a very nice portrait of a craftsman in his community. However in some ways reading it is like watching a TV show where you love the writing, directing, acting but hate one of the characters so much that the whole show sinks every time they appear. In this case the author is so into hyperbole that he throws up ridculous assertions often enough to completely disrupt the flow of the book. Wayne Henderson is a fine guitar builder but hardly the "best" American luthier. I am no guitar fanatic but just a moderate student of the instrument and I have personally met a number of builders who are at least as good- Richard Schneider, William Cumpiano, Tom Ribbecke, Charles Fox and several others. Likewise Wayne is just exactly what he says he is, a "pretty good picker", but the author has to inflate this accurate self-description by making him into some super picker. He isn't (and will never be) as well known as Doc Watson (or several others) and there is a reason for that. I wonder just how well the author knows music when he compares playing backup guitar for fiddlers, a task that some great pickers have done with elan, with Curt Flood pitching batting practice, thus implying it is beneath Wayne's skills. I dunno- Clarence White could do it, Norman Blake, Tony Rice and any number of others and they didn't regard it as beneath them. The hyperbole is coming from the author, not the subject, by the way. If you can ignore the ridiculous conceits of the author the descriptions of the building and culture around it are interesting and well described.
Not the perfect book
2007-11-14 - Allen St. John no doubt had an epiphany of some sort that led to his writing "Clapton's Guitar: Watching Wayne Henderson Build the Perfect Instrument." The premise, already captured and expressed by multiple reviewers here, was a good idea. The author clearly knows and loves the subject matter, and he provides some interesting background research on the history of guitar building and connects with a number of noted guitar builders, repairers, and aficionados.
But two things about this book bothered me, one while I was reading it, the other after I finished it.
First, Mr. St. John ladles on a thick coating of enthusiasm throughout, but especially when recounting Wayne Henderson at work. Adjectives have their place but too many of them, especially when tweaked to the superlative, sweeten the prose to the point that one loses his appetite. I found I had to force myself to keep reading, and cringed more than once at the overwrought "down-home" depictions of Mr. Henderson and his circle of friends and family.
Second, I expected some sort of payoff for following the book to its conclusion. But, again as others here have noted, there is no real completion to the story. For all we know, Mr. Clapton may or may not have received, much less ever played, this one-of-a-kind guitar. Inquiring minds simply want to know. . .
Beautiful
2007-10-19 - This book is really fantastic! I love and play the guitar. This book is def. in the top 5 on my bookshelf. I highly recommend it. If you are thinking about getting it, stop and just buy it. You will not be let down. The writing is primo and if you like the guitar you will finish the book with a deep love. The book makes you feel good. The only downside to this book is that you will likely want your own Henderson guitar, but probably will not be able to get one. Please, get the book it is beautiful!
Guitar lovers
2007-09-15 - This was a Xmas gift for my son. He loved it and had never seen it.
Great gift for your guitar playing friends
