Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars (3rd edition) and Electric Guitars and Basses: A Photographic History by George Gruhn and Walter Carter.

If you’re a vintage guitar nut, no doubt you spend an embarrassing amount of time scouring the Web for deals on your favorite makes and models. And as you’re well aware, there are sharks out there who are more than willing to pass off some cheapo ax as a rarity. Although the Internet is a great resource for some things, you can’t always trust the information you find. That’s where two men from Nashville can help.

Subtitled “An Identification Guide for American Fretted Instruments,” Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars (3rd edition) by George Gruhn and Walter Carter (Backbeat Books/Hal Leonard) is the book when it comes to spotting the subtle details between the various models of classic acoustic and electric guitars, amps, basses, mandolins, and banjos. The updated edition—now available in hardback ($32.99) as well as a 650-page, softbound “pocket guide” ($24.99)—has changed how the information is presented, making the book easier to use than before. And, of course, plenty of new models have been added since the last edition.

Gruhn’s Guide is not a price list for used instruments; rather, it lays out the finer points of each brand and model, at times breaking it down to serial-number ranges. Want to learn when the peghead angles changed on the early Gibson Les Paul, and see example photos? That’s the level of detail provided here for the big names in U.S. guitar manufacturing—Dobro, Epiphone, Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, Guild, Kay, Larsen Brothers, Martin, Mosrite, National, Ovation, and Rickenbacker—as well as so-called independent builders—Benedetto, Collings, D’Angelico, D’Aquisto, Gilchrist, Monteleone, and Stomberg.

The level of detail should be no surprise considering that the authors—Nashville-based Gruhn and Carter—are two of the foremost experts on fretted instruments in the world. They even offer commentary about some models. For example, Rickenbacker pedal-steel guitars? Forget about ‘em: “…not highly regarded.” This is the kind of info you need before you bid on something on eBay or hit a pawnshop.

Gruhn’s Guide is also surprisingly fun to read, especially if you like seeing how instruments evolve, or how companies, such as Gibson and Fender, throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. Certainly, Gruhn’s Guide is indispensable if you’re looking for classic instruments and you don’t want to get taken.

However, Gruhn and Carter have been extra busy, because they’ve also released an updated version of their 1994 book of photographs of exceptional string instruments. Electric Guitars and Basses: A Photographic History ($24.99; Backbeat Books/Hal Leonard) has over 260 pages of gorgeous color photos of historically interesting electric axes from 1928 to the present (including Gibson’s Guitar Robot with its automatic tuners). My favorite chapters include the one on Hawaiian/lap steels and “Fender Colors,” which shows the wide variety of hues the company used. The book also includes a photo of what the authors believe to be the first electric bass ever made, as well as early electric mandos and banjos, and a couple of oddball items.

I know, you’re probably thinking (like I did when it arrived): “Not another coffee-table book of guitar photos.” Sure, there’s a ton of them out there, but this is one of the most interesting—and certainly one of the most well organized, historically—that I’ve seen (at least at a reasonable price).

Gear pron or eye candy—call it what you will. I’m just looking for a 1963 Gretsch Champagne Sparkle Jet, like the one on page 184.