THE GRETSCH COMPANY P.O. Box 2468, Savannah, GA 31402 Phone: 912-748-7070, Fax: 912-748-6005 Press Release Contact: Emi Keffer FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Phone: 912-748-7070, Ext. 220 December 20, 2010 E-mail:
[email protected] Buy a Great Book. Win a Great Guitar Bigsby and Hal Leonard Team Up For a “Bigsby Guitar Giveaway” at NAMM 2011 Savannah, GA – Bigsby and Hal Leonard Corporation have teamed up to offer an exciting promotion at Winter NAMM 2011. Dealers who visit the Hal Leonard booth and purchase copies of The Story of Paul Bigsby, Father of The Modern Electric Solidbody Guitar will be rewarded with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win a limited-edition Bigsby guitar. Though most guitarists are familiar with the famous Bigsby® Vibrato, very few are aware of the role that Paul Bigsby played in the invention of the modern electric solidbody guitar. In fact, he built the first such guitar for Merle Travis in 1948, predating Gibson’s Les Paul model and Leo Fender’s namesake guitars by a number of years. The Story of Paul Bigsby relates how this enigmatic genius influenced Fender and Gibson—as well as numerous others—in the design and construction of electric guitars. (And as if that weren’t enough, Paul Bigsby was also responsible for developing and refining the pedal steel guitar.) The Story of Paul Bigsby is a deluxe illustrated coffee table book containing over 300 color and black & white photos. The book also comes with an audio CD of Paul Bigsby, recorded in the late 1950s, telling stories of his business.