Alfred Music Publishing proudly releases The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook, the definitive guide to creating and recording great guitar sounds, by Bobby Oswinski and Rich Tozzoli.

For all guitarists, the quest to finding the guitar tone they hear in their heads and then recording it is a never-ending journey. The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook is the definitive guide to discovering that great, elusive guitar sound and making sure it's recorded well.

Guitarists of any level will learn a variety of subjects pertaining to guitar tone in both performance and recording, including: the factors that determine the sound of an electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and amplifier; the type of wood used to build an acoustic guitar and their differences in tone; the techniques A-list engineers use to record electric and acoustic guitars; why the wood in a speaker cabinet makes a difference; how to recreate the guitar production techniques heard on professional records; the secret to using alternate tunings on recordings; and more.

The Tennessean newspaper reported last week that supplies of Gibson Electric Guitars is beginning to dry up due to flooding in Nashville. A plant responsible for the manufacture of 2,500 of some of the worlds best known guitars every day has been shut down by the flooding of Mill Creek that flows right behind the Gibson USA's facility.

The nation's largest musical instrument seller, Guitar Center, anticipates its 214 stores will exhaust their existing stock of Gibson-brand electric guitars "within weeks," according to Phil Rich, vice president of guitar merchandise. Other smaller retailers have already depleted existing supplies.

The company also has production facilities in Memphis; Bozeman, MT; and at least five in China. Gibson declines to specify dollar amounts on the damage but has indicated that production was already oversold and that the plant will not be back to full production until July. Look for supplies of some Gibson models to become extremely thin.