IBANEZ

Ibanez is a well-known guitar brand owned by the Hoshino Gakki company located in Nagoya, Japan. Hoshino Gakki was the first Japanese guitar company to succeed in the United States and Europe.

Although modern production of Ibanez began in Japan in 1957 by Hoshino Gakki, the name "Ibanez" appeared as early as 1929, when the company arranged for the import of "Salvador Ibáñez" acoustic guitars from Spain to Japan. In 1935, they started making their own stringed instruments. The company had little activity in the West until the mid-1960s.

When the Spanish workshop was destroyed during the Civil War (1936-1939) and the original guitars became unavailable (yet in high demand due to their high quality), the company bought the rights to the "Ibanez" trademark and began producing acoustic guitars independently, initially as "Ibanez Salvador" and later as "Ibanez".

The modern era of Ibanez guitars began in 1957. Catalogs of the late 1950s and 1960s contained unusually shaped guitars. After Teisco stopped making their own guitars in 1966, Hoshino Gakki used the Teisco guitar factory to produce Ibanez guitars. And in 1970, after the Teisco factory closed, Hoshino Gakki used the FujiGen Gakki factory to produce most of the Ibanez guitars.

The metal Ibanez logo on the head of the guitar has also changed. It became more modern and began to be applied by the decalcomania method.

In the 80s, in the era of heavy and thrash metal, many musicians began to use Ibanez products, which provided incredible convenience and a characteristic modern sound. In addition to this, there were popular forms of so-called superstrats (RG series). Talented guitarists Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and many others helped to be one of the leading companies and carry the Ibanez flag. In the 90s, the first 7-string electric guitars were released, which allowed playing in a lowered tuning. Thanks to these innovations, the heavy music of the 90s received a new push in development. It is also worth noting the special approach of the masters to bass guitars: the use of 3 or more types of wood for the neck, its special fastening method, shapes, special cutouts, inclined frets - all this makes Ibanez bass guitars a work of art with its signature and unique sound and design.

Today, Ibanez continues to maintain its reputation as an innovative company that moves with the times and sets the tone for other companies. Multi-scale electric guitars, bass guitars and even acoustic guitars are produced. Non-traditional types of wood are also used, a special approach to their drying and assembly is also used, and you can often find the use of several different types of wood at once for the manufacture of decks and fretboards (3-4-5-7 layers).