Ibanez

Ibanez is best known for their mid-range guitars, but the offer all options from solid body electric guitars (consisting of 16 signature brands among many others) through to acoustic guitars and basses. They have also made some of the most legendary guitar effects, including the TS-9 Tubescreamer.

Ibanez - Finding a name

The name Ibanez was coined  in 1929 when Hoshino Gakki in japan started collaborating with the Spanish and importing "Salvador Ibáñez" guitars. "Salvador Ibáñez Guitars" was then purchased by a larger company which fuelled Hoshino Gakki to start manafacturing Spanish-style guitars. They ran with the brand name "Ibanez Salvador" for a while but in the end shortened it to just "Ibanez", which has endured until now. 

Ibanez - Their Emergence in Modern Music

Ibanez began to appear on to the music scene in the late fifties and into the sixties. This has been partly accredited to their off-the-wall and against-the-grain body designs of the age. 

Ibanez found itself in a huge amount of legal trouble in the sixties due to branding copies of Gibson and Fender guitar copies with the Ibanez brand name. This caused Ibanez to go underground for a short while and produce guitars under the brand name "Mann" in order to not be scrutinized by the US and Candian authorities. 

Once the lawsuits had subsided, Ibanez produced a line of guitars which were specifically made to not show similarity to these brands. The Iceman and the Ibanez Roadstar are two examples of these guitars.

Franka Zappa acted as a sort of ambassador for the brand, helping to bring Ibanez into the spotlight throughout the seventies and eighties. The 'Ibanez JEM' was one of the highest selling guitars produced by Ibanez. Soon there was a lower priced guitar range based on the "Ibanez JEM". It was with this range that Ibanez really made their mark.