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Ibanez Electric Guitars

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand that was one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to cement themselves as a competitor in the import market in Europe and the United States.  This company began as the Hoshino Gakki Company, the musical instrument sales division of Hoshino Shoten, a bookstore company, in 1908. In 1929, Hoshino Gakki started importing Salvador Ibanez guitars from Spain.  The brand had disappeared when the “Salvador Ibanez” workshop was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War.  Gakki bought the brand in 1935 and started making Spanish acoustic guitars.  He shortened the brand name to “Ibanez” shortly thereafter.
It wasn’t until 1957 that the modern era of Ibanez guitars began.  The catalogues of Ibanez guitars from the 1950s and 1960s showcases some wild designs.  During that time, Japanese guitar makers were copying what was coming out of Europe, so some of the late 1960s Ibanez designs were similar to Hagstrom and EKO guitar designs.  In the 1960s, Japanese guitar makers changed their ways and started inventing American guitar designs.  This got them into some legal trouble, but they turned the corner and continued in a positive direction.