Ibanez Guitars

Ibanez is a guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki of Japan. They were one of the first Japanese musical instrument company to gain a significant foothold in the United States and Europe.

The Ibanez Guitar brand is produced by The Hoshino Gakki Company (1908) in Japan. Originally they imported the Salvador Ibanez Guitar from Spain but  later bought the rights to the name and started manufacturing the guitars on their won.

The late 1980s and early 1990s were an important period for the Ibanez brand. Hoshino Gakki's relationship with Frank Zappa's former guitarist Steve Vai resulted in the introduction of the Ibanex JEM and Universe models.

Most Ibanez guitars were made for Hoshino Gakki by the FujiGen guitar factory in Japan up until the mid to late 1980s and from then on Ibanez guitars have also been made in other Asian countries such as Korea, China and Indonesia.