Japan
Ibanez
Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki of Nagoya. It makes electric and acoustic guitars, basses, electronics and accessories, and is widely associated with fast-playing electric designs, extended-range instruments and the Tube Screamer overdrive pedal.
- Founded
- 1935
- Products
- 3
Products
Filter all Ibanez gear
About Ibanez
Hoshino’s musical-instrument business began as an import arm of a Nagoya bookstore. In 1935 the company started building its own Spanish-style guitars in Japan under the Ibanez Salvador name, later shortened to Ibanez. From the late 1950s the brand moved into electric instruments; US distribution grew in the 1970s through a partnership with Elger, and after a late-1970s headstock lawsuit settlement Hoshino shifted toward original designs.
Effects followed in the mid-1970s via work with Maxon; the Tube Screamer overdrive appeared in 1979 and became a long-running Ibanez electronics line alongside other pedals. On the guitar side, Roadstar and Saber models fed into the RG and S series, while artist partnerships produced signature lines such as the JEM and Universe seven-string.
Players comparing metal and shred electrics, seven- and eight-string guitars, or classic mid-gain overdrive pedals often meet Ibanez in both instrument and stompbox form under one Hoshino-owned catalogue.