Ibanez Guitars

Ibanez Guitars - Guitar LTD

Ibanez is only a brand name and therefore Ibanez does not manufacture their guitars, instead other guitar factories produce Ibanez guitars. From early 1970s Ibanez was selling "copies" of the classic Gibson, Fender and Rickenbacker which were branded as Ibanez Guitars. Ibanez was using cheaper materials and that made it possible to sell these guitars for a significantly lower price than the originals.

The price of Ibanez guitars combined with the high manufacturing quality, made these "copies" very popular. Later Ibanez was forced to introduce models that were not copies of the Gibson or Fender designs, examples are the Ibanez Iceman and Ibanez Roadstar. The company has produced its own unique designs for all Ibanez Guitars since than.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s Steve Vai helped in the production of Ibanez guitars such as the JEM and the Ibanez Universe, and after the successes of the Roadstar and the Iceman Ibanez Guitars in the late 1970s, company was able to introduce the RG series of Ibanez guitars which were a lower priced versions of the JEM model. Ibanez Guitars were manufactured in Japan up until the late 1980s and after that Ibanez guitars have been produced in Korea, China and Indonesia.