Ibanez is one of the most famous guitar brands in the world. Guitarists appreciate Ibanez for its incredible quality at a more than reasonable price. Ibanez‘s success lies in its manufacturing processes and choice of factories.
In 1908, Matsujiro Hoshino founded a sheet music company in Nagoya, Japan. The company later began importing Spanish guitars.
By the 1930s, Hoshino began producing his own stringed instruments under the Ibanez Salvador brand. The Ibanez name originates from Salvador Ibáñez, a Spanish guitarist whose guitars Hoshino imported.
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Fujigen Factory
The Fujigen Gakki factory was founded in 1960 in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The factory’s name translates as Fuji Stringed Instruments. Fuji is the famous Japanese mountain. ‘Gen’ means stringed, and ‘Gakki‘ means musical instrument. Initially, it specialized in producing classical guitars.
In the post-war era, Western music, especially rock ‘n’ roll, became very popular in Japan. This led to a surge in interest in guitars. In the late 1960s and early ’70s, Fujigen began collaborating with Hoshino Gakki.
The collaboration with Fujigen led to a significant improvement in the quality of its instruments. Initially, Ibanez produced high-quality copies of popular American guitars at the Fujigen factory.
This eventually led to lawsuits from companies like Gibson. Despite lawsuits with well-known brands, the company managed to build an international reputation in the guitar market. Guitarists praised the quality and affordability of its instruments.
After Ibanez and Fujigen moved from copying existing designs to creating their own, legendary guitar models such as the Ibanez RG, S series, and Artist were born.
By 1975, the Fujigen factory began using a serial number system on Ibanez guitars.
By the late 1970s, Ibanez was known worldwide. The company began collaborating with renowned guitarists such as Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, leading to the creation of signature models.
The 1980s-1990s were the golden era of the Ibanez-Fujigen partnership. Innovations such as Super Wizard necks, Edge tremolo systems, and unique pickup configurations were introduced.
This period also saw the release of the JEM and Universe models, developed in collaboration with Steve Vai.
The Ibanez J Custom series also originated at the Fujigen factory.
In addition to its partnership with Ibanez, Fujigen produces its own line of guitars and provides OEM services to many other renowned guitar brands.
It can be said that the collaboration with Fujigen and the professionalism of the factory’s craftsmen played a decisive role in the success of Ibanez guitars.
Korean Factories
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, manufacturing in Japan became too expensive due to the country’s economic recovery. This forced Ibanez to transfer some production to Korean factories.
- The most famous of these factories was Samick, which produced the largest number of guitars for Ibanez during this period.
- Cort was another major player.
Korean-made Ibanez guitars were more affordable models compared to Japanese-made ones. However, they were still highly regarded for their price-quality ratio.
Indonesian Factories
By the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ibanez began looking for countries to produce high-quality guitars at a more affordable price. During this time, Indonesia became the center of Ibanez guitar production.
The main Ibanez manufacturers in Indonesia were companies such as:
- PT Cort, the Indonesian subsidiary of Cort;
- PT Samick, a subsidiary of the Korean brand Samick;
- PT Saehan (later PT Sinarindo).
At first, these guitars were subject to some criticism, but over time, the quality of Indonesian Ibanez guitars improved significantly. Today, Indonesia produces a wide range of Ibanez guitars, from budget to premium models.
Chinese Factories
By the 2000s, China had become a global manufacturing hub. Ibanez began producing some of its guitars in Chinese factories.
- Zhangzhou Stronghold has become one of the largest factories in China producing Ibanez instruments.
Ibanez’s Chinese factories primarily produce entry-level and budget models. Collaborating with Chinese factories has significantly increased Ibanez’s profit margins.
Ibanez Guitar Development Center
Ibanez Guitar Development Center, or IGDC, is a special Ibanez center in Owariasahi, Aichi, Japan. It’s also known as the Japan Custom Shop. IGDC was opened in 2008. It is a small center for new ideas, test builds, and special guitars.
Ibanez says this center works behind the scenes on future models. The team helps plan new guitars for production and builds prototypes. It creates showcase models and works on new series and new body shapes.
In 2017, the first commercially available Ibanez guitar model, the RGCTM1 WMM, was introduced. Only six instruments were produced.
In 2022, IGDC released a special edition of 33 models to commemorate Hoshino USA’s 50th anniversary.
IGDC also makes custom instruments for artists. It builds guitars and basses for contract professional musicians.
Los Angeles Custom Shop
The Ibanez Los Angeles Custom Shop, also known as LACS, is a special Ibanez shop in California, USA. This shop is known for custom guitars made for top Ibanez artists, such as George Benson, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Nita Strauss. The shop is led by master luthier Tak Hosono.
LACS works mainly on custom instruments and special one off builds. For many years, guitars from this shop were not offered to the public. Ibanez said this work was normally done for endorsers and special projects.
In 2022, the shop built 20 custom one off guitars for the Hoshino USA 50th anniversary project.
The roots of this shop go back to the late 1980s. Luthier Tak Hosono started building Ibanez guitars at his own shop in Glendale, California. At that time, Hoshino wanted to offer American made Ibanez guitars, and many of those instruments were built at Hoshino‘s shop. This early work later grew into the Los Angeles Custom Shop.
This American custom work was linked to earlier U.S. made Ibanez lines. The American Master series was a very limited run from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, and many of the original instruments were built at Tak Hosono‘s Glendale shop. Ibanez also says Tak was heavily involved with the U.S.A. Custom series.
Today, LACS is a private Ibanez custom shop for artist guitars, prototypes, and special projects. Ibanez says that most non standard guitars used by their artists are prototypes made by their research and design facility in Los Angeles.