IBANEZ
This Japanese guitar was one of the first Japanese musical
instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import
guitar sales in the United States and Europe. Guitar brands such as
Antoria shared some Ibanez guitar designs. The Antoria guitar brand was
managed by JT Coppock Leeds Ltd England. CSL was a brand name managed
by Charles Summerfield Ltd England. Maurice Summerfield of the Charles
Summerfield Ltd company contributed some design ideas to Hoshino Gakki
and also imported Ibanez and CSL guitars into the UK with Hoshino Gakki
cooperation from 1964-1987. The Maxxas brand name came about because
Hoshino Gakki thought that the guitar did not fit in with the Ibanez
model range and was therefore named Maxxas by Rich Lasner from Hoshino
USA.
Ibanez guitars
have grown in reputation over the years and have gained a following
amongst seasoned musicians. Early Japanese built guitars are considered
as good as, if not superior to, US built axes of the same period.
Artist Series - In the mid-70's Ibanez started producing a line of
double cutaway solid body guitars. Some of these featured tri-sound
switches which enabled the player to alter the humbucking pickups to
single coil or out of phase modes. There were various models, the best
known of which, produced in the 1980s, are the AR100, AR105, AR150 (all
without the tri-sound) and AR300, AR305, AR350 (all featuring the
tri-sound). The artist series established the company as manufacturers
of high quality original instruments. Early endorsers included Bob Weir
and Steve Miller. The AR300 has since been reissued as a cheaper,
downgraded model.
One of the latest specials from IBANEZ is the IBANEZ
jumpstart which is everything you need to get out and gig .i.e.
amp, axe, and accessories, all it takes is you and your desire to make
your dreams real to get out of the audience and up on stage where you
belong. Features: GRX neck Basswood body Medium frets Rosewood
fingerboard Pearl dot inlay FAT 6 bridge PSND1 neck pickup PSND2 bridge
pickup Chrome hardware Accessories: GTA10 10-Watt Amp, Instruction DVD
in English and Spanish with Paul Gilbert, Electronic Tuner, Gig bag,
Guitar Strap, Picks & Cable, and Accessories Pouch.