“To be the first female Ibanez signature artist — that’s what I’ve dreamed of since the very beginning” — Nita Strauss (2019)
FIFTY YEARS AGO, ON SEPTEMBER 1, 1972, THE JAPANESE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MANUFACTURER HOSHINO OFFICIALLY FORMED A PARTNERSHIP WITH AMERICA’S ELGER COMPANY TO SELL AND MARKET IBANEZ GUITARS IN THE UNITED STATES.
The ensuing collaboration was much more than an ordinary exporter/distributor relationship as the Japanese and Americans worked closely together, combining Hoshino’s manufacturing skills and craftsmanship with Elger’s expertise in selling instruments to American guitarists. As the partnership evolved and grew, Ibanez eventually became one of the world’s most successful guitar brands, and the company still enjoys that status today.
“I’m very fortunate in that whatever ridiculous ideas come into my head, the people at Ibanez can make them real” — Steve Vai (2021)
The Ibanez story — as most of us know it — began that late-summer day at a European music trade show. However, the history of Ibanez guitars goes back much further than that. Hoshino Gakki Ten (“gakki ten” means “musical instrument company” in Japanese) started in 1908 when the Hoshino family decided to add a musical instrument department to its successful bookstore business. Interest in the guitar grew in Japan during the 1920s as the Hawaiian guitar craze reached Japan. Andres Segovia’s first concert in Japan in 1929 further expanded demand. Fortunately, Hoshino had started importing Salvador Ibanez guitars from Spain that same year.
As Hoshino’s business grew, the company became one of Japan’s biggest exporters of musical instruments, particularly during the mid Sixties when Beatlemania led to a significant boom in guitar sales. The U.S. was one of the most lucrative markets for Ibanez guitars, but it was difficult and confusing to conduct business there due to a lack of centralized distribution. Instead, distribution was handled by several dozen different regional distributors, each with its own separate practices and
