The brand of Ibanez is owned is owned by Hoshino Gakki, based in Japan and Ibanez guitars are found all over the world nowadays. It is not common for a Japanese musical instrument to gain popularity in the United States and Europe, but these guitars have cut a niche for themselves in the market and this is mostly due to their very high quality. Hoshino started by importing guitars from Spain and a fire that destroyed the workshop of these guitars was a blessing in disguise because Hoshino Gakki bought the brand name rights and that is the origin of Ibanez guitars.

Apart from the good quality, Ibanez guitars are also popular because of their competitive cost. The type of guitars we know and love today began in the mid 50s and if you look at the old catalogues of the time, you will see the wild looking design and this is what made Ibanez guitars to have an edge over its competitors and to be respected world wide because other guitar-makers were simply copying European guitar designs. The company fell into the temptation of copying and got into a lot of trouble with lawsuits with it, but it has cleaned up its act ever since.

The late 80s and early 90s were important for the company and it came into agreement with a famous guitarist which resulted in the introduction of the Ibanez JEM and the Ibanez Universe models which were very successful. Ibanez guitars finally broke into the superstar market with the RG-Series of guitars which have sold like hot cake because of their relatively cheap price and good quality. Most Ibanez guitars were make for Hoshino by FujiGen guitar family till the mid 80s and now the guitars are made all over the Far East. Hoshino also owns the Starfield guitar brand and has shared guitar designs with many.

That is the history of Ibanez guitars, as for the future, the company has been trying to re-brand itself so as to remain relevant in the current competitive market. It is therefore trying to balance between Cheap Guitar Amps Ibanez that will attract customers and a good profit margin. In 2008 for example, the company produced four brands namely the Xiphos 7-String or XPT707, the S-Series prestige which has 24 frets, the SV-Series Prestige which has 24 frets also and Iceman or ICT700.

The future is bright for the company since loyalty that guitarists have with these guitars goes way beyond its celebrity associations. Even in the early 70s when the company was going through a lot of legal difficulties, the company still managed to make profits and customers give reasons for the popularity as the fact that Ibanez guitars have virtually no feedback, good quality craftsmanship of the guitars and clear tone and Hoshino would be proud of his legacy if he was around.