M
ost
companies
in
our
(relatively) tiny industry just
do one thing really well.
While there’s much to be said for that
kind of focus and singlemindedness,
it’s quite impressive when a company
manages to establish a decadeslong track record of excellence and
innovation in multiple facets of the
guitar universe. The first one like this
that comes to mind for most players is
probably Fender, with its unparalleled
legacy of fine guitars and amps, but
there are a lot of stompbox nuts
that would put Ibanez on an equally
lofty pedestal. Ibanez has forged a
remarkable reputation for innova tion
and high quality in both the guitar
and effects realms, a feat which
no competitor has equaled, and it
continues to build on this reputation
in the present day.
The Japanese parent company of
Ibanez, Hoshino Gakki, began in 1929
by importing acoustic guitars from
Spain. By 1935 the company was
manufacturing its own Spanish-style
guitars under the Spanish-style name
Ibanez (derived from the name of the
luthier it had originally been working
with to import guitars to Japan). In the
Western world, Ibanez became both
famous and infamous during the socalled “Lawsuit Era,” when it and other
Asian manufacturers came under fire
for making direct copies of instruments
from Gibson and Fender. Once the
legal storm cleared, Ibanez began
building original designs and never
looked back. It was a major innovator
in the “superstrat” phenomenon that
changed everything in the ‘80s, and
its partnership with Steve Vai has
produced the highly influential JEM
and seven-string Universe lines.
As far as guitar effects go, Ibanez
probably could have just dropped the
TS-808 Tube Screamer and called it
quits, and we’d still be here talking
about it. As formidable as the legacy
of that little green box has become,
however, Ibanez had a lot of other
tricks up its sleeve, both in the preand-post TS-808 era. The company’s
effects heritage is colorful and rich,
covering just about every kind of noise
a person can make with an electric
guitar, an amp, and some electronic
sound modifiers. Its back catalog is
deep and many-splendored, and in the
modern day it continues to innovate,
regularly releasing new designs and
updated versions of its classics. Ibanez
is sometimes overlooked by boutique
pedal enthusiasts who view its wares
as somewhat common and pedestrian,
but the company definitely deserves
a lot of credit. Here are a few of my
favorite effects from Ibanez’s storied
effects history.
ToneReport.com
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