| The Ibanez company has a long history that can
be traced back to the Hoshino Company, a sheet music store in Nagoya
Japan which opened in 1908! In the 1950's, Hoshino was
distributing a Spanish made guitar with the brand name "Ibanez" and by
the mid '60s had purchased the rights to this name. Subsequently,
production moved to Japan and a flood of funky looking Ibanez guitars were
imported into the United States.
For most of us, the Ibanez story starts
in the late '70s when Hoshino opened an office near Philadelphia for more
efficiently distributing their products. At this point in time the
focus was on producing low cost (but surprisingly high quality) copies
of prominent American brands. This was a time period when North
American made guitars were going up in price and down in quality,
so the market was ready for these well made imports!
Of course, for the last thirty years
Ibanez is known only for its ground breaking proprietary designs,
premium quality hardware and meticulous craftsmanship. The guitar
we are featuring today is a perfect example of this!
The new Prestige Series RG2006 "Puzzle"
Limited Edition from Ibanez features the DiMarzio/IBZ humbucking pickups,
Ibanez Edge Pro locking trem bridge, 24 polished jumbo frets,
precision Gotoh tuners, mahogany body and a unique "Puzzle" body
cap of flamed and quilted maple!!! |
