Ibanez is one of the best-known guitar companies in the world. The Hoshino Company began as a sheet music store and later evolved into a music products company based in Nagoya, Japan (Ibanez). The Hoshino company began distributing a Spanish guitar called the Ibanez. About forty years later the company opened and purchased a store in Philadelphia, which is now their headquarters. These guitars were made famous by the lead guitarist of KISS. The first production guitars are still on the market and represent a very large and highly valuable collector's item. Ibanez guitars are definitely one of the highest quality guitars ever owned because of the universal use they have with music. “Salvador Ibanez, a luthier active in Valencia between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. He had a store in Baja San Francisco, then moved it to Padre Rico. He was a determined man who started with a small workshop and slowly built his business. His two sons took over the business in 1920 after his death” (Zavaleta Guitarras). Hoshino began importing these guitars from Spain when the Salvador store was demolished during the Spanish Civil War. Hishino purchased the rights to the "Ibanez Salvador" name and began manufacturing acoustic guitars in 1935. The name later changed to Ibanez and stuck. During the 1950-1960s Ibanez guitars came out with some wicked designs. These designs imitated European guitars and were also similar to the Hagstrom and EKO designs. These projects represent the beginning of a guitar company that will be known forever. These models also gave the Ibanez team a vision and a dream for other guitars they will design in the future. After being called out for copying guitar styles from other companies, Ibanez began offering its own style... middle of paper ...... Series. These guitar models have one of the most incredible sounds you will ever hear in music. I'm the needle in the haystack. Having experience with Ibanez guitars, they are definitely one of the highest quality guitars on the face of the earth due to the universal use they have in music. Ibanez is the guitar player for beginner, intermediate and popular guitarists. Works Cited http://www.chrisbsmusic.com/hisofibguit.html http://www.ibanez.com/support/faq?id=19 Zavaleta Guitarras http://zavaletas-guitarras .com/content/index.cfm? action=view&ContentID=68&Parent_ContentID=39J. Sherry, E. Pardee-Warren, E. Witt, R. Lee, A. Taylor, G. A. Molano http://www.guitarsofspain.com/Salvador_Ibanez_ca1897/Ibanez.asphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibanezhttp: //guitaristrock.com/ibanez-guitars/the-history-of-ibanez-guitars/ Scotty Smith