New Book Details the History of Ibanez
 |
|
(Click for a close-up) |
January 25, 2005
Entitled Ibanez -- The Untold Story, this 300 page full-color book contains the seemingly improbable story of how a 19th century Japanese bookstore owned by the Hoshino family of Nagoya, Japan evolved into the company has made instruments for George Benson, Korn, Daron Malakian of System of a Down, Joe Satriani, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, and many other influential artists.
Nearly ten years in the making, the Ibanez -- The Untold Story was originally only supposed to be a small 150 -- 175 page piece and was slated for a 2002 release on the 30th anniversary of Hoshino U.S.A. Instead the book kept growing, finally to 300 pages. Along with the nearly 100 year history of Hoshino and Ibanez, the book includes an illustrated appendix that chronologically lists the Ibanez offerings from the '50s till recent times, a feature that should be of particular attraction to Ibanez fans and collectors. The main chapters are accompanied by a fascinating timeline interspersed with more photos of Ibanez models and influential album releases that give the reader a useful historical perspective.
Hoshino USA, which self-published Ibanez -- The Untold Story, plans to eventually seek outside distribution. "We believe this is an important addition to the history of rock and roll and jazz guitars, and, of course, we want to see it in outlets like Barnes and Noble and Borders," explained Paul Specht of Hoshino. "But first we want to take care of our U.S.A. network of musical instrument retailers as well as the international distributors and retailers of our parent company, Hoshino Gakki. Without them, there would be no Ibanez, let along an Ibanez history book. We will also offer the book online when our Ibanez apparel and accessory website is completed."
Ibanez -- The Untold Story was co-authored by Specht, guitar historian Michael Wright, and former Ibanez guitar specialist Jim Donahue. The rich and colorful layout was created by award winning designer Pat Graham-Lefferts. The coffee table-style book includes of hundreds of color photographs, many never before published. The cover price is $39.95 and may be ordered on the Ibanez web site.
For more information, visit their web site at www.ibanez.com. |
