Guitar Blogs | News and Reviews

Ibanez guitars go way back to the 1800s (90 years ago) when Hoshino Gakki, who distributed a variety of musical instruments in Nagoya, Japan, started the Hoshino Gakki Group, the makers of Ibanez guitars. By the time the company made its way to the United States, they were in the business of duplicating well-known rock and jazz guitars, as were many guitar makers in the 1970s. Partly to follow the tradition of other top guitar makers and mostly by force of an impending lawsuit in the 1980s, the company teamed up with celebrity guitarists to design the famous S, RG, JS, JEM guitars. These models were part of their signature line of electric guitars. The company also expanded its line of jazz guitars to include George Benson and Pat Metheny models and its acoustic-electric to include John Scofield models.

While Ibanez Guitars is famous for its electric, acoustic, and acoustic-electric guitars, the company has also broken significant ground in providing guitars that appeal to not only the classical and rock market, but also to the jazz market. Thirty years ago, jazz guitarist George Benson teamed up with the Hoshino Gakki Group and shared his idea for a jazz guitar that didn’t squeal in amplification. The Ibanez GB10 continues to be one of the most popular Ibanez guitars that you can buy.

The loyalty that guitarists have with the Ibanez goes beyond its celebrity association. The following are some of the reasons for its popularity:

* Virtually no feedback
* Quality craftsmanship
* Clear tone

While you should focus on features more than the beauty of your guitar, with Ibanez guitars it’s easy to enjoy the best of both worlds. In addition to the features listed previously, Ibanez guitars are well known for their beautiful appearance. Take the Ibanez Steve Vai Jem 777, for example. Like other Ibanez guitars, this guitar is made of high-quality wood and has a resonance that is sweet to the ears. The Vai Jem 777 is one of the most recent guitar designs offered by Ibanez. The Ibanez RG350DX electric guitar was introduced two years ago and has earned the affection of many electric guitarists who like their electric guitar heavy and loud. Not all Ibanez electric guitars are designed for the rougher crowd. The Ibanez SZ720FM offers a design that is lighter and more appealing to those who treasure the simple life.

Price is a huge consideration for guitarists. Guitars are made of high-quality wood and manufacturing them takes time. Many guitar manufacturers that compete with Ibanez guitars offer their guitars at price well over $3,000. While you can find Ibanez guitars in this price range, Ibanez guitars with such a price tag are often replicas of celebrity guitars or limited edition guitars. One reason that many people choose Ibanez is the price. This is especially true of individuals just learning to play the guitar. Coupled with variety, expert craftsmanship, and tone, you can lose by purchasing an Ibanez guitar.

Electric guitars are in tremendous demand in the music industry. Many musicians prefer to play the guitar rather than any other musical instruments. An electric guitar is an essential instrument at many musical events. The artists playing the electric guitar at concerts have an audience and fans of their own. It is one of the most important musical instruments at rock shows, jazz concerts, country music events, rap and blues concerts and even on pop albums. The function of a guitar, especially an electric guitar, is multi-faceted.

While purchasing a guitar the options available must be carefully weighed. All the details should be examined thoroughly in accordance with the purpose of the guitar. An electric guitar may be used to play for large audiences, small audiences, or simply for leisure and recreation. One of the main attributes of a good guitar is the wood it is made of. One of the options available is Mahogany. It has a relatively low velocity of sound. Koa wood has a considerable density and a low overtone content, Brazilian Rosewood contributes to the tone coloration. It offers high sound velocity and broad range of overtones.

Another important detail is the body style. Electric guitars come in three basic body styles. They are solid-body, semi-hollow or semi-solid body and hollow-body. The neck of the guitar can help in the quality of sound output. The type of neck the guitar should have is depends on the length of the guitarist’s hand. Necks come in a number of shapes such as C-shaped, thin, and thin and wide. While purchasing a guitar, it is advisable to scrutinize the scale length, intonation, number of frets, finish, the bridge, pickups and tuning machine.

Electric guitars are very expensive. The advice of a professional guitarist would be invaluable to an enthusiast.

Electric Guitar Technology 101

By: Kenny Auyoung

It is a curious paradox of the music industry: guitarists, particularly rock guitarists, are often thought of as trendsetters when it comes to fashion and culture; but when it comes to their instruments, they are notoriously conservative. Innovations such as active electronics, guitar synthesizers and Steinberger’s intrepid steps into the field of headless instruments in the 80’s have failed to make much of a dent in the market. Gibson Guitars and Fender Guitars continue to dominate the electric guitar market much as they did in the 1950’s and 60’s. Even with the entry of new competitors into the market over the years such as Ibanez Guitars, Paul Reed Smith Guitars, Charvel Guitars and Jackson Guitars, the electric guitar has remained essentially unchanged with one to three magnetic pickups and a mess of wires connecting them to the controls. But things may be about to change!

In the last couple of years a few innovations have come along that have totally turned conventional wisdom - or at least conventional guitar electronics on its head. The first is the nylon string solid body electric guitar. I first saw one of these in the hands of metal ace Yngwie Malmsteen and was blown away by the sound. For any artist who is trying to incorporate elements of classical guitar in his or her repertoire, this instrument provides the mellow classical tone of a nylon stringed guitar with the comfortable feel and action of a traditional solid body axe. This has been made possible through the tremendous advances made in recent years in the field of Piezo pickup technology. Without going into too much technical detail, the Piezo differs from a traditional magnetic pickup in that the Piezo element vibrates with the string, sending an electrical signal of that vibration to a preamp within the guitar for processing, rather than capturing an electromagnetic representation of that vibration which can then be sent directly to an amplifier, or to an onboard preamp if further shaping of the signal is desired. The Piezo eliminates the need for steel strings, which would otherwise interact with the magnetic pickup, and also produces more satisfactory results for players with a lighter fingerstyle technique. Lest you think this is just another passing fancy, Parker has produced a nylon string version of their famous “Fly” model and another up-and-comer, Sadowski Guitars, is producing a Telecaster style model employing the same technology.

Another intriguing development is in the area of computer-guitar interface. This has been long time coming, and if you consider the explosion in the popularity of digital recording with Pro Tools and similar software, it’s surprising it took as long as it did. Far and away, the leader in this field is Line 6’s Variax model. Now, I will be the first person to admit that I know just enough about computer technology to be dangerous, but I’ll try to tell you what I know from what I’ve read and from friends and acquaintances who have played the Variax. I should also state that I am in no way affiliated with Line 6 or any of their subsidiaries or partners. The Variax is, according to the Line 6 brochure a “digital modeling” guitar that allows the musician to switch between a huge array of potential sounds on one instrument. The sounds of a 12-string acoustic, Fender Stratocaster style single coils, Les Paul humbuckers, banjo, chimes and dozens of others are all available at the flick of a switch. The best part about it is that all of these tonal variations are available completely hum free. For the working musician, this means not having to lug around five to seven separate guitars to provide him with the all of the sounds he requires. The true test, however, is hearing one of these fine instruments in action, so if you’d like to check one out, a list of authorized dealers is available from the Line 6 website. At an MSRP of around $1000 for the mid-line Variax 600 - it’s also available in the 300 and 700 - it’s not cheap, but for the professional or amateur with money to burn, it may be a worthwhile investment.

There is so much more to be developed in the near future with the improvements in computer technology and miniaturization. Whole racks of effects can now be had in a box the size of a cigarette packet. This is certainly a boon for the musician in terms of both price and the effort necessary to move the equipment. I foresee a day when an entire guitarist rig, with the exception of the instrument itself will be contained within the body of the guitar itself. And while that may not be a comfort to the guitarist who finds himself at home amongst his racks of effects processors, time waits for no man, and he will eventually find himself at a crossroads in musical instrument development, much as those men did back in 1930’s and 40’s when the acoustic guitar was forced to make way for the first electric guitars.

Author Bio:

Kenny Auyoung is the webmaster at www.GetMeABand.com – Online musician search network with thousands of musician & band profiles. Find musicians, start a band, and play music.