TWELVE HIGHLIGHTS FROM IBANEZ’S REMARKABLE 50TH ANNIVERSARY CUSTOM SHOP COLLECTION
BY AMIT SHARMA
“This was an idea that was formulated by our president Shogo Hayashi,” says Ibanez Communications Specialist Scott Miller. “This company was launched back in 1972 to give Ibanez guitars a physical presence in the U.S. Obviously they’d been doing business here before that, but this is what allowed the company to take off and develop into what it is today. We wanted to commemorate that with something really special, something everyone would see and think, ‘Wow, this is a big deal!’”
Though historically the two Custom Shops have worked independently from one another, the idea of partnering up for something extra special felt like a great way of dreaming up the impossible. Which is precisely what they did.
“The principal thing with our Japan Custom Shop is that they’re our prototypers,” Miller says. “They’re the idea guys who work out which thoughts we have in meetings can work on a production scale or not. Because that’s where we meet our customers — in production rather than custom shop spaces. In L.A., the focus is more on the artists, so when an artist has an idea or concept that we can’t provide in our production series, that’s where they go. They make the very best, stage-ready performers’ guitars. Our Japan shop is more about R&D and experimental instruments. It’s more about ‘what could we do?’ rather than taking what we know and executing it. Hoshino USA was the intersection of it, coordinating all the images and specs and getting all the content ready from both custom shops.”
Below, Miller gives us a closer look at 12 of the most striking models in this year’s anniversary series.
LET’S FACE IT, THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF ANYTHING IS ALWAYS A GREAT CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION — WHICH IS EXACTLY WHY IBANEZ HAS GONE ABOVE AND BEYOND TO COMMEMORATE AMERICAN DISTRIBUTOR HOSHINO USA’S FIVE DECADES IN THE GUITAR BUSINESS.
Fifty exclusive handcrafted electric and bass guitars have been produced, with the L.A. and Aichi Custom Shops joining forces to create some truly head-turning one-off instruments. If you’re interested in exotic aesthetics, intricate designs, expansive electronics and highly unusual concepts, look no further.
LACS5
“ROOT BEER FLOAT”
Specs: A mahogany body Iceman with a Transparent Root Beer Burst-finished flamed maple top, a set three-piece maple/korina neck, a maple fingerboard and two DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary humbuckers.
“I had a chance to go out to L.A. in the very early stages to check out the instruments.
