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Johns (Johns)
| | Posted on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 12:30 pm: | |
I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled over this book at the local Costco (a warehouse store). It was the only one left and cost only $18.99. It's an oversized, full color, coffee table book with very slick professional photography.
As I opened it, I was expecting to see only the "big names" or that it's focus would be American made instruments. But when I got to the title page and read: "with contributions from Dave Burrluck, Paul Day, Michael Wright", my heart skipped a beat. I turned the pages to the Table of Contents and right in alphbetical order stood out "Ibanez". Silently, I did my best Austin Powers impression: "Yeah, baby!"
OK, this book has a 2000 copyright, so maybe some of you have already seen it. But for those who haven't, I'll give you a run down. After a 12 page intro section on the history of guitar, it's arranged in alphabetical order by brand name. It starts with Acoustic (who knew they made guitars?) and ends at Zemaitis.
Just over halfway through, there's a 13 page section on Ibanez written by Michael Wright. The text does a great job of presenting an up-to-date and concise version of his Guitar Stories and Different Strummer info of Hoshino/Ibanez; starting with "Hoshino was founded in 1909..." and ending with "...Ibanez guitars reflect a long heritage of commitment to quality and innovation."
The color pictures start with a Model 882 from about 1963 and finish with a 1999 S Classic SC420. Along the way, many of our favorites from the "Vintage" era make an appearance. Except for two George Benson models, there are no hollow or semi hollows shown and they are barely mentioned in the text. Oh well, now we know why we NEED and all-Ibanez coffee table book!
There is heavy coverage given to Gibson and Fender with 52 and 48 pages, respectively. Gretsch garners 47 pages, while PRS follows up with 27 pages. Do yourself a favor, put on a pair of sunglasses before you get to the PRS section. You'll need them while your eyes get adjusted to the stunning photos of some absolutely gorgeous guitars. (Why didn't I start collecting these? Oh yeah, not enough money! )
Throughout the rest of the 300 pages, homeage is paid to Aria, EKO, Epiphone, Guild, Heartfield, Kawai, Rickenbacker, Samick, Starfield, Tokai and Yamaha, among many others.
In short, this is one of the best $20.00 guitar-related purchases I've made! If you want to find it, start your search here: http://www.thunderbaybooks.com/advsearch.asp?title=guitars&ISBN=&author=&imprint=Thunder+Bay&category=All |
Mr_Roadstar (Mr_Roadstar)
| | Posted on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 3:53 pm: | |
John,
I gotta get me a copy! Thanx for the info.
Was there any mention of the Roadstar Series? I just HAD to ask.
Cheers
Steve |
Johns (Johns)
| | Posted on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 4:54 pm: | |
Steve:
I KNEW you would! Yes, Michael tries to outline the evolution of the Roadster, Blazer, Roadstar II, Proline and early RG series. There are pictures of a '79 Roadster RS100, Roadstar II RG240 and a Pro Line PL2550.
Actually, there's probably nothing new here regarding RS/RGs, for an expert like you. But there are bits and pieces about other Ibanezes and lots of other brands. |
Mr_Roadstar (Mr_Roadstar)
| | Posted on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 6:26 pm: | |
Perhaps I'm becoming too predictable?
Seriously, I'm not in any way limiting my quest for knowledge to the Roadstars. Almost anything guitar related is good stuff.
Hell, I've even been doing some serious research on Stratocasters. Seems I have developed GAS for a hardtail Fat Strat...
Cheers
Steve |
Challenger (Challenger)
| | Posted on Monday, January 06, 2003 - 1:52 pm: | |
Hey John-
I just got that book too. At Costco, no less!
I do feel that PRS is nauseatingly overrepresented in it. I hate those f'ing guitars. I hate ostentatiously ornamented guitars, anyway. PRS isn't doing anything earth-shattering design-wise, either. The PRS is basically a LP jr. with a carved top and a scale between an LP and a Strat. He merged the two guitars and he's an innovator? Pure marketing.
They are manufactured on a large scale CNC production line. The wiring scheme comes from BC Rich, although somewhat simplified.
That's why I dig Ibanez - they were doing all that stuff before him (except the scale length). Do they get the credit? |
Meranti (Meranti)
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 11:32 am: | |
If you are interested there is another book with a history of Ibanez guitars. However, it is all in Japanese and the title is called "History of Electric Guitars" published in Japan. It has 5 pages devoted to Ibanez and a special "Behind the scenes at Fuji Gen Gakki " (7 pages) and "Inside Fuji Gen-Gakki Mfg Co Ltd" (4 pages). I think this was published in the early 90s and I enclose a pic of the cover. The book is essentially in two sections, Overseas guitars (term used) and Japanese Guitars. Some nice pics of Ibanez and other brands.
By the way, JD told me that the Ibanez book is in the final stages of editing and being given the going through by its ex-president who was with the company for 30 years.
Talking about JD, those of you who do your own repair work should check out his repair book. Its a great book and I recommend it. You can get it here (which I am sure most of you have visited):
http://www.ibanezvintage.com/
Best regards,
Meranti |
Meranti (Meranti)
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 11:36 am: | |
If you are interested there is another book with a history of Ibanez guitars. However, it is all in Japanese and the title is called "History of Electric Guitars" published in Japan. It has 5 pages devoted to Ibanez and a special "Behind the scenes at Fuji Gen Gakki " (7 pages) and "Inside Fuji Gen-Gakki Mfg Co Ltd" (4 pages). I think this was published in the early 90s and I enclose a pic of the cover. The book is essentially in two sections, Overseas guitars (term used) and Japanese Guitars. Some nice pics of Ibanez and other brands.
By the way, JD told me that the Ibanez book is in the final stages of editing and being given the going through by its ex-president who was with the company for 30 years.
Talking about JD, those of you who do your own repair work should check out his repair book. Its a great book and I recommend it. You can get it here (which I am sure most of you have visited):
http://www.ibanezvintage.com/
Best regards,
Meranti |
Johns (Johns)
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 10:25 am: | |
Meranti:
The book sounds interesting. But I don't read Japanese. (BTW why is the cover in English?)
Can you fill us in on some of the highlights? Does the Fugi Gen-Gakki sections pertain just to manufacturing Ibanez, Greco or other brand names? Anything about specific luthiers from the 70s and 80s who were making jazz boxes and signing the labels? |
Meranti (Meranti)
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 12:24 pm: | |
John,
I am sorry but I also cannot read Japanese and have only been admiring the pics. Japanese books have a tendency to have English words but I don't know why. I happened to have a copy of the electric guitar catalogue for 2002 similar to those published annually by Guitar Player etc. I enclose a scan of the cover and a page of the Ibanez catalogue.
As for the history of Electric Guitars, the brands covered include Aria Diamond, Aria Pro II, Argus, Atlancia ... to Greco, Guyatone, Ibanez, to ... T&Joo Dee (nice archtops in the style of D'Angelico), Washburn, Teisco, Morris, Yamaha etc. I tried to scan pages of the contents but the letters were too small to read.
As for the behind the scenes at Fuji Gen-Gakki, It had a pic of the Ibanez Midi Guitar and the article sectioned into 1960 to 1969, 1970-1977, 1978-1980. Other pics of Greco and Fender Japan guitars.
Factory tours cover, Fuji Gen-Gakki, Atlansia, Headway, Matsumoku (Aria, Westone), Chushin (Azumi), Morris (Morris, Bill Lawrence, H.S.Anderson), Kawai, Tokai (Hummingbird, Tokai), ESP (Navigator, Zep-II), Kasuga (Ganson, Heerby, Kasuga).
Sorry but there does not seem to be any section or articles on specific luthiers. The book was published in the early 90s (if I can remember) and am not sure if it is still inprint. Sorry thats the best I can do due to my lack of knowledge of Japanese. Anyone on the forum read Japanese? |
Meranti (Meranti)
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 12:39 pm: | |
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Challenger (Challenger)
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 3:42 pm: | |
Too bad a book like that will never be published here in the US. If it won't make a zillion dollars, publishers just aren't interested (kinda like another business I can name). Unfortunately for all of us, what we finally do get caters to the lowest common denominator, and is rarely of any value to all but the most casual of consumers (really like that other business). I'll get off my soapbox, I feel a nosebleed coming on... |
Challenger (Challenger)
| | Posted on Monday, February 03, 2003 - 2:39 pm: | |
I was looking at that "Electric Guitars" book John mentioned above again...
It has at least one mistake in it.
It states Joe Satriani was using a 540 Radius for his first endorser instrument. In the ad at the top of the page, he is clearly holding a 540 Power. After seeing the author's other book in Barnes and Noble (for about $33) I noted it has the same gaffe. Why don't they ever consult an Ibanez afficionado? Too much damn PRS (POS) input at the cost of accuracy. |
Raceboy (Raceboy)
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 4:13 am: | |
My son is teaching himself how to read, write and speak Japanese. If you send me scans, I'll give them to him to try to translate. He's pretty busy with school, so it may take some time. And he may not be able to translate everything.
raceboy@raceboy.com |
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