Tell us a little bit about Ibanez.
Hoshino USA is the name of our parent company, and we make Ibanez guitars and basses. We’re based in Bensalem Pennsylvania, and we have about 100 people working for Ibanez in our distribution center here. We make our guitars mostly overseas in Japan and Korea. We also have an office in L.A., which has about six staff members, where we do some custom guitars for our artists.

How many guitars do you make each year?
Thousands and thousands! Sometimes we even run out of stock because people are demanding so many of our instruments.

Has that happened recently?
Our Jam Packs were one case. Our Jam Packs are all-in-one bass packs. You get the guitar, the amp, the pick, an instructional DVD, and a strap. Those have been hugely popular, especially with the beginning learners that are just picking the guitar or the bass.

Tell us about the Ibanez manufacturing process.
We use mahoganies and bass woods. A body is cut out to our specified shape and specs, which allows for the electronics that are going to be going in it. Usually these get sprayed with a color, depending on the model. They get spray painted in these huge indoor spray paint houses, and after they’re dried, which takes a couple of days, they get sprayed with lacquer and polyurethane. That lacquer and poly dries for another few days, and because it’s not a smooth surface there’s a whole process of sanding and buffing. The end result is a nice glossy body.

The necks get cut out by a thing called a CNC machine, which is a computerized machine that actually knows the specifications of our necks, which includes the headstocks. Most of the frets and things that go into the neck, like the inlays, they’re usually put in by hand. The headstocks are then painted with the logo on it. All the holes for the machine heads are drilled out, and then once these two pieces are finished, the body and neck are bolted together. Then the guitar moves to another stage where all the hardware, like the electronics, machine heads, bridge etc. are put onto it.

The guitar is tested to make sure it works, and then it’s shipped to Bensalem, and it’s checked thoroughly again. We have a whole QC department here of about 30 guys. A lot of them are players themselves. And they check the guitars to make sure the quality is up to our standards. The guitars that don’t pass inspection are trashed. We don’t accept them. We have very high standards for these things. From our cheapest guitar to our highest level guitar we have the same expectations. Once that’s done, they’re pretty much shipped off in the next week or so. Usually they’re not in the warehouse too long.

How long is this process from the time the block of initial wood is carved from lumber to the time you ship out of the U.S. warehouse?
It takes about three months, and that’s with about a month of travel. So about two month from the time we put the order in for a certain amount and the finished product.

What do you think the most important “ingredient” is in a guitar or bass?
From my standpoint as a player there’s one, and as a merchandiser in the music industry there’s another. The first is the quality of the workmanship. You can just tell when something is put together in a shoddy way. As I player I don’t expect something like that from a manufacturer that has a reputable name. So that’s one major ingredient. From the manufacturing side of things, the major ingredient is knowing the people that are buying your product and what they are looking for.

How would you define that today for Ibanez?
It definitely is not what it used to be! There’s not many shredders these days. It’s more your three-chord non-solo thing right now. I’d say a good 60% of it is. The rock thing with heavy rock and metal. Hardcore metal right now seems to be pretty happening. It’s more rhythmic nowadays.

Has that affected how Ibanez makes or markets its instruments?
It has. Simplicity is one thing. In the days of the shredders, you had a lot of whammy bar and tremolo usage. Nowadays a lot of the people are requesting
fixed bridges with no trem. And that really makes it accessible for guys who are just rockin’. On the other side of things, our Artcore side, we have full hollow and
semi-hollow jazz boxes, which are more focused around the wood tonal qualities
of the guitar.

With basses, we have a line called SR Soundgear Extreme (SRX). That series targets guys more on the rock side of things. It just has a more powerful punch because of the way the pick-ups are designed. But within the past year or so, (bassist) Carol Kaye has gotten big into the SRX bass. So you have guys who are in these hard core metal bands and then you have Carol Kaye using this bass, too. So that kind of thing is what we’re striving for. They can be for a rocker or a jazz player.

How would you define the sound of Ibanez instruments? Is there a general overall sound that you shoot for as an Ibanez hallmark? Or does it vary from model to model?
On the RG side of Ibanez, which is the rock guitar, the solid bodies, they’re built for rock. Their pick-ups are designed for a good heavy crunch that does not distort the tonal characteristics of the guitar. So it gives a real clean sound through whatever it’s being pushed through. And the jazz boxes, that sound is the absolute natural sound of wood.