Understanding the skepticism American consumers had toward Japanese products in the 1960‘s, Rosenbloom imported Hoshino guitars under the Ibanez brand name.īy the early 1970‘s Ibanez USA was an up-and-coming guitar maker who happened to be very good at copying famous American models and selling them at often ridiculously cheap prices. Hoshino had begun importing classical acoustics in the 1920‘s from an independent Spanish guitar maker named Salvador Ibáñez and by 1935 had already launched the Ibanez brand. Japanese companies seeking to sell guitars in the US would almost always brand them in a way that would conceal their country of origin. In the post war years there was a great deal of suspicion toward Japanese made products in the United States. In 1971 the Hoshino Gakki company bought Rosenbloom out of Elger Guitars and the company became Hoshino USA, and soon afterward Ibanez USA.
Hoshino Gakki made guitars under the brand name of Ibanez. To meet the growing demand, Rosenbloom formed the company Elger Guitars and began importing Japanese made guitars from the Hoshino Gakki company.
In that year, the wait time for a new Martin guitar was 3 years, and Rosenbloom could not keep enough of an inventory to meet demand. In 1954 Rosenbloom opened shop and soon found himself unable to fill the demand for American made guitars. He owned Medley Music near Philadelphia and made his living selling handmade musical instruments. One such entrepreneur was Harry Rosenbloom of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. As the quality of materials and attention to detail began to wane in the production of many of Fender and Gibson’s most prized models, the prices continued to climb, until small and family owned guitar builders came to the realization that their products definitely could compete. By the late ‘60‘s and early 70‘s the high level of demand, and premium pricing began to take a toll, along with a sudden decline in the quality level of the guitars companies like Fender and Gibson were bringing to market. This was the boom time that built the reputations of acoustic and electric guitar and bass manufacturers like Martin, Gibson and Fender and made models like the Gibson Les Paul, the Gibson SG, the Fender Telecaster, the Fender Stratocaster and the Fender P-Bass legendary.īlues and Jazz had already done a lot to popularize these guitar manufacturers during the Depression and the War Years, and during the 1950‘s, with the rise of Rock and the economic boom, suddenly just about anyone who wanted could afford to buy an electric guitar or bass. During the 1950‘s, the sudden popularity of Rockabilly and Rock n’ Roll music caused an increase in the demand for high quality musical instruments.
0 kommentar(er)
