#Cortez guitar models serial numbers#

The only technical “lawsuit” guitars are Ibanez models, or other branded guitars manufactured by Hoshino, that look nearly identical to Gibson or Fender guitars, save for the name on the headstock and some technical specifications. That isn’t to say they aren’t cool, functional instruments with unique character - quite the contrary. So, what’s the salacious “true story” we promised earlier? Most instruments that claim to be “lawsuit-era” guitars simply aren’t. In the center, a 1978 Ibanez Iceman Artist IC300. A tone befitting the international rise of heavy metal! On the left, a late-’70s Ibanez Destroyer. Soon after, it rolled out its own line of signature instruments like the Iceman and Destroyer, which set the tone for the company-defining instruments of the ’80s and ’90s. Ibanez ramped up the quality of its own designs, including set-in-neck copies of solid body and archtop guitars. The lawsuit was settled out of court, and Ibanez replaced the headstock with a revised design. An image of pre-lawsuit Ibanez (left) and post-lawsuit Ibanez. Speaking of which, in 1977, Gibson’s parent company filed a lawsuit against Ibanez (essentially the Hoshino corporation) for copying their “open-book-style” headstock. The early logo of Takamine looked exactly like the Martin logo.

#Cortez guitar models serial numbers#

Interestingly, most Japanese copies of the time didn’t have serial numbers - a great way to tell if an instrument is truly a “lawsuit” guitar, even today. (Notice that Greco’s font is nearly identical to Gibson’s.)įernandes created faithful recreations of Fender instruments and Takamine and Suzuki both made acoustic guitars nearly identical to certain Martin models. Seventies Les Paul lookalikes featured names like Burny, Tokai, and Greco on their headstocks.

In addition to Ibanez, other manufacturers started importing their own copies of the classics. They were quickly embraced by novice players and those who didn’t want to shell out their hard-earned cash for a guitar of questionable quality. And the guitar on the right features an entirely new design with a new head shape.Īlthough not built to the same specifications as their American counterparts - many of which sported bolt-on necks, inferior electronics, and multi-piece plywood tops - the Japanese instruments were utilitarian, had personality, and were faithful to the original designs. The center image boldly displays the Ibanez brand on the head. The left image features a non-branded headstock. While Gibson and Fender guitars declined in quality, Japanese copies were, at least visually, markedly on par with the American originals. Ibanez achieved US success when it began manufacturing copies of classic Fender, Gibson, and Rickenbacker guitars in the late ’60s. In 1971, Hoshino became profitable enough to purchase Elger Guitars from Rosenbloom and officially changed their name to Ibanez, USA. Rosenbloom, sensitive to the domestic hostility towards Japanese products still prevalent in the late ’60s, used this as the brand name for his imported guitars. Hoshino began importing classical guitars from a small, Spanish guitar maker named Salvador Ibáñez in the ’20s to sell in Japan, and went onto launch their own brand under the name Ibanez, inspired by the imported guitars in 1935.

Sensing the domestic guitar market’s downturn, however, Rosenbloom’s company, Elger Guitars, became the sole North American distributor for Japanese guitar manufacturers, Hoshino Gakki Gen. Harry Rosenbloom, owner of Medley Music in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, made his living selling handmade instruments. The careful attention to detail, superior parts, and meticulous craftsmanship diminished, while price tags remained high. While heavy riffs and searing solos dominated the airwaves, the quality manufacturing of the classic instruments synonymous with the culture - guitars like Gibson’s Les Paul and SG, Fender’s Stratocaster and Telecaster - was beginning to decline significantly from a production standpoint.

Guitars and guitar-based rock ‘n’ roll music had reached a level of popularity that would last well into the early 2000s. (* If you happen to be plugged into an ungrounded amplifier and touch metal.) Gear hunters and enthusiasts around the world all claim to have seen them, but the true story may shock you.* Welcome to 6String Minutes. In this segment, we’ll uncover the truth about Japanese “lawsuit” guitars imported to the United States from the mid-1970s on.