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Every Japanese Guitar Brand Explained

Fifteen Japanese brands, from the factory that quietly built everyone else's guitars to the bookstore that became Ibanez.

By Music Junky · Last updated

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This video covers 15 brands. Each one below has its own full page with the founding story, key models, notable players, and where the brand stands today when that page is live. This page is the index; the depth lives on each brand's own page.

Brands covered in this video

01 CaparisonCult metal brand behind the "Devil's Tail" headstock Brand page coming soon
02 BacchusDeviser's handmade line hiding in plain sight Brand page coming soon
03 K.YairiThe name behind Alvarez-Yairi acoustics Brand page coming soon
04 MorrisPowered Japan's 1970s folk boom Brand page coming soon
05 WestoneBuilt by the same factory as Aria and Epiphone Brand page coming soon
06 GrecoCopies so good collectors argue they beat the originals Brand page coming soon
07 FujigenThe factory behind more famous guitars than any brand alive Brand page coming soon
08 FernandesInvented the Sustainer, armed Billie Joe Armstrong Brand page coming soon
09 AriaThe bass Cliff Burton and Duran Duran both played Brand page coming soon
10 TokaiCopies so good they forced Fender and Gibson to improve Brand page coming soon
11 Fender JapanThe JV-era guitars that embarrassed the American factory Brand page coming soon
12 TakamineSolved the problem of plugging an acoustic in Brand page coming soon
13 ESPOne businessman, two of metal's biggest brands Brand page coming soon
14 YamahaA piano company that built Santana's guitar Brand page coming soon
15 IbanezStarted as a bookstore, became the shred standard Brand page coming soon

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More in this series

Part 1 (soon) Part 2 Japanese Brands Brands That No Longer Exist Full Brand Index (A–Z)
Note: Each brand card above links to that brand's full profile page once it's built. Brands without a page yet are marked "coming soon" rather than linked, so nothing here points to a broken page. See the full brand index.