A Guitars Brands Run Down 

feels like they changed their relationship status to "its complicated"

Anyone else buy from Musician's Friend just to avoid Guitar Center and now feel like a dumbass?

This was probably one of the most interesting things I've watched on RU-vid. If there are any updates to this or more relevant current information I would love to see an update video. Thanks Phil!

“Tama” from Tama drums comes from the person Hoshino Tama, who was the wife of the owner of Hoshino Gakki. Hoshino Gakki didn’t acquire the brand. Tama has always been a part of Hoshino.

My first guitar was a Series 10. I went to a local shop today and saw the first Series 10 I've seen since I traded mine toward a BC Rich Warlock back in the 90's.

Guitar Centre owns Musicians Friend. That explains the prices. I'm Canadian, that also explains the prices.

Very cool! Bunch of stuff I did not know here! thank you!

Great vid! Ibanez comes from Salvador Ibanez, spanish Luthier, born in 1854 and dead in 1920, who made Classical Guitars, Ukes, Lutes, etc... in Valencia, at the Mediterranean Coast. Valencia has a loooong tradition in Classical Guitars in Spain, my home Country. As a curiosity, the real name in Spanish is Ibañez ( with the letter ñ ) .... Again, great vid Philip!

Ibañez = Ibanez = ee-bah-ni-es (stress on the second syllable) The original "ñ" sounds more like the "ny" in "canyon" Very informative video!

I've been in the music retail biz for 27 years in Canada and now the USA. Dealt with all these companies and still do,pretty much,what's left. This is the BEST explanation of what went on in the last 30 years. Very,very well done. Kind of a trip through time and sometimes confusion for retailers.Thank You!!!

Thanks for putting this together so quickly and by the majority of feedback, very appreciated. That's a bit on who owns who but is who makes who much different? What I mean is the factories like Samick, Cort etc ghost building (commercial kitchens) for most of the brands. Guess i'm asking if you could expand a topic on these factories for the lower end guitars around. I know there are plenty of websites on this but I find it fascinating and am sure, others would enjoy you going over it. thanks Phil!

Phillip McKnight You neglected to mention two large Canadian manufactures, one of which is said to be the biggest manufacturer in North America. These companies are Godin Guitars (supposedly the largest guitar mfg. in North America), and Traynor who are a large equipment mfg., such as PA's, speakers, and amplifiers.

Fun Fact: Parker used to be independent but was distributed by Korg back in the 1990s. Eventually they bought themselves out of the distribution deal and were partnered with Fishman (as a company called Fishpark) for a few years before being bought by US Music Corp in 2004 (prior to US Music being bought by Jam). I was a woodworker in the original Parker Factory between 1995 and 2004. Not so fun fact: Jam shut down the Parker USA factory last year.

This is probely the reason why American guitar a far to expensive and of shit quality. Its no more about proud American quality products, its all about money and get the monopoly position. This is also why i dond buy 1000+ dollar guitars. If i want a guitar that price, or more, i go to a luthier who have his own small business.

Is it time for an update to this video? I remember watching it when it came out and i am wondering how much has changed since then. It would be neat to see an updated video on this topic.

At one time, Gibson was owned by the Norlin Musical Instrument Group, that also owned Lowery Organs (I believe now owned by Kawai) and Story & Clarke pianos. Hammond Organ Co. (now owned by Suzuki Instrument Co.) used to own the Cable-Nelson and Everett piano brands (Everett was later acquired by Yamaha). Hammond sold the Everett Orgatron reed organ patents to Wurlitzer. In the 1960s CBS Bought Steinway, Fender, Electro-Music (built Leslie speakers, now built by Hammond-Suzuki), and the electronic organ builders Rodgers (now owned by Rolabnd) and Gulbransen. C. G.Conn Ltd (out of Elkhart, IN) built band instruments and temporarily also acquired the Leedy (later built by Slingerland) and Ludwig drum companies. Theyt later got into the electronic organ (originally called "Connsonata") business and the Jansen piano company. Conn was acquired by Kimball piano company (part of the Jasper Company that built furniture) that also owned Bosendorfer (now owned by Yamaha). At one time Gretsch guitars were owned by the Baldwin piano company.

Thanks for taking the time to go over this. It was very interesting.

Ibanez is actually is pronounced Ee-BAHN-yez in Spanish. It was then owned by Salvador Ibanez. The popularity of Andres Segovia in Japan in the 20s prompted Hoshino who then owns a bookstore to import Spanish guitars in Japan. Initially their deal was just that. By the mid 30s the Ibanez of Spain sold the company to a guy named Julve and the brand has been dormant in Spain. But Hoshino still has rights to the name and started to build student and intermediate model acoustic guitars using the name Ibanez Salvador. Then just short to Ibanez. WWII shattered the original Hoshino company of musical instruments and bookstore. Hoshino started again by selling guitar picks before going back to making guitars. It is safe to say that since Japan opened itself to the West in 1890s, Ibanez was one of the first to market western muaical instruments locally. Tama used to be also a guitar brand in 1962 by Hoshino by the way. It became a drum brand in the 70s, I have seen some photos of Fred White and Ralph Johnson of Earth Wind And Fire using Tama drums.

If this guy was an FBI investigator and the music companies were mafia families, presentation like this in court will put them all in jail.

Man !!! I am taking a break after the Fmic section !!!! My head is spinning , I will catch up later !!! Wow so much infi .

Did I miss an overview that includes Gibson, Epiphone, etc.?

Your great!!! That was very informative! I was endorsed by Jackson in the early 80's and when I stopped playing professionally in the mid 90's, in the early 2000's I started collecting guitars ,basses and apm's I always wanted ,but all my old connections were strung out all over! People were working for all sorts of companies,and I still get free new guitars or B stock free all the time from 3 different companies ,but now I know why I can get all this free stuff still,it's all under FMIC! And I have had a connection to KAMAN for years and they still do custom work for me! So,with 120 guitars and about 20 basses,it all makes sense now! THANK YOU!

This is why I appreciate my made in Bozeman Montana Gibson SJ200, my made in Santa Ana Rickenbacker 320 and my El Cajon built Taylor 814ce.

Great video! It would be a little more complicated, but I'd like to see a video where we see which companies own which percentages of stock in their competitors.....

This is very interesting and I think the key word here is 'monopoly'. Can you do an expose on who makes guitar strings? It's my understanding that its the same small group of companies that manufacturer strings under different brands.

Guitar Center is now owned by Bain Capital, as of 2014.

IIRC, Acoustic is (or at least was) being manufactured by the same people that manufacture Kustom amps. It's a shame for Acoustic, who was one of the great American amps in the early 1970s.

I have a late 80s -early 90s GUILD DE-ARMOND M-75T that I bought used in '98, it's the champagne sparkle finish kinda like a Gretsch sparkle jet copy. I didn't know anything about the De-Armond brand but I liked the sparkle jet but I couldn't afford one and I just happened to come across the used M-75 T and it was I think $375.00 so I figured I'd test play. Boy was I pleasantly surprised, plays, feels and sounds beautiful. It has a very vintage-y sound that works great for Rockabilly, jazz, classic rock and modern rock and the quality and durability of this guitar is just unbelievably rugged and solid. Point is that I didn't think it was a good brand, I thought it was an el-cheapo and I tried it on a whim and partly to convince myself to save for a Gretsch, which at the time would have run about $2 thousand for the sparkle jet. Well I got a beautiful guitar and learned a valuable lesson and that lesson is to try different things and to trust feel and sound, before this purchase I had always been inclined to go for the expensive "name brand ". Since then I've just tried different pieces of gear and I don't worry about "names " or embarrassment of a certain brand and I've managed to get some really great stuff and save a ton of money. Thanks for your videos, great great stuff.

This was awesome! I could've easily watched another 30 minutes. Thanks!

Extremely informative video, thanks for putting this up! (side note correct Spanish pronunciation of the surname Ibáñez is ee-BAHN-yez)

Cool video. It would be nice to have more behind the scenes info about the companies and manufacturers like this one.

Your are the guy we need to have around when we go to the musical instrument shop

Very interesting info and insights, thanks Phillip. I wish the Westone brand could be resurrected, but only if the early 80's quality was maintained - I love my old Thunders!

So to summarise:- buy any cheap crap since it probably uses the same components as many of the (so called) higher end guitars?? Seems like the music industry is just like big pharma - selling crap under respected? brand names . Fascinating talk: Thanks for this, and all your other extremely honest videos.

*What about Dean? BC Rich? Ran?* How about a more insightful look into the Gibson line? Elaboration on Steinberger? The connection between ESP and LTD? Any relevance of Roland? Kurtzweil? Moog? Behringer? Will you do a separate video about amplifiers? Marshall Engl Peavey Orange Diesel Laboga Bogner Silverblade

Fender also bought and shelved Aims of Phoenix, AZ back in the '70s. I own a AIMS 100 watt tube PA.

Very informative video. Really appreciated. You deserve more views. What's your opinion on the 2016 Gibson catalog? Prices-value, models, the traditional and the contemporary editions of the models.

Reminds me of the Kurt Vonnegut book called "Jailbird".

I guess FMIC acquiring Gretsch Drums via the KMC merger is a late payback for the "Broadcaster" lawsuit from 1951 which brought us the Fender Telecaster ;-)

Don't know if someone's mentioned this, but the Ashbory bass was originally made through Guild, not DeArmond. Guild was making them in the 80s. DeArmond didn't until the late 90s.

Great video, you seem to know a lot about guitars. BUT I had a hard time with the writing errors and the handwriting itself.

Oh man... my first guitar (6th birthday) was a red electric '64 Kay ! Mom bought it for $50. Brand new. Back then that would be about... $400 now ? Sumthin' like that. Friend borrowed it, broke it in half... and the bits and pieces just kinda "went away". Have never seen one anywhere else, except on MTV in '80s when Billy Squier played one for a Christmas video. Hilarious !

You are an encyclopedia of knowledge. Thanks for the info. Now we are forearmed with more info of what we're buying & where it comes from.

This is a great video, Phillip. I would not mind seeing more on this topic.

"-What do you want to do when you grow up? -My dream is to build helicopter parts...and tunning pegs and bolts for guitars"

I don’t think I’ve learned (and then forgotten) so much great information in such a short period of time in my whole life!! You know your stuff man!! One question I had was about Gibson and when they bought Kramer and started basically direct-distributing Kramer electric and acoustic guitars, as well as Epi’s Electar Tube amps, all through “musicyo” (if memory serves me). I remember being blown away by the super cheap prices and higher-end specs. Seemed too good to be true, so I had to roll the dice. First I ordered a very basic Strat copy that they called a Kramer Focus. I didn’t wanna dive right in buying mail order tube amps, setneck electric guitars with Floyd Rose Trem and coil tapping, Acoustic/Electric guitars, and whatever else before I tested the waters on something less painful in case it was all junk. I was blown away with the Focus when it came. Played way better than my squire Strat that cost about 5 times as much. After that I was hooked ... until I had to send back a couple acoustics that arrived with cracked bridges. Other than that I really liked the Kramers and Electars; I wish they were still around. What ever happened with all of that? Sorry for rambling, but thanks a ton for yet another great video!

Hey Phil. Thanks for sharing your knowledge of all things guitar. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate it. All the best.

Love the videos....I check every day to see what you have to say. How do you find time to run a store, play guitar, and do all these videos?

I thought this was going to be boring but it ended up quite interesting. If i were in the business knowing all the back stories would be helpful as well.

Kinda makes sense how Thomann manage to sell their "Harley Benton" branded guitars for so cheap. With so many companies\brands\whatnot mixed up together in producing say, a Gibson guitar, everybody wants a piece from the pie, and you end up with a guitar which cost, say 1 grand to PRODUCE, costing 3 grand for the end consumer to BUY.

I know late to the party, great video this is one of the aspects of manfacturing that fascinates me. If you decide to update this, please include the korg part of the Parker story ( should I say the formerly great Parker ), as well as the Taylor Gibson connection. Thanks have a good one.

thanks , but i think i'll go with a "no-caster""

Great video! Very informative. I've been wondering about the history of some of the brands out there. Excellent!

I use to own a Series 10 with a Strat set up...however it stayed in tune better than any other cheaper Strat maker's(ie.Squirer)that I have owned.

Sam Ash I think is also owners of Brownsville and Mitchell.

I have a family member who works for Korg. The list of companies owned and distributed by them would blow your mind.

Guild is a better product now IMO. I am impressed with what Fender is doing with Gretsch. Perhaps because the family demands some level of quality. Impressed with what Ibanez does in the jazz box area at a low cost point. Thanks. This was great video. You'll need to do another one Monday morning after everything has changed!

so glad fmic did not acquire benedetto guitars. benedetto is a great family run customer oriented company and they make spectacular guitars.

If nobody has mentioned yet, Gretsch Drums are distributed by Gibralter and at one time during the 90's Gibson owned the Slingerland drum name too.

You forgot about Saga instruments they own a ton of instruments. Blueridge Gitane Gladiator Electric Guitars Valencia Rover Kentucky Anton Brenton Mahalo Regal Durango Trinity College GoldStar Cremona H. Siegler Hamano Fullerton Cigano Italia

I enjoy hearing brand names from the old days. I used to LOVE CRATEs .

Thanks Phill for telling me this information about Yamaha instrument company because Yamaha is my favourite guitar company.

Ok here's a tid bit of info. Search acoustic companies from the 50's/60's. The ones that didn't make it. You can run accross some great sounding instruments. Grammar guitars is just one

Gibson briefly owned Slingerland, I think. I remember in the late 90's you could go to the Gibson website and buy incredibly cheap Slingerland snare drums. I mean $50 for a brass shelled 5.5" snare drum! I'm kicking myself for not buying some.

WOW! Thanks for doing that. My brain is spinning now

Can you do a video on the future of Gibson guitars and why they are going downhill? I'd be interested in a history lesson on Gibson and how they acquired Epiphone

one more recent one is wyld audio (zakk Wyld's brand) which is distributed by schecter

I got 2 Carlo Robelli guitars and I like them. I play the amplified acoustic more than my other guitars. I gave my daughter the non amplified but wish I kept it because it sounds pretty good.

Fender also owns San Damis if I'm not wrong. Last time I checked San Damis is now owned by FMIC, but I could be wrong.

brilliant lesson ! tnx for that ! where did Samick name dissapear? at one point weren't they manufacturing something like 60% of world guitars ? i heard gibson bought them...

What is Cort into these days? BTW- fantastic video, as always.

Good info, man. I still have an old Sunn 6x10 cabinet from the old days. Have you ever heard of Sunn o)))? Some guys named their band Sunn and stole their logo. I have no idea how they were allowed to get away with that.

Great video. It made me sick seeing all the monopolies, especially in amps. I would like to know about Ernie Ball, what is going on there.

Maybe this is not the right question for this video but, what do you think of guitars made by local luthiers, like TK Smith in California or Harvester in Melbourne, Australia? Sure, their stuff is expensive.. beautiful hand made instruments fully customizable. But what's about the components and electronics?

Schecter, dean, Godin, faith/chapman, maybe history of industry founders?

Mr Phillip after watching this one and who makes who video I would like to know more about who makes the best high end Epiphone parts and components with the purpose of building myself a deluxe Junior or Standard from scratch that a regular player would be able to afford... A DIY deluxe Epi if you will... I really dig your channel Phillip...thanks

Tama was the marquee used for high end guitars made by Ibanez in the 70's.

I believe SamAsh also owns or has owned both Brownsville and Guitar Research, as well.

totally right about Sam Ash.. only thing is Sam ash is actually 2 companies now. The physical stores are a seperate company from the online store. You can see this since they have seperate webstores. Also heard this direct from a Sam ash employee when I inquired about just ordering it online and he said that he couldnt get stuff from online into his store.

Where does Mitchell fall under Guitar Center? They are touted as GC's store brand. At least the MD line. I'd say they are OEM for GC but then why do they keep the Mitchell name on the head? Note that the MD line is not viewable on the Mitchell site.

SLM also owned a guitar brand, Electra, which was big when I was a kid and then disappeared. It seems to be back somehow though. Also, no discussion about Yamaha?

I think the Ibanez bit is incomplete and where does Cort come into that? Also I think Guitar Center does not own Musician's Friend - they are sister companies both owned by the same parent

I really appreciate your work, Phillip. I hope you will keep it up.

Some other brands I'd be interested in learning about: Schecter, ESP/LTD, Godin

This channel is both super informative and entertaining!

Awesome information. Thanks for this video. Very fascinating :)

I really thought you were gonna miss off epiphone at the end there! Haha

what about the ownership of brands ESP, BC RIch, Dean, Schecter, Godin, G&L?

It always amazes and baffles me that there is so much redundancy/ variety in products such as musical gear w/ in companies/ brands. We have a constant flood of new gear, vintage gear coming on the market, and used gear from the 80's onward. For example, I played the drums starting in 1982, so naturally I started paying att to other musical gear like guitars. I rem the Squire guitars and Hondo from the old days. What happened to all of those?! Most are still out there somewhere, yet companies still make new cheap guitars. There are prob a lot of peeps out there that buy up the old cheap guitars and modify/ change them into Strat and Tele clones etc. It just goes to show what a MEGA economic powerhouse nation we live in, where a lot of people have a lot of money to buy a lot of things that they really don't need.

Just a point of clarity. I don't think Acoustic is built by Behringer. GC and Behringer had a very public falling out last year, and Uli takes things very personally. And I think GC also owns the Simmons name.

Warwick is pronounced ‘warrick’ ! The middle ‘w’ is silent... like in the English county of Warwickshire - where William Shakespeare was from... The brand was originally German I believe. Ibanez - Spanish pronunciation is EE BAN ETH ! The Spanish render the ‘z’ as ‘th’ as in the place name ‘Ibiza’ (say Eebitha) American pronunciation tends to loose the vowel sound of the letter ‘I’ replacing it with the letter name, e.g. SEMI (sem-eye rather than sem-ee). Very informative video and I love your encyclopaedic knowledge and enthusiasm. (Lag are originally French, and I have one of their ‘Jet’ model electrics - so I have ‘Jet Lag’ 🤣 I got it from a pawn shop for £60 and it still had the plastic film over the scratchplate and I looked it up and it was priced at around £300 new! It plays and sounds like a decent Squire and it looks pretty unique. I’m stoked!

Where's Behringer in this equation? Although they are not particularly known for their guitars, they have a habit of acquiring brand after brand after brand, and also build guitar amps. Anyway, Behringer has developed into a massive player and deserves being mentioned here :)

Thanks for the great information. I enjoy your videos. Could you possibly do a video about the company Cort. Regards. Jay.

Good info,was unaware of all these connections.Top job.

Tama has been apart of hoshino since the 60s, they made what drummers call stencil kits, same thing your saying abt guitars, what would later become tama would make drums for anyone and put whatever name on it you wanted. Tama became tama in the 70s

Awesome video! Godin? Tanara? Mitt Romney, Bain, Guitar Center...

Holy cow the cluster that is manufacturing. I have 3 Epiphones, an SG, LP and a LP PeeWee... but then I just got a Martin... owned by Martin.

Btw, there used to be electric guitars with the brand Tacoma as well. Does anyone have info on those? TIA

The Behringer connection would've been interesting, they've been acquiring and cutting component quality for years, ie Midas and TC Electronic - Lag's an old French brand, not sure about ownership

I am not entirely sure but I had seen some documentary about Godin and how many brand names are either ghost built, outsourced or distributed by them and it made them one of the giants of the music business. Same with Cort. ESP and Ibanez has so many of their products made there. I wish I could remember what it was I saw, I will try to find it and update this comment.