Expert: Johnny Genocide - 1/5/2007

Question
what is it worth on the market and are these good? was this a ibenez offshoot during the "lawsuit" in the seventies?

Answer
Only the true hardcore guitar collectors know about the Mann story. I'll give you my short version.

    In the 1970s Japanese instrument manufacturers decided to beat Gibson at it's own game and make exact replicas of Gibson's guitars. Of course they were popular because they were affordable. Ibanez was the primary company making Fender and Gibson copies. Mann was an "offshoot" of Ibanez made at the same place Ibanez guitars were, the Fuji Gen Gaki factory in Japan. Many were sold through Canadian Distributors during the 1970s and early 1908s. Gibson won its fight and most of the shipments from Japan were seized at American ports and their headstocks cut off.

    If you look at the serial numbers on a Mann guitar, they have the same letter, then number serial system as Ibanez. They key to finding an original Mann is looking at the inlay on the headstock. The good ones are actual inlay, not a decal.

    As for value, there is a collectable market for them. Of course Gibson's owning of Epiphone solves the inexpensive guitar problem that Ibanez got into back in the 1970s. When I play out live or tour I use a Gretsch RockJet and an Epiphone ES-175 rather than a Les Paul (which I used to always use). You should check out Rondo guitars online if you want to see some inexpensive bitching Gibson Copies.

                  Johnny Genocide