![]() #The Ibanez Company wanted me to endorse a model that was distributed in the United States. #Later I was told and unfortunate mistake had been made and I was to be presented with a different Ibanez banjo model-the Artist-because the Blue Bell was sold only in Japan. #I immediately fell in love with it and proudly played it on stage the evening after I received it, at our concert in Nagano. #Designed after a model by Gibson, the banjo was made of beautiful natural finished maple. In Matsumoto we were presented with brand new musical instruments, made by Ibanez as promotional endorsements.Several Artist model mandolins were given to Bill, and a Blue Bell model banjo to me. Though it never really says anything about motivations for Bill's willingness to endorse Ibanez, here are some excerpts from the book: #Bob Black talks about it some in his book "Come Hither to Go Yonder." #Bob, who had been playing a 60's Vega with a Stew Mac neck, got a brand new Ibanez Artist 5 string that he played throughout the rest of his tenure. ![]() That Ibanez thing came about during the '75/76 tour of Japan. Also, at the Hall of Fame museum at Bean Blossom, there are a couple of Blue Bell F5s on display there, which I'm presuming were given to Bill. I know he had one or two Ibanez mandolins that were auctioned when his estate was settled. I don't think Bill ever "switched." #There are a lot of artist endorsements where an artist endorses a product but rarely (if ever) is seen using it. ![]()
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