-
Please help identify this strange guitar that has a very attractive price, it says it's made in Japan (serial number finder says: Fujigen Gakki in Nagano, August 2007) but it has pots (or at least pot covers) for only one pickup and D'Angelico style Grover tuners. The pickup has been replaced by a Benedetti.
It doesn't look like a GB15, it is a sunburst without the split-coil switch and the pots are not placed exactly at the right spot for a GB15. A single pickup GB10?
I asked the owner for more information, I'm waiting for his reply. I don't know anything about the GB models. This one doesn't even have the George Benson name on the fretboard like I have seen on others.
Is that a Frankenstein's monster guitar?
-
06-04-2025 05:57 AM
-
Looks like a highly modified GB10 including the finish. Ibanez doesn't do a burst like that. Possibly removed the other 2 pots and did this "sunburst" The George Benson label on the fretboard has been gone since 1992
-
I've never, ever seen Grovers on an Ibanez. Single-ply truss rod cover is strange, too. it's either a completely custom, one-off guitar they produced for NAMM or something; a prototype of some sort; something they actually made for George; a guitar that has been heavily customized by an owner; or, worst-case scenario, a fake. I'd be careful...
-
Who is Team J. Craft?
-
Maybe it's just the picture angle, but the "Ibanez" lettering looks a hair crooked (npi)
-
It's just a way of highlighting the fact that the product is made in Japan. I don't know if the actual Ibanez guitars still have that sticker.
Originally Posted by garybaldy
-
It seems like it's slanted down a little bit as it goes to the right. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
-
The serial number indicates a 2007 build. Also, the close-up image of the body next to the pickup shows a very rough surface.
Possibly it was a road-worn or otherwise damaged instrument that was somehow salvaged.
My guess is that it is a modified and refinished GB10.
-
I have guitars made up like this from a factory I know in China. They'll do anything.
I worked for Ibanez. As far as I know they've never made one of these. I do know, however, that I can get a Chinese knock off, even with the Ibanez logo on it, or-for that matter I can get a closer to spec GB10 knock off that says "Custom made in Kalamazoo Michigan Made in USA" clearly stated on the back of the headstock.
I think this has a good chance of being from China.
That's just my guess.
-
Yup. It's not straight. On the QC line, this is the first thing I'd inspect for. This glorious example would have been slated for destruction on the spot. Hoshino is VERY picky about headstock details and VERY touchy about knock offs. Yeah they'd have a field day with this little baby. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
-
So is it a genuine Ibanez that should have been destroyed but slipped the net or a knock off? Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
-
A very interesting question…
-
There are WAY too many egregious discrepancies to have ever been a second. And that sunburst! If any Fujigen worker applied that burst, they would have been instantly encased in catalyzed polyurithatne and sent off planet. And the real Japanese GB10's came from the Fujigen shop and they have THE tightest consistency in the industry. No way that would ever come from the J facility. Originally Posted by garybaldy
That's my opinion based on having been the guy those guitars have to pass. I say that's a Chibanez.
-
My take on this : a GB15 with a re-finish. The way this „sunburst“ is sprayed doesn’t look like a factory job, never seen anything like this on an Ibanez guitar….
-
The pots are not placed on that angle on the GB15; this is more like a GB10 with two pots taken out and filled in with wood then painted over...
-
Hmmmm... Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
-
And what about the chrome tail & hardware? Originally Posted by Grigoris
Reply With Quote
Recommandations for Hollowbodies for $600 and under?
Today, 05:20 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos