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Been watching lots of Hirofumi Asaba lately and becoming enamored with ES350s but I REALLY like my GB10. I hate G.A.S.!
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10-15-2025 01:35 PM
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I have a 2002 GB10. This is a guitar that I so desperately wanted to bond with but I could never get acclimated to the thin neck profile on these.
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That's one of the reasons I bought this one - a perfect neck (for me)
Originally Posted by Cdub
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The GB10 is a great guitar and surprisingly versatile once you figure out how to leverage the hot pickups. I have an '81 and if you forced me at gunpoint to keep only one of my guitars, that'd be it- over my ES-175, Cushman carvetop, Teles, Strat. The GB10 was my first electric and sometimes I wondered why I bought the rest.
Well, we *all* know why I bought the rest!
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Gear decisions? When in doubt, don’t.
The GB10 has become a legendary jazz guitar. For good reasons. It’s rock-solid, handles travel and weather changes with ease, it’s totally dependable, plays like butter, stays in tune and sounds great. These qualities are so obvious for a GB10 that it’s easy to take it for granted, but it’s quite a feat.
I’d be interested to know what your trick is. Me, when in a pinch I can live with the guitar plugged straight in but I prefer a pedal to dial things back to slightly less than unity gain. Usually I use my Cornerstone Gladio for this but a volume pedal will do just fine.…once you figure out how to leverage the hot pickups…
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Those guitars are going sound a mile apart in different tone and playability. While I am not the fan of a GB 10 like most you answered your own question. You said the neck was perfect. Saying that tells me that you need to keep the guitar and figure out some way to get an es 350 at the same time. It can be done just have to work at it more than you think. Originally Posted by Skip Ellis
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Not to mention the size difference. After the GB, a 350 would feel huge under your arm. Originally Posted by deacon Mark
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I have a GB10 I got while I worked for Ibanez. It was a dream guitar. ' never liked the pickups so I had the Seymour Duncan custom shop wind me up warm mini pickups and it became a guitar that played itself. So much that when I went to 7 strings I had to have a custom 7 string 15" with a thin profile neck built.
It it's right for you, that small body and small profile neck is the only thing out there like it (since Sadowsky stopped making the Bruno... does he still make the 15?)
It's always going to be a temptation to get an instrument when you're inspired by a player who moves you, but a guitar only is not going to bring you to that level of musicianship or expression. If you have an instrument that compels you to practice more, you'll get there.
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I'm on to the 6th GB model in my career going back close to 45 years now ... I've owned 3 different GB10's , 2 GB20's and 2 GB15's , the latest one is now fitted with an Armstrong 12-pole floater (the Johnny Smith style, small in black chrome, with a second/tapped output wire) and that guitar will def. stay. The neck is perfect, the pickup added warmth and "Thunk" to the sound, the guitar is rock-solid , very comfortable and just works great on stage in any setting. OK, I also own some nice "boutique" guitars and 2 vintage Gibson's but the GB is right up there with all of these re tone, feel and the build-quality is second to none.
I'm biased but I also know a thing or two about guitars .... keep your GB10 !
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The pickups of the GB10 are really hot. Mine are the older Alnico design, my understanding is that at some point Ibanez switched to ceramic magnets and I've never used those. I set the amp so that I can run the pickup volume knobs at 3-5, which rolls off some of the highs and gets the guitar more into traditional archtop territory with a softer attack and darker sound*, and away from the GB bright tone. But you do need to balance the guitar volume control against the amp volume control; I've never tried a volume pedal. Originally Posted by Oscar67
* The basic sound of the guitar is what it is, though. The notes always seem to pop right out of the GB10 with great immediacy, compared to say my ES-175 in which the note seems to think for a millisecond first and then blooms. It's like a snare drum vs. a floor tom.
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@gitman...For clarity, did you mod your GB15 with a KA 12-pole floater? If so that sounds like a great idea if it expanded the sonic range of an excellent guitar. I like the sound of the factory pickup, but have no use for the original pickup's tapped sound. Originally Posted by gitman
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Yes, my GB15 is modded this way. The second wire from the pickup goes to the switch on the GB15 and it then sends the tapped signal to the controls. The sound becomes softer, more airy and lends itself really nicely for strumming, swing-type comping. The original wiring in this model features an "ordinary" pickup-split which is indeed not very useable. A tapped pickup is still fully humbucking but has fewer windings > Originally Posted by Gitfiddler
lower output, increased clarity.
Like mentioned before, when one turns down the volume pot just a few hairs the tone gets just a bit more mellow and the tone pot is used for really cutting the highs. I have the guitar strung with either Sadowsky or Thomastik medium round wounds with an 013 E and 017 B string.
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Have had two GB 10s and loved them for all the reasons previously stated. Selling the first one was a huge mistake. Sold the second one after I started playing 7 strings, but figured that an L-5 in the stable would complement the 7 string guitars. The L-5, while an absolute stunner in all ways, no longer resides here either.
I only now have 6 string guitars to play rock and pop, as the 7 string guitars are what I use to attempt jazz. But I must confess that I often think about getting another GB10. Keep yours.
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