Ibanez LGB30 and GB10 question

**Hans Solo** · 12-01-2025, 03:49 PM

Wondering if any of you folks have any thoughts about this. I own a LGB30 and I like it very much. I also have a D'Angelico Excel EXL-1 and an Eastman AR503ce and like both of them but the LGB30 is my favorite out of the three. Right now Sweetwater has the Ibanez GB10 on sale for $3,300.00 which is $700.00 off the regular price. I just have to wonder if it is really that much better than the LGB30 which sounds great and plays well. Any feedback would be appreciated. I live in Montana in a small town and finding one to play is impossible.
Thanks for checking out my post.
Hans Lolo

**gitman** · 12-01-2025, 07:31 PM

Having owned about 5 different GB10 models (including my first GB15) in the past 30 years I can attest to their comfort, stageworthiness, stability and good resale value but only if we're talking about the Japan-made models. Unfortunately some of the guitars from the 90's suffer from the in-curable binding rot but if I were in the market for a GB10 I'd go for a used one from the 2000's which are available and about at least $ 1000,- cheaper than any new one. These guitars are usually well taken care off, most owners tend to play them in private and I've never seen a really beat-up GB10. I currently own my second GB15 (a rare GB version with only one pickup at the neck) and have no plans to sell it, it's in regular use. I have swapped out the original pickup for a Kent Armstrong 12-pole mini floater with a coil-tap (cuts midrange) and I like the sound much better now. Playability is superb, the shorter scale makes it very comfortable and the 15" body sits nicely on the lap. I have a set of med. roundwounds on it with a 0.13 E/0.17 B string.
A GB10 will sound different from the LGB30 and which one will sound "better" is a futile discussion.
Go look for a used GB10 from dealer and get a money-back deal/ negotiate a try-out period.

**Jimmy blue note** · 12-01-2025, 07:46 PM

The GB10 is somewhat unique among guitars. It's not like any of the guitars you have listed, not even similar. It's smaller, it has different pickups, it feels different, it has a different balance.
In many ways, similar guitars might afford you the criteria to make a "better" metric according to your taste but when it comes to the GB10, you really need to decide for yourself based on actually playing it ...for a while.
In a world where people can tell a difference of 1/2" in depth or an almost immeasurable depth of neck thickness, nobody can know what feels good to you.
Does Sweetwater have a return policy?
If you like the LGB30, keep it. I don't think it's a matter of one being better than the other. It's more a matter of apples and orange juice.
People are always quite divided when it comes to the GB10. I've known few other guitars that have such a strong Love-it or Hate-it reaction as far as sound, body fit, neck fit, neck contour. Some people say they like it that it feels like a little jazz box-others say it doesn't feel like a jazz guitar to them. I happen to love them but I get it that I'm not a majority.

If they take returns, I think you should experience it. It might be your new favourite guitar.

**arnie65** · 12-01-2025, 07:57 PM

The only issue I see (apart from the obvious) is that you get almost zero feedback from the GB10, the LGB30 might give you feedback at one point, like standing too close to the amp etc...

Cheers,
Arnie..

**Cunamara** · 12-02-2025, 03:23 AM

"Is it really that much better" is an unanswerable question except by you. These things are not objective.

I have a 1981 GB10 that I purchased used in 1983*. I will say that if you came into my house with a gun and said you were taking every guitar but one, that's the one I would keep. That would be over my 17" carved top, my Gibson ES-175, my Strat, my Telecasters, my Rick Turner Renaissance RN6, etc. And all of those are excellent guitars. Some of this might be because the GB10 was my first electric guitar, it's the one I learned how to use the knobs and picking technique to get the sounds I want. Familiarity can matter a lot. It's a superbly practical guitar in terms of size, portability, comfort under the arm, the best neck I've ever played. But my technique was formed on this guitar.

Making best use of the pickups and the controls takes some concerted study. Almost every video on YouTube that you see with one of these guitars, you will hear the poppy George Benson tone. And this guitar certainly excels at that. But you can also get dark, soft, smoky, etc. by leveraging the very high output pickups and the way the volume and tone knobs interact and how you pick. Roll the pickup volumes down to about 4-5, bring the amp up a little bit to compensate, fiddle with the tone knobs around the middle of the range and you've got a great jazz guitar sound that does not sound like George Benson playing Breezin'. It also doesn't sound like Jim Hall, of course.

I happen to think these are one of the most versatile jazz guitars on the market, right up there with the ES-335. But the next person may not find it that way.

*The seller had two guitars for sale in 1980: the GB10 and a Gibson Johnny Smith. My friend Matt bought the GJS, which was wine red and a wonderful guitar, in 1980. I still remember playing that thing, it was just downright exciting. Three years later, the GB10 was still up for sale and I bought that. I think we both paid about $650 for our respective instruments; that was a long time ago. I fully expect that the GB10 will ultimately be the last guitar I own after all the others have been sold off in my dotage.

**Oscar67** · 12-02-2025, 03:24 AM

The LGB30 was my gateway drug into the world of archtops. Nice guitar for the money. If it inspires you and makes you want to play, then just enjoy it and forget about the GB10. I played mine for a couple of years but at some point I did get a GB10 and never looked back. For me, the GB10 was in a totally different league. If you can afford a used one from a store with a return policy then there’s no harm in giving it a try. There are nice used ones out there so why buy new?

**Tomcat** · 12-02-2025, 07:24 AM

Originally Posted by gitman

Having owned about 5 different GB10 models (including my first GB15) in the past 30 years I can attest to their comfort, stageworthiness, stability and good resale value but only if we're talking about the Japan-made models. Unfortunately some of the guitars from the 90's suffer from the in-curable binding rot but if I were in the market for a GB10 I'd go for a used one from the 2000's which are available and about at least $ 1000,- cheaper than any new one. These guitars are usually well taken care off, most owners tend to play them in private and I've never seen a really beat-up GB10. I currently own my second GB15 (a rare GB version with only one pickup at the neck) and have no plans to sell it, it's in regular use. I have swapped out the original pickup for a Kent Armstrong 12-pole mini floater with a coil-tap (cuts midrange) and I like the sound much better now. Playability is superb, the shorter scale makes it very comfortable and the 15" body sits nicely on the lap. I have a set of med. roundwounds on it with a 0.13 E/0.17 B string.
A GB10 will sound different from the LGB30 and which one will sound "better" is a futile discussion.
Go look for a used GB10 from dealer and get a money-back deal/ negotiate a try-out period.

Fully agreed on above, btw sorry for OT but how is tuning stability in your GB 15? I love its sound but mine has some tuning issues at higher posiitons.. I probably need to check it with another luthier.

**skiboyny** · 12-02-2025, 08:20 AM

I've never played a GB300 so I can't compare for you. I can only say that the GB-10 is probably the best playing instrument that I have ever owned and that's saying a lot. The workmanship is comparable to any guitar made. It's a mid focused sound with the sustain of a solid body and yet maintains an Archtop presence. The sound is up to you, but I can say this. As time goes on I find that If I enjoy the playability, the sound becomes enjoyable also. So between the two is it the best? They cost probably double and have been selling for years, so I guess enough people think so.

**Cunamara** · 12-02-2025, 12:06 PM

That is an interesting point. The GB10 is Ibanez's longest running signature model and, as far as I know, it's one of the longest running signature models from any manufacturer. If you consider the Les Paul a signature model, that's the longest running one, I suppose.

Ibanez must sell enough of these to continue making them and even expanding the lineup with less expensive models made Indonesia and China, as well as the variants like the GB15, GB20, GB100, etc., but it's not a guitar that I see being played out in public by jazz guitarists (other than myself).

It will be interesting to see if, ultimately, the GB line of guitars outlives George himself. The Johnny Smith design is probably still being used, but are there any Johnny Smith signature models being produced by that name since he passed away?

**Zigracer** · 12-02-2025, 12:39 PM

I had two GB10s in the last six years. Miss them both. If they made a 7 string version, I'd be all over it like white on rice.

**GuyBoden** · 12-02-2025, 01:21 PM

I'm over 6ft, with big fat hands. The GB10 is very, very nice, but it's too small for me.

**skiboyny** · 12-02-2025, 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by Cunamara

That is an interesting point. The GB10 is Ibanez's longest running signature model and, as far as I know, it's one of the longest running signature models from any manufacturer. If you consider the Les Paul a signature model, that's the longest running one, I suppose.

Ibanez must sell enough of these to continue making them and even expanding the lineup with less expensive models made Indonesia and China, as well as the variants like the GB15, GB20, GB100, etc., but it's not a guitar that I see being played out in public by jazz guitarists (other than myself).

It will be interesting to see if, ultimately, the GB line of guitars outlives George himself. The Johnny Smith design is probably still being used, but are there any Johnny Smith signature models being produced by that name since he passed away?

I have a feeling that it will. There are so many of them out there from so many years of production. George has the star power that no one before him really ever had. He brought his music to a much wider audience. Most likely many Les Paul owners have no idea who he even is but the design was groundbreaking and endures. The Johnny Smith model was copied by many builders. Although Johnny was a god among jazz guitarists he never had the popularity that of George. The GB design is a very practical preforming guitar.