-
When closing up some business on Reverb I saw this little gem for sale, Made an offer they couldn't refuse and it's on it's way. This is another of my Bucket List a Specials. Typical out gassing of the guard. It's got replaced gold Grovers, a Bartolini 5J in the neck and a bound ebony guard. Belonged to Doctor John's guitarist. Tell me, does the cutaway seem larger to ya'll or am I just getting sloppy in my old age ??
pics with everything else in about a week. Lovely Birdseye and flamed back, typical of the early GB-10s.
Big
Last edited by BigMikeinNJ; 04-11-2016 at 08:13 PM.
-
04-11-2016 08:11 PM
-
That's an early one Mike. Did she come with the metal case? She should sound great with that Bartolini. There was a french guitarist named Sacha Distal who had a sunburst GB10 with a Charlie Christian. Nice buy Mike,enjoy.
-
Mom worked in the high school teachers cafeteria for over 20 years. I got my piece of a cafeteria employees insurance policy she had. She bought this. I like it because it's been played a lot but still looks pretty good. The 78's had the name inlay one fret farther down the neck. The store owner says it's the deeper body, typical Ibanez using this with that. I think it's the normal case.
That's gonna be my porch guitar.Last edited by BigMikeinNJ; 04-12-2016 at 08:08 AM.
-
Another nice find, Big Mike. You are definitely on a roll! Congrats, and play it in good health!
-
Big Mike: I played some of those early GB10s down in Louisiana back in 78-79. Heck, I may have played that one before it was sold to Dr. John's guitarist. :-)
My recollection was how outstanding they were. The Bartolini is only going to enhance that, IMO.
Early GB10 guitars are sweet. Sure, the pickguards self-destruct...but that's already been addressed on this instrument. Cool.
-
Nice very early example. Yeah those from that year were the only ones with that figure 8 shape and the very deep cutaway. That old and played a lot... it takes a while for those to really loosen up. And it seems somebody's gone and done the work for you. There's a selling point right there.
Hope you give it the attention its used to. Hope you enjoy it with as much love as its used to getting!
David
-
Sweet, really like that tail piece. congrats and enjoy the ride!
-
Back in '88 a woman dumped me, broke my heart. In a moment of insanity I sold my '58 Gretsch Double Anniversary (duoh moment) and went on a binge. A month or so later I went over to Guitar Showcase in San Jose and as was my routine I headed into the consignment building across the parking lot from the big store. Inside was a early '78 GB10 in natural. No case, pick guard was warped, it had been abused. And at that point it was only 10 years old. $700.00 out the door. I went to Draper's Music in Palo Alto near my office as they were an authorized Ibanez distributor to order a case and look for parts in their parts boxes. I'll be double doggoned they had a GB10 pick guard brand new still in the plastic bag. $10.00 (it was '88) and they gave me the number of a tech they use. The guy wasn't too thrilled I called him direct but I sweetalked him into allowing me to drop by. I baked a big batch of biscotti as a thank you and met my new guitar tech, Dave Tupper, a fantastic guy, a real character and artist. He did a setup and replaced the pick guard. But the neck was pretty warped. He said "I can try to straighten it out but I might snap the neck doing it". I told him to go for it. He loosened the truss rod a little and then with the body between his legs he pulled back on that neck and I was sure it was gonna be in pieces real soon. Well he did get it to bend back and then quickly tightened the truss rod back and it was really a lot easier to play. I had that guitar until 1993 when I was in chef school to help pay the rent one month. Sold it and my Deluxe Reverb.
In 2001 I got an '81 that was real clean, but it wasn't that '78... I am so pleased to have this played out oddball feature combination '79. I took one look at that back (I've always been a sucker for blondes with nice backsides) and that bigger cutaway and so on and I said YUP, that one's coming home to Papa...
I am still shaking my head in awe that I got the GB100 and then the next day this GB10. These were always my Holy Grail Bucket List guitars. Now I if I find a GBY2K Masquerade for sale dude I don't know what I'll do... LOL
Big
-
Mikey,
The GB100 and GB10 would be on anybodies holy grail list. You struck big. Now you have to get use to those guitars. The small bodies and the neck carves will take some getting use too. You will do it. Those guitars are a great find and a welcome addition to anybodies collection. The fun is in the experimentation. You will need to try different strings on these guitars. For some reason, I didn't go too heavy on the gauge because they didn't feel right to me on my GB10. I ended up using Ti 11's. But in a band setting, those strings were weak. YMMV...
Have fun Mikey.
Joe D.
-
Well, all righty, Mikey! You have done it again. Nice GB10 snatch. '79 was a transition year for that model as you've pointed out. Mr. Benson and Ibanez were constantly tinkering with the design. The birdseye maple back was only used on the first few years. You did good.
Play it in good health.
-
Joe, Tim, John and everyone else. I know I really got a great score here. Joe for YEARS an '81 GB10nt was my gigging guitar, I had TI GB12 flats on it. That will be my first move, to have a tech do a little setup and install some GB12 Flats... Ya know I almost sold this guitar to Gitfiddler in 2007, but because of all the moisture in Pacifica the contacts on my Deluxe and my GB10 were a little corroded. He passed on it because we couldn't get it to play plugged in. A hour later and some contact cleaner resolved that issue. LOL. Here she is (was).
-
BigMike is on a roll.........go Mike go ! :-)
-
Nice on all counts. I have an '81 GB10NT that I've had since 1986. Wonderful guitars- great playability, great tone, incredible consistency. Now you have a brace of GBs! Congratulations and enjoy.
-
2nd time in a week a carrier delivers a damaged box, box has no padding inside, yet guitar and case remain unscathed. Rare 1979 deeper bodied Ibanez GB10 owned by John Fohl of Dr. Johns band, toured the work for 17 years. Gorgeous old broad.
Last edited by BigMikeinNJ; 04-18-2016 at 02:20 PM.
-
How does one straighten up the pickups on a GB10? I seem to see quite a few that are crooked. Do you just live with it like it is?
-
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy: congratulations!
Years ago I missed a GB by (cue Max Smart voice) "that much."
-
Originally Posted by Eric Rowland
The answer Eric , is very carefully, or not at all I suggest. my GB10s Nat & S/B & the GB100 were all wonky
but they all sounded fine, the GB100 was fabulous, had it for 17years, ..sigh.
Cheers
-
Well the neck pickup uses the old Johnny Smith neck mount. The bridge pickup is adjustable 2 ways: via the backet that holds the guard up and by a screw in the pick guard near the pickup that is threaded into a sleeve in the top so you can raise or lower the bridge pickup. Very clever design. Always worked for me.
Big
-
She's a beauty Mike. Better check that case out though. Seems there may be a mouse in there nibbling at that heal cap. I know you'll love that Bartolini. She'll be versatile blending them. Congrats
-
Yes that hellcap is really the only thing I want to replace on it. Don't care that the grover tuners aren't the stock ones, the holes matched. The pick guard is very elegant in person, and I have the Bartolini on my Yunzhi Pisano copy and I LOVE IT... It's a players guitar, and considering where it's been it's gorgeous. The case is so clean, there's no signs anywhere of degassing. Makes me think it's a used case from the same era.
What I'm going to do is catch up with this kid right here in Chicago that's made me a number of ebony guards. Have him come over, show him the heel cap and have him make me a replacement in ebony.
I'm gonna shoot a photo of the back under the track lights. It's so nice !!
(When doing this photo I did again look over the wood Ibanez used, it's really got little burls and flames here and there, like my '77 had.
Big
Last edited by BigMikeinNJ; 04-19-2016 at 10:21 AM.
-
Mike, I also have a '79 GB10 with a badly corroded heel cap. I had the masters over at Gryphon fabricate a new one out of maple. It looks beautiful, and does not draw attention to its repair. If your heart is set on an ebony cap, go for it. Just thought I'd give you additional food for thought.
-
i recently discovered the gb10 after more than 25 years of gibsons and boutique archtops
it feels and sounds like nothing else i've ever played
its hugely solid strong full voice has surely got a lot to with the weight and size of the bracing - the thing is closer to 7 than 6 pounds.
what hits you like a train about it the moment you play it is the 'fullness' of the sound despite the size of the body and the mini-floating pickups.
where does all the depth and thickness of sound come from given that its 15 x 2.5 (ish) laminated body with slim neck?
way way better than boutique mini-archtops that cost three times as much.
----
do people recommend changing the pickup on this guitar - the stock one sounds pretty great to me, but i'm certainly interested in the possibility of further improvement.
-
Mike,I wouldn't doubt that that is your original case. It was just around that time when they changed to the hard shell from the metal box. The "silver/green" color looks right to me.
-
I've decided to wait 24 hours from when I unpack a guitar to when I put tension on the strings. That's my new mantra. I tuned her up and plugged her into my Fuchs modded Music Man HD130. Doggone that thing is LOUD, on the half power setting !!! Very interesting doing an A/B between the GB10 and the GB100. And handling the GB10 I keep noticing how great the wood is they used for the body and neck.
Tone is terrific, yeah this small thin body really puts out a deep lush tone, pick attack and where you pick the strings gives you a lot variables to play with. Love it !! The GB100 is even lusher sounding without trying. The neck on this GB10 is fatter than any I've had, it came with what I think are 12 rounds, I've got TI GB 12 flats for her. I don't want to give it up to a tech for a while. Wish my old tech Dave Tupper was handy (I used to work 4 minutes from Gryphon for 15 years, would go there and Fry's on my lunch break).
The reason I wanted to install a ebony heel cap is I already have the black neck pickup, the ebony replacement pick guard on her. Flamed maple does sound like something to think about though. It'd look like it fits in better huh ??
Yeah I feel very Blessed lately. Still have a lot of legal stuff I am dealing with, the Trust, my pending divorce from the soon to be ex. All that. So I'm a bit distracted by all that at times. But soon that should be all behind me.
Big
-
New guitars are good healing when real life gets in the way. Enjoy!
Reply With Quote
Recommandations for Hollowbodies for $600 and under?
Today, 05:20 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos