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I am seriously considering a GB10. I had an L5 and just could not get on with the body size or get comfortable with an axe at that price range in my house yet. I need something smaller to use as a gateway drug to archtops. I have never been able to bond with one. The closest was an Epiphone Elitist Byrdland (Should have never sold that amazing instrument!) All clips of the G10 are really quite good. It always sounds at least pretty great and plain awesome on some clips. I hear it to have a bit of "archtop thunk" to the note that other smaller bodies seem to miss.
I have investigated the Gibson ES-275 a bit, but it is not for me. I used to own an 1988 Gibson ES-175 with mahogany back and size. It was OK, but never hooked me. Done the 335 thing too, pass. Oh, I currently play my "jazz" stuff on a Les Paul or a Tele (mostly Tele these days) so please don't rabbit down the solid body trail. I definitely want an archtop around to love on. Also, not interested in lower tier instruments, I am not afraid to spend what a new GB10 costs.
Nothing here in Alaska to try so it will be mail order for me. What else should I be considering that has a smaller body but gives a reasonable "archtop" tone. Notice I did not just say "jazz" tone? Less ambiguous, hopefully.
I know these threads are bit vague and super subjective, but I do value well intended input for sure!
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10-15-2018 08:43 PM
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Look at some of the 16" Eastmans or Peerless.
I had a painless purchase experience with a California vendor shipped to 99775 not long ago, PM me if you are interested in info.
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Peerless Martin Taylor?
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Sadowsky made a Jimmy Bruno model that's really nice.
I have a Benson that I put a Seymour Duncan floating pickup on along with a wood tailpiece. I had Duncan wind me a Johnny Smith sized pickup with 59 specs (they do that) and it has a rich woody vintage archtop sound when plugged in.
REALLY comfortable guitar with an amazing warm sound.
If you want to experiment with a smaller sized jazz box, think about an Ibanez AG95 and switch out the pickups out for Duncan 59's. It's a winning combo that comes in well under a grand.
They're the same body size as a GB10 but will take regular sized humbuckers.
By the way, these small 15" archtops are about the size of a classical guitar in body width so you get an idea of how compact they are.
DavidLast edited by TH; 10-17-2018 at 01:36 PM.
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GB10's are great jazz boxes and maybe the perfect 'gateway' to a larger archtop, in terms of amplified sound. Also, there are a number of Ibanez offshoots of this model at a wide variety of price points.
Even though I've played a GB10 for many years, I recently discovered the magic of a slightly larger (16") GB that ticks all of my ergonomic and sonic boxes. Try a GB200 if you get a chance. There are a few available on Reverb currently. I tried one blindly and am amazed at the thick jazz tone from what appears to be a downsized L5.
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I love my Eastman Frank Vignola model. It's a 15" body size and very light too.
FV680CE-SB - Eastman Guitars
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Some good possibilities already! I really should just get the real thing and lock my solid bodies away for awhile and "move into" the archtop!
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I've had a 1981 GB10 since 1986. Fantastic guitar. If you are going to go this route, I would suggest buying an '84 or older one. The pickups changed to a hotter ceramic pickup after or around that time- I prefer (this is totally a matter of preference) the earlier Alnico pickups, which are still very hot.
Ibanez's quality control is second to none, especially the instruments made in Japan. These guitars are very stable and a safe bet for buying vintage. Two caveats. Some of the older blondes are prone to discoloring along the binding- mind has a bit of this, it appears to be a reaction between the finish and the binding material. You'll see it in some photos of the older ones. The sunburst ones either don't have this or it hides well. And the pickguard material for older archtops is known for breaking down, although mine has not had this happen.
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Someone is selling a Sadowsky SS-15 in the for-sale section. Awesome guitars.
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I use a L5 and a GB10. Wonderful combo to play. Top of the line guitars in the world.
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I have a GB100 which is like a GB10 but with an extra half inch of body depth, flamed maple laminate instead of spruce on the top and slightly fancier inlays. I bought it second hand for £2,500 about two years ago. There are things about it which I love and things which I don't like so much. The weight, size, shape and playability are generally very good, bearing in mind that I'm not very tall and have short limbs and small hands. The build quality and finishing are excellent. The sound is responsive, clear and even. The neck pickup can blend nicely with the band but has enough heat to cut through for solos. The tuning is accurate. Overall it's a solid and reliable gigging instrument. There are just a few niggles which bother me. (Please bear in mind that I am extremely fussy, almost pathologically so.) Firstly, I struggle with the Ibanez fingerboards and frets (having played other Ibanez guitars). I don't know why but I find it hard to avoid mis-fretting and making the string buzz. I don't have same problem with guitars with chunkier frets (e.g. my ES 339). Secondly, the tone, whilst basically very pleasant, lacks brightness. It seems more muted than the GB10 for example. This might be due to the difference in wood. Thirdly, (and this is my biggest complaint), the clearance between the pickguard and the high E string is tiny, making it extremely difficult to avoid hitting the pick guard with the pick especially when playing chord solos. I have had to adapt my technique to mitigate this, which is fine, but when I am improvising and being freer with my technique the problem recurs. It is very annoying. I have also tried lowering the pickguard. This is possible since I never use the bridge pickup which is mounted to it. This has only partially improved the problem. On balance, it is a very good guitar for the money but has some flaws.
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I agree with Cunamara. Get a GB-10 from the first four or five years of production, if you can locate one. The late-70s/early-80s examples I have played have been mouth watering.
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?Yup, I'm all over those older GB10s... They're out there. The worry about binding rot and cracking is from the degassing of the pickguards. But a careful shopper can find a stunning (but used) example. They're rock solid guitars. I always call the GB10 the Tuxedo of Guitars...
Big
Originally Posted by Greentone
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The GB10 is still has a large lead over anything right now. It really has become a classic in its own right in the canon of archtop guitars. There may be an old one I can try at a local guitar store here so I will try to get over there today. I am not big on vintage guitars. They never work for me. I am better off buying new, getting a 30 day approval (I know in two or three days, but 30 gives some comfort) and then changing whatever needs to be changed. I have no problem altering a guitar to suit my personal tastes even though it may decimate its monetary value. My 3 keepers are that way for sure! I hate selling guitars but I have two minty ones that need to go.
I will keep investigating options but I have good vibrations regarding the GB10!
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FWIW I quite like my 1990 GB10 made in the Terada factory. Not sure one needs to limit themselves to production until only 1983...
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Is the GB10 body all laminate?
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I believe it is. There was a link to a thread that pretty much definitively answered that it was indeed all laminated. Makes sense from GB's point of view right? He was after stability and feedback resistance as two primary considerations when building that guitar. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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So... is the Sadowski SS15 what the Jimmy Bruno model used to be in terms of specs?
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It's kind of weird to quote yourself, but three years ago I wrote this:
"GB-10 is laminated. Wanting it to not be so won't change that. As it happens, great guitars in jazz are very intentionally manufactured that way. Jim Hall asked D'Aquisto to make his second guitar a laminate--his first was carved. He mainly played the laminate. Joe Pass's D'Aquisto, likewise, was a laminate. The guitars that Jim Hall played by Sadowsky were laminates (and copies of his D'Aquisto, more or less). The guitars of Bill Moll that are used by John Pizzarelli are some very acoustically loud laminates, as are the laminates by American Archtops.
Ask anyone who has played a Gibson ES-350, Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow, or ES-175--laminates are great materials for building jazz archtops.
Ibanez has virtually perfected this with their Benson line."
GT
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No, they are quite different, and were offered at the same time. The SS-15 has 1-3/4" nut, the JB has 1-11/16". The SS-15 body is quite thin 1-3/4", the JB is more "normal" at 2-3/4". And finally, the JB neck has one extra fret clear of the body. Originally Posted by Ken Olmstead
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Thanks Greentone! Living in Alaska and dealing with harsh environmental conditions, good performing laminates are a major plus!
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Wow, thanks!! Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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Several years back I was looking for an SS-15 or a Jimmy Bruno, and the Bruno happened to pop up at a decent price so I jumped on it. That's the only reason I am so familiar with the differences between the two models. Originally Posted by Ken Olmstead
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Longtime user/owner of 3 different GB10's here - bought my first one in '79, a new blonde one and played that for about 10 years, lost it in a car theft and replaced it with another early GB10 in sunburst. THAT one was replaced by my first Borys which was a MAJOR step forward of course : the slightly larger, much more resonant body of the 16" Borys offered a much more traditional jazz tone, much better dynamics/responsiveness and it was just as light and just as playable , despite the 1" increase in body size. No feedback issues, either. A couple of years forward and I tried my luck with a third GB10, with different pickups - it went out again after a year or so and I never looked back. Granted, the small body and the superb neck-carve make for an eminently playable guitar and it looks just so sexy - but alas, I NEVER was able to coax the warm, round, ploppy jazz sound out of it that I heard in my head, regardless of the strings I used, the pickups, the amp , all the usual variables. Mr. Benson is a genial musician and a supremely gifted player and his unique picking style lets him get the tone we all hear and love but I don't know of any other player who gets a tone that is comparable to his with this special guitar....
So my vote goes not to the GB10 but I suggest you look into these models :
- Guild X-175
- Guild x-160
- Guild T-100
- Ibanez FA-100
- Gibson ES-125T(orTC)
- Benedetto Bravo
- Comins GCS-16
- Sadowsky LS-15
- Collings Eastside
- Heritage Sweet 16
The price range of the guitars is quite wide, yes but I find that suitable and great sounding/playing "smaller" archtops are definitely out there, some more affordable than others of course. I'd put my money on a vintage Guild or an ES-125 ....
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Thanks gitman, investigating some of those now...
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