Ibanez GB what?

[WilliamScott]

I have always been impressed with some Ibanez archtops and I'm interested the Benson series but, not being any kind of Ibanez expert, I'm confused about what the ranking of the different models would be. Does the number after the GB directly indicate the quality of the model?

[Cunamara]

No, it denotes differences in size and/or features. The GB10 was the original George Benson signature guitar; other versions include the GB15, GB20, etc., most of which are variations on the theme either in terms of aesthetics or size of the body. The made-in-Japan instruments are all top drawer.

There are some GB instruments, which cost less, that are made in other parts of Asia and IIRC have a suffix added to the name of the instrument (GB10SE or something like that, for example). There is also the LGB (Little Georgie Benson) series of instruments which come in high end and lower end instruments which seems to be differentiated in name by the number of zeros (30 versus 300).

I have a 1981 GB10 which I bought used in 1986; if you forced me to only ever own one guitar again for the rest of my life, that one would probably be it. The neck is perfect and it is absolutely at home in most styles of music that I play (jazz, blues, a little R&B and some jazzy interpretations of Grateful Dead music). And acoustically it is plenty loud for amp-less practicing.

The metaphor that I use to compare the GB10 with my 17 inch carved archtop is like the difference between a snare drum and a bass drum. The snare drum has an instant, crisp response; the bass drum takes a few milliseconds for the sound to develop after it's been struck.

[ThatRhythmMan]

I’m not that well versed in the George Benson models, but this GB-5 I had about 4 years ago was a beauty.

1994 Ibanez GB-5 George Benson - 3 Color Sunburst | That | Reverb

[WilliamScott]

Now that GB5 looks like a larger one. So does the GB200. So I guess the number in the model name carries no informational value. Right?

[Archie]

Now that GB5 looks like a larger one. So does the GB200. So I guess the number in the model name carries no informational value. Right?

The 10 is smaller than the 20, the 20 is smaller than the 30.

The 100 is bigger and more blingier than the 10.

The 200 is bigger and more blingier (kind of) than the 30. (the anomaly here is the 20 was discontinued in the early 80's so the 200 is more in line with a 300 which came a little later. Think of the 300 as the 2010 answer to the 1990's 200). The GB 20 and 15 being outliers.

So numbers under 100 usually denote size and numbers over 100, usually denote a slight variation in size (depth) and bling.

Mostly.

I hope that's not at all confusion lol