Ibanez GB10 Info

[Skip Ellis]

I love my Teles but one guitar that got away a few years back (and still haunts me) was a blond GB10 - absolutely, bar none, the best neck I ever played in 60+ years of playing guitar. I'll be selling one of my Brook acoustics shortly which should net me about $2200 +/- and I've got a few other things I can part with to get the ante up some. So, question for you Ibanez guys: how much do I need to come up with to get a decent GB10 (preferably blond) that's new enough to avoid the dreaded binding cracking that you see on so many of them? Are the newer ones (2000 and up) comparable quality-wise with the older ones? Not interested in the Chinese made version - only the Japanese.

[Jimmy blue note]

Are the newer ones (2000 and up) comparable quality-wise with the older ones?

I don't know about prices because I've seen quite a range in my days but as far as the consistency of the specs, quality of construction and feel of that neck, yes. It's an uncanny fact, IMHO, that GB10 necks have been that good for their entire run.
I don't think the recent pickups are the same frequency signature as the early ones, but I don't know about that history.

[Steve Z]

100% agree that the GB10 neck profile is amazing. I asked a similar questions a while back... I dug up the thread...
Ibanez GB10... 70s made same as newer made?

Summary... the neck profiles and body are really similar throughout the years and that the binding issue seems to be greatly reduced since 1996

[EvansDrD]

I can’t speak to prices Stateside but I don’t think you’ll any concerns re: quality. I had a ‘later’ model and the quality, like the neck, were first rate

The one issue that I had is that I didn’t like pickups. Too hot and too bright for me. This is, of course, subjective. Had them rewound by Aaron Armstrong

People who know more than me say that the newer pups are different to the older ones

[Jimmy blue note]

The one issue that I had is that I didn’t like pickups. Too hot and too bright for me. This is, of course, subjective. Had them rewound by Aaron Armstrong

They cut through really effectively in a band and live situation where the highs don't reside in the range of the piano, bass and drums. Solo or in a more intimate (where you can hear the quality of the attack, sustain and decay), I too didn't find the stock pickups as full and pleasing as a traditional body mounted pickup. This might also be exacerbated by the fact that mounting a pickup to the end of a fingerboard precludes the option to lower the pickup to a more balanced height that you can achieve with pickup adjustment screws otherwise.
I had MJ in the custom department at Seymour Duncan wind me a '59 pickup (alnico, PAF sound windings) in a mount that's indistinguishable from the JS fit of the GB-10: a mini floater PAF. That, and the ability to blend with the stock bridge pickup gave me a huge range of sounds plus a gorgeous warm and acoustic woody attack reminiscent of a big body full humbucker.
But this is just my ear and what I like for a guitar. The instrument simply fits well in my arms and hands. It's a personal thing, I hope you find what inspires you to play, and play and play.

[gitman]

Funny how different our ears are tuned re these pickups : I've bought my first BRAND NEW GB10 (a blonde ..) in 1979 and NEVER bonded with the pickups and back in those days there were no alternatives available over here. So I used outboard EQ + a compressor and got by. The neck (including frets) was perfect and that was true with all 3 different GB10/20 models that came through here in the past 40 years, including my current 2007 GB15. Now the (single) pickup in that GB15 is nowhere near as bright as the older ones and with the tailpiece(s) clamped down all the way and a set of Thomastik flats (0.13 E, 0.17 B strings) that guitar plugged into my Bud delivers the goods. No outboard gear NEEDED, only sometimes added for variety. Granted, it's an overbuilt guitar designed for high volume-level playing and does not compare to my Trenier Jazz Special re dynamics, sustain and tonal depth but on most stages that difference gets lost anyway. Good luck finding one - they ARE available out there and when you find one younger than ca. 1990 then you'll be fine - no more binding rot.