Ibanez GB10SE

ravirajani

I have been playing jazz since my teens (I'm now 40), but at some point in the late 2010s, I sold my only "jazz" instrument - a 1973 Gibson ES345 - because I realised I just didn't like playing it. At that time I was really into my strat (and still am). But, over the last few years, my appreciation of the tones of Wes Montgomery and George Benson has been rekindled, and I started looking into buying a hollow body jazz guitar (which I've never had before). I heard good things about the GB10SE and so when a used (mint) one came up on eBay for £750 I went for it. I've actually never liked a guitar I bought without trying it, but I thought if I didn't like it I should be able to put it back on eBay and get a similar price for it.

Anyway, I haven't put it back on eBay so it's not a bad guitar. It doesn't have that "special" tonal quality of some of my favourite instruments, but it's definitely worth keeping (at least until I find a magical hollow body that I really love).

The guitar came with flat wound strings. Flatwounds are too dark for my taste so I swapped them for round wound D'addario 12s. The set I bought was the EJ21 Nickel Wound with a wound third. The problem I then had was that the third string (G) was much quieter than the other strings, so I swapped it for a plain third. But then I couldn't get the intonation right with the stock ebony bridge of the guitar. I guess the stock bridge is calibrated for a wound third. So I had to change the bridge for a tune-o-matic. The exact bridge I bought was the Gotoh GE103B and luckily it was a drop in replacement.

The tune-o-matic bridge does sound different - less "woody" and more sustain - but it suits me just fine. I've got the intonation and action where I want them and am pretty happy with the guitar now. The neck pickup has that typical fat jazz tone and the bridge pickup actually works pretty well with overdrive. Also, I love the feedback resistance of this guitar. The small body and floating pickups really do work to resist feedback, even with overdrive.

I'm not too keen on the sound of the neck and bridge pickups combined. I had thought it might be useful for some funky stuff but I'm not sure I'd ever enjoy using it for that.

Although there are plenty of review videos of the GB10SE on YouTube, I made my own video in case you're interested in hearing what mine sounds like with the tune-o-matic bridge.

Basher

...holy thread revival etc.

Great review and fantastic playing. Would love a jazzbox myself but my chops (or funds) won't allow it at the moment.

I do have a Casino that I've put chromes (11s) on but the sound isn't remotely in Grant Green territory. (Although neither is my playing.) 

Would be interested to know if you kept the GB10SE or if your hollow body quest has led elsewhere?

ToneControl

The Ibanez Pat Metheny models are also well worth a look- and he has played them himself for decades

ravirajani

Basher said:

Would be interested to know if you kept the GB10SE or if your hollow body quest has led elsewhere?

I've kept it although I'll be honest, I don't really play it very often. It just has a certain "hard" tonal quality which doesn't really appeal to me. I hear it acoustically too, so it's not the electronics. Also, I can't sit with it for too long - I think I've got too used to the body contour of a strat

I haven't got another hollow body electric, and doubt I'll be getting one anytime soon. The GB10SE is good enough for the rare occasions that I need to play jazz. I like that it's small and doesn't feed back too easily, so it is quite a practical guitar.