George Benson is the definitive modern jazz guitarist, and the Ibanez GB10EM is his weapon of choice. This classic jazz box boasts a linden body, chosen for its combination of growling warmth and defined attack. A spruce top ensures maximum resonance and resistance to feedback. Plug the GB10EM into your favorite amp, and you’ll enjoy a clean response and clear articulation that are tailor-made for fast melodies and complex chord progressions, courtesy of a set of floating Magic Touch-Mini humbuckers. This hollowbody electric feels great, too, thanks to its easy-playing walnut-capped nyatoh neck. A walnut bridge and VT14 tailpiece ensure rock-solid stability, while a wood tailpiece cover maintains the guitar’s aesthetics. If you want to achieve George Benson’s bluesy, soulful grit (no small feat there), the GB10EM is a great place to start.

Select tonewoods for sweet, sustained notes

The GB10EM is a looker, for sure. But it's not just made for the showcase; this performer has pipes, thanks to specially chosen tonewoods used in its construction. It features a spruce top that resonates beautifully but also helps reduce feedback, so your music comes through with minimal distortion. Beyond that, the GB10EM’s linden back and sides exude a warm growl with truckloads of definition, and that walnut bridge isn't just attractive; it improves sustain so every note sings out at full strength with endurance in spades.

Magic Touch-Mini humbucking pickups serve up expressive tone

The Ibanez George Benson Signature GB10EM boasts a set of Magic Touch-Mini humbuckers. These pickups are mounted to the guitar’s pickguard, enabling them to float above its top. This ensures that they don’t dampen the guitar’s natural body vibration, resulting in a rich, larger-than-life acoustic tone. The pickups themselves serve up a balance of classic tones. They’re chock-full of clean response and clear articulation, which permits you to perform fast melodies and complex chord progressions with razor-sharp precision.

GB neck yields smooth feel and comfortable action

The neck of any guitar determines how well it plays, which is why Ibanez selected the GB neck — George Benson’s choice shape for smooth and comfortable action — for the GB10EM. Not only will your hand love the comfortable carve of this nyatoh neck, but your fingers will appreciate the beautifully bound walnut fingerboard. On top of that, the guitarists here at Music Experience have found that this hollowbody guitar’s set-in construction really maximizes its sustain.

Ibanez: a brief history

Ibanez began its life in 1908 as the Hoshino Gakki company in Nagoya, Japan. However, the company didn’t get into the guitar business until 1929, when they started importing Salvador Ibanez guitars from Spain. In 1935, Hoshino Gakki began building Spanish acoustic guitars under the Ibanez Salvador name, which was later shortened to Ibanez. Although Ibanez began manufacturing electric guitars in 1957, the company was relatively unknown in the West until the 1960s, when they started producing guitars based on American designs. By the late 1970s, Ibanez had stopped producing derivative guitars and had begun manufacturing the original designs that the company is now known for. Ibanez is also famous for their effects pedals (most notably the Tube Screamer) and guitar amplifiers.