Ibanez GB200

Søren Olsen

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Oct 9, 2002, 5:00:08 PM10/9/02

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I have suddenly heard about GB200. This sounds like the
carved-top-for-the-poor-man I have been looking for. Any pointers to
info on this??

--
Soren O

smoy

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Oct 9, 2002, 4:52:32 PM10/9/02

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check it out at the Ibanez site
http://www.ibanez.com/guitars/guitar.asp?model=GB200. its a nice guitar.
Skip

"Søren Olsen" <type...@image.dk> wrote in message
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Dick Onstenk

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Oct 10, 2002, 7:08:00 AM10/10/02

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Poor man's archtop? I have played one and these guitars are second to
none. With $ 3000 they are not exactly cheap, are they now?

Dick

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John Shanley

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Oct 10, 2002, 9:29:09 AM10/10/02

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Søren Olsen <type...@image.dk> wrote in message news:<3DA498D8...@image.dk>...

> I have suddenly heard about GB200. This sounds like the
> carved-top-for-the-poor-man I have been looking for. Any pointers to
> info on this??

Soren:

I don't think it's a carved top, but laminated. Ibanez's literature
never says carved top in referring to this guitar (or any other GB
model). If it WAS a carved top, they'd be trumpeting that fact very
loud. However, it still looks like a primo guitar.

I'm not sure how long this model has been in production; at least
since the mid 90s. It was called the GB5, back then. I have a '95
catalog that shows the GB5 and describes it as "the most recent
addition to the GB series.." I also have a '98 catalog that shows
George playing one, although the GB5/200 is not listed in the line-up
in that catalog.

Just for trivia's sake, I only know of 3 Ibanez guitars that have had
carved tops, all are from the 70s. One was a Johnny Smith replica
(they had 2 versions, 1 carved, 1 lam), the other was the FA800 (full
bodied jazz guitar with NO pups) and the FA700 (pretty much the same
as the FA800, except it has 2 humbuckers cut into the top). They made
a laminated version called the FA300.

JohnS

Josip Seidl

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Oct 10, 2002, 11:12:36 AM10/10/02

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Hallo,I have Ibanez Byrdland 70s (lawsuit) with the carved top and Super 70S
picks,and it sounds better than my Gibson ES-175 and Guild Artist Award with
Benedetto outfit. Greetings Pepe
"John Shanley" <jsha...@phoenix-creative.com> skrev i meddelandet
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smoy

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Oct 10, 2002, 5:13:38 PM10/10/02

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The ones out here go for about $ 2,000 or less USD, maybe its our proximity
to Japan.I've played one and it plays well, workmenship is good , I believe
it is a laminated top..
Skip

"Dick Onstenk" <d.on...@chello.nl> wrote in message
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IvanDRodriguez

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Oct 10, 2002, 5:31:36 PM10/10/02

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>I have suddenly heard about GB200. This sounds like the
>carved-top-for-the-poor-man I have been looking for. Any pointers to
>info on this?

Not a carved top, laminate I believe, and priced in the neighborhood of $2500.
The Ibanez archtop I've seen have all sounded very nice to me. Well built
guitars, and worth the money.

Ivan

Peter Grey

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Oct 10, 2002, 5:48:15 PM10/10/02

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I've never heard of a Ibanez Byrdland with a carved top. Are you certain it's
carved? It's got a 23.5" scale length, yes?

Peter

John Shanley

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Oct 10, 2002, 8:06:58 PM10/10/02

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"Josip Seidl" <josip...@telia.com> wrote in message news:<ENgp9.1050$hV3....@newsb.telia.net>...

> Hallo,I have Ibanez Byrdland 70s (lawsuit) with the carved top and Super 70S
> picks,and it sounds better than my Gibson ES-175 and Guild Artist Award with
> Benedetto outfit. Greetings Pepe

It looks like I was wrong about the Johnny Smith being the *only*
replica that had both a laminate and carved top version. I'm basing my
information on this page:

http://216.250.245.172/copies.html

It lists two Johnny Smith models: (PLYWOOD)(2461)(SOLID)(2461S)

However, when you go to this page: http://216.250.245.172/copies2.html

to see the pictures and specs, the 2461 is only described as a
laminate and no mention of the carved top version.

OK, if the "S" suffix actually means "solid carved top", then the
Birdland and the L5 have carved top versions, too. This can be seen in
the list of models and numbers.

BIRDLAND (2464)(2464S)
L5 (2460),(2460S)(2470)(2470S)(2471)(2471S)

Strangely enough, the only carved top described on the "specs" page is
the Model 2470, L5. But, the 2460 and 2470 look identical...except for
describing one as solid and the other as a laminate. So I am still
confused.

Does your's have a label insided with a model number? If so, does have
an "S" on it?

Seth

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Oct 10, 2002, 9:38:12 PM10/10/02

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> I don't think it's a carved top, but laminated. Ibanez's literature
> never says carved top in referring to this guitar (or any other GB
> model). If it WAS a carved top, they'd be trumpeting that fact very
> loud.

Musician's Friend's most recent catalog specifies a "carved spruce top" on the GB200.
So does their Web site:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=021010182535063214202148622547/search/g=guitar?q=ibanez+gb-200

I agree with John that if the GB200 did have a carved top, Ibanez would mention it
wherever possible. So, what's the deal here?

BTW, I believe the Millennium model Ibanez George Benson (GB2K?) did have a carved,
solid spruce top. I also seem to recall that one of the contributors to this NG had one
at some point.

Peter Grey

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Oct 10, 2002, 9:48:44 PM10/10/02

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Just as an aside. The '70's version of the GB200, the FA700 and other
Ibanez L5 copies have been going cheap on e-bay. Within the last week,
both a ply top and a carved top Ibanez copy went for $1,000 and $1,226
respectively. These are superb guitars for very little money.

Peter

Jon

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Oct 10, 2002, 10:27:11 PM10/10/02

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JohnS,

I just bought a brand new GB200. Mine has a carved top. The back and
sides are laminated, but the top is definately carved. I was
suprised, because every time I read about the guitar here in this
group, everyone says it's laminated. It's not.

Soren,

I got my GB200 from www.drumcityguitarland.com

It cost around $2000 (US dollars). I had to wait 5 months for the
order to come in though.

It is an amazing value for the dollar. The craftsmanship on the
guitar is perfect. The sound is great as well. It sounds a lot like
a great Gibson L-5. I think that's what George Benson had in mind
when he designed the guitar with Ibanez.

Jon

jsha...@phoenix-creative.com (John Shanley) wrote in message news:<548fc10c.0210...@posting.google.com>...

smoy

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Oct 11, 2002, 12:31:01 AM10/11/02

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The Y2k George Benson model is indeed a carved spruce top, this one is
blonde and has a seriel no of 40 ( out of 40). and comes with its own plated
certificate from the factory. The acoustic tone is sweeter than other GB
10's I've tried and comes with its own mini humbuckers which are also very
sweet sounding when amplified. These are extremely rare, in fact it is
difficult to find any information on them at all .The official Ibanez site
had a brief mention of them in 2000 but thats all . This one which was made
in Japan apparantly is made well, I took it to our resident luthier
anticipating that a normal set up was required, ie; fret leveling etc. and
was promptly given the gtr back untouched. Since then I took a tip from
Shirley Bailey's site and put on bronze strings. which I feel gives the gtr
a great balance of tone between acoustic and electric.I normally will prefer
to play this through a S-12 ER spk with a touch of tweeter on.

Skip

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Josip Seidl

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Oct 11, 2002, 12:09:23 PM10/11/02

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Hello John,my Byrdland is model 2464S and have even the Gibson torch in
logo(2464 do not have it).You should really see this guitar.It`s almoust
mint with unbelievable back and sides.It works very fine with Fender Twin
black face as with Evans JE-150(I preffer Black face better).Greetings Pepe

"John Shanley" <jsha...@phoenix-creative.com> skrev i meddelandet

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