1978 Ibanez GB-10 George Benson w/ Original Flight Case

This is a 1978 Ibanez George Benson GB-10 model with the original flight case. I have owned this guitar for the past 25 years (more than half its total life).

The body has typical wear and binding discoloration and cracking for a guitar that is 47 years old, but it has been case-kept and well cared for. There are some finish cracks around the input jack, and the neck heel cap suffers from the same slight shrinkage as similarly-aged models.

The original pickguard crumbled away years ago due to the typical gassing that happens when in the case. I had a solid rosewood pickguard custom made for the guitar by luthier Stephen Holst (holstguitars.com).

I had a slight modification done a few years ago, but it was done by a professional luthier and everything is reversible if you wish to return the guitar to stock. I never used the bridge pickup and found it to be in the way when I played, so I had it removed. I still have the pickup and all-original mounting hardware, so if you want to add the pickup back, that is totally possible. The only thing you'd need to have done is to notch out the pickguard for the bridge pickup (I had Mr. Holst create it for a single neck floating pickup). However, you may enjoy playing it as is, as this is a unique setup that I've not seen on these original guitars -- Ibanez has made a modern version with this feature, the GB-15.

Serial Number L787087

According to guitardaterproject.org, this guitar was made in the Terada Plant, Japan in December, 1978. Production Number: 7087