George Benson rose to prominence in his teenage years as a child prodigy of Jazz, R&B and Soul, and in 1977, worked hand in hand with Ibanez to develop a Signature model of, a first for Ibanez, that was the amalgamation of a few different styles. This collaboration resulted in multiple different models, ending up in the early 80's with this example, the GB-30, a semi-hollow, all black version of his guitar that is meant to be a little more accessible to players than his slightly more complicated GB-10.
This example from 1986 has a thinline, smaller sized, semi-hollow body leading to a smooth and woody tone that's sure to appease any jazz, soul, or R&B player. This particular model has a 22-Fret maple neck with offset dot inlays, set into a thinner body with a maple center block, a maple top, bound with multi layer binding.
The pickups have been replaced with Golden Age PAF clones, made by Stewmac, with gorgeous black covers, fitting the all black Tuxedo theme. These are paired with Les Paul style wiring, topped with black speed-style knobs. The black hardware is very usable, as it's the quick-change style tailpiece that makes for easy work and string changes.
This guitar is in fair condition, with a good amount of scratches all over. The hardware is reasonably beat up, but is wholly functional. The plate on the output jack has been added to cover a hole that was drilled to remove a damaged section. This thing plays great, and sounds great, and is a great way to get into a long lineage of incredible Japanese guitars. Serial #D860908 comes with the original hard shell case.
