Ibanez GA380CE Natural High Gloss

A Modern Ibanez Classical: The GA Spirit, Designed for the Stage

The GA380CE belongs to Ibanez's GA series: classical guitars designed to make nylon strings more accessible, comfortable, and easier to amplify. With its cutaway, Natural High Gloss finish, and lutherie choices focused on precision, it clearly targets guitarists who want a ready-to-play classical guitar for everyday use, at home or on stage, without struggling with a traditional wide fretboard.

Who Is It For, and What Styles?

Thanks to its 46 mm nut width and comfortable okoumé neck profile, the GA380CE is especially suited for beginners who want to start on an easy classical guitar, as well as intermediate players looking for a versatile electro-classical. It is also very suitable for folk/electric guitarists wishing to add nylon string colors to their playing (arpeggios, accompaniment, picking).

In terms of styles, it feels at home in classical (study, repertoire), acoustic pop, ballads, bossa nova, and especially in percussive approaches thanks to the bracing and pickup system. The golpe pickguard reinforces this "rhythmic playing" orientation: ideal for those incorporating taps, rasgueados, or body accents.

Sound & Lutherie: Clarity, Projection, and Controlled Percussiveness

The solid German spruce top delivers a clear attack and excellent clarity, with a fine response to touch variations: perfect for working on dynamics, from pianissimo to stronger attacks. The rosewood back and sides enhance overall balance with well-centered mids, a sense of depth, and pleasant sustain, while maintaining definition.

Ibanez adds a very modern dimension with a fan bracing in flamenco style and a steeper headstock angle, designed for playing styles where percussion and rebound are important. Finally, the amplification goes beyond a simple undersaddle pickup: the GA380CE combines undersaddle (precision, articulation, attack) and contact pickup (body, air, percussion). The two separate volume controls allow fine-tuning: more clarity for live performance, more "wood" and percussive texture for an organic feel.

Recommended Compatible Accessories

This guitar comes with Savarez Nylon 500CJ strings (specified gauges). To maintain the original feel and response, it is recommended to use a nylon string set of the same gauge when replacing. (Without case dimensions provided, I prefer not to recommend a specific hard or soft case to avoid any incompatibility.)

Technical specifications

Shape	Cutaway Classical	Radius	15.75" / 400 mm
Top	solid German spruce	Scale length	25.6" / 650 mm
Back	rosewood	Nut width	1.7" / 46 mm
Sides	rosewood	Width at fretboard end	58 mm at 14th fret
Rosette	Classical Mosaic Design	String spacing	11.6 mm
Purfling	wooden	Nut material	bone
Binding	rosewood binding	Bridge	rosewood
Finish	Gloss Polyurethane	Bridge saddle	compensated bone
Body depth at heel	85 mm	Tuners	Gold Classical tuners (14:1 ratio)
Body depth at bottom	90 mm	Golpe pickguard	yes
Body depth	3.543" / 90 mm	Pickups	Ibanez Undersaddle & Contact
Body width	14.56" / 370 mm	Preamp	Ibanez Custom Electronics with undersaddle pickup volume + contact pickup volume
Body length	18.701" / 480 mm	Controls	1 undersaddle volume, 1 contact volume
Total length	980 mm	Selector	none
Body thickness	90 mm	Output	Dual Outputs (Mono Out / Stereo Out)
Neck type	GA	Battery	1 x 9V required
Neck/body joint	Dovetail	Number of strings	6
Neck wood	okoumé	Color	Natural High Gloss
Neck finish	Satin Polyurethane	Tuning (from 1st to 6th string)	1E, 2B, 3G, 4D, 5A, 6E
Neck thickness (1st fret)	21.5 mm	String gauges (from 1st to 6th string)	.030/.034/.041/.029/.034/.044
Neck thickness (7th fret)	22.5 mm	Original strings	Savarez Nylon strings 500CJ
Number of frets	20	Included accessory	hex key
Fretboard	rosewood