fannar182 Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Hey guys.. I was hoping you could help me. I got my Epiphone Les Paul Custom 10 years ago and it was my main guitar for 8 years.. 2 years ago I bought a Gibson Les Paul Standard because it was my dream guitar and I've been playing that for 2 years now. When I first got it (the Gibson) I thought it was great but the Epiphone neck was somehow faster and more smooth but I've bought a Gibson and I was always going to use that as my main guitar. I thought I would just have to get used to the Gibson neck and after 1-2 years it would feel more comfortable to play it rather then the Epi. 1 week ago I picked up my Epiphone (it had been laying in my room in its case) and started playing it, just goofing around and man.. It feels so much better then my Gibson.. I couldn't believe it. The neck is so ''fast'' comparing with the Gibson and it just feels right. And I hate to admit it because its Epiphone, not Gibson. What could it be that makes me like the Epiphone better rather then the Gibson? Why do I think the Epi neck is much ''faster'' and smoother? I've taken both the guitars to a professional luthier here in my country but still I think the Epiphone is better. What should I do? Sell my Gibson Les Paul Standard and buy a Custom? Maybe a PRS instead? People have been telling me if I want a really fast neck I should sell my Gibson and buy a PRS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Neck shapes are a matter of freference, obviously that is most of what is going on here. Buying a better or more expensive guitar is not a given you will like it more. That doesn't make you weird or wrong, and it doesn't even mean one guitar is better than the other. I suppose the only sure thing to say, is if you want a guitar better than the Epi (such as a Gibson) that you LIKE as well or better then the Epi, then your next guitar you should buy you should make sure you like it better before you buy it. Or at least, as far as the neck goes. Doesn't matter if it is a Gibson or a PRS, or any other fine guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Hi and welcome to the forum. It sounds like you simply bought the wrong - for you - Gibson Les Paul Standard. How many did you try and for how long - and how hard - did you look before you chose that particular instrument? All Gibson necks can vary from one to the other even within the same model type and year of manufacture. In addition to this Gibson make guitars with a selection of different profiles such as '50s profile, '60s profile, assymetric profile and so on. Epi Les Pauls can be great instruments - I had a cracker of one myself a while ago - so don't think that just by buying a more expensive product it will automatically feel better somehow. If you really want a Gibson then my advice would be (as always) go out and play as many as you possibly can to get to know how much they can vary in feel and then narrow it down from there. Once you have found the one which suits you best then sell/trade the one you don't like for the new one. PRS is a whole different animal. I'm not even going to think about going down that discussion. Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Yeah I almost did the same thing as you... My first Gibby was a LP Studio.. Its all I could afford for many years... Then when it came time to get a better guitar my dream was also to own a Standard like Slash or Jimmy Page.. So I went to shop and played one which I liked the look of.. And I was so disappointed.. It felt much the same as my studio to play if not worse.. I almost just bought it thinking I would get used to it, after all its a Les Paul Standard it must be better than my studio... But then I told the shop owner what I thought.. He said hold on, and came out with what looked like almost the same exact guitar... BUT it was a LP Classic with a slim 60s neck, and what a revelation it was, played smooth as butter and was a much better fit for my hand.. Of course what I didn't know at that time was they do two very different sized necks and both the Studio and Standard had fatter 50s style necks on them. And ive never looked back from that day, all my Gibsons have the slimmer necks... So yes as others have said, more expensive does not necessarily mean better for you... It may mean better pickups and a prettier guitar but that means nothing when it comes to playability... And to make matters worse, even two Gibsons that are meant to be the same can feel very different as they are all hand finished, so exact neck sizes are all different on every guitar.. Its why the ONLY way to find your guitar is go out and play as many as possible.. And even if you say find a model you like but doesn't quite feel right to play, ask if they have another of the exact same model in the back and try that one... Its worth the effort, I can assure of that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fannar182 Posted May 10, 2016 Author Share Posted May 10, 2016 Thank you so much for your reply. You guys are very helpful! In my country (Iceland) you can't really try out many Gibson types and compare them. The shop who is the authorized dealer only got like 2-3 Les Pauls at one time and you have to order them specifically if you want to buy that and that type. So I can't really try out a whole bunch of them and decide :( So i'll just ask you a question as a total noob.. Which Gibson type has the slimmest neck? Do Gibson Les Paul Custom has more similar neck to my Epi Custom rather then the Gibson Standard? Out of the Gibsons you have owned and tried.. Which type had the ''fastest'' neck and was the easiest to play? I'm thinking about selling my Standard and buy another Les Paul type this summer and I'm open for every Les Paul type. I'm leaning on a Custom. And thank you again for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 One more question for you... Really theres only two questions when trying to recommend a model.... Neck type which you seem to want slim, and pickup type... After that its only really cosmetic differences. So do you like Hot pickups for like heavy 80s rock, or do you prefer more a more mellow blues type sound... And maybe do you like guitars heavy or light? (there are some nice chambered models like the Tribute Studios). Neck shapes.. Hmmm that's a bit more difficult as its changed a lot over the last few years... 2014 LP models and the years before generally either had a 50s fate necks or 60s Slim tapered necks (and a few had asymmetrical necks)... Then in 2015 Gibson went mad and put really wide thick necks on all of their guitars, along with robot tuners... Then this year they came out with two line ups, a traditional (T) range and a High Performance range (HP).. the T range has the old pre 2015 necks we are all used to.. The HP range has slightly wider necks (not as wide as the 2015 models), robot tuners and a cut away at the neck heal for better fret access (and really nice metal cases :))... Some of the models that have slimmer necks that I can think of are the Classics (only 2014 and older), then you have the Double Cut models which I have one of, they have AMAZING necks, slim and fast, a pure pleasure to play (and most Double Cut owners agree on that), then you have the 60s Tribute Studio (really nice guitars). And in the Custom area any 60s model should have a slimmer neck. Heres a small chart that shows different neck shapes. Well I hope all that helps a bit. It is definitely confusing when you are new to this :) Good luck with your hunt, and if you want to know anything else just ask Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 The different finish chemistries may also be a reason. To sweaty fingers poly finishes like on Epiphones and most other guitars rather tend to feel slippery. Nitro finishes like used for Gibson and a few other makes of some brands can become sticky instead. Into the bargain it will largely depend on the player's skin, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Similar experience, My 2000 LP Special w/hums has a very slim neck compared to my 2015 Studio and when i was in the store last looking at amps the stupid sales guy put a standard in my hands, can you imagine the audacity of that? I felt it immediately! I hadn't even put the guitar into playing position, it felt so freakishly awesome i handed it back and cursed him, i was there to buy an amp not a $3000 guitar what the heck was he thinking.... stupid sales guy... hahaha My point is I got the studio on an impulse due to poor selection that day, this has taught me that very hard lesson to get my next one when the guitar selects me instead of me selecting it. Also if your luthier friend set up both guitars and knows what he/she is doing then it is the neck size, shape or style most likely, did you say if the fretboards were both the same wood? If one is maple and one is rosewood...? I find maple to feel much different than rosewood and my friend has an epiphone with maple fretboard... feels different but its a preference... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 One more question for you... Really theres only two questions when trying to recommend a model.... Neck type which you seem to want slim, and pickup type... After that its only really cosmetic differences. So do you like Hot pickups for like heavy 80s rock, or do you prefer more a more mellow blues type sound... And maybe do you like guitars heavy or light? (there are some nice chambered models like the Tribute Studios). Neck shapes.. Hmmm that's a bit more difficult as its changed a lot over the last few years... 2014 LP models and the years before generally either had a 50s fate necks or 60s Slim tapered necks (and a few had asymmetrical necks)... Then in 2015 Gibson went mad and put really wide thick necks on all of their guitars, along with robot tuners... Then this year they came out with two line ups, a traditional (T) range and a High Performance range (HP).. the T range has the old pre 2015 necks we are all used to.. The HP range has slightly wider necks (not as wide as the 2015 models), robot tuners and a cut away at the neck heal for better fret access (and really nice metal cases :))... Some of the models that have slimmer necks that I can think of are the Classics (only 2014 and older), then you have the Double Cut models which I have one of, they have AMAZING necks, slim and fast, a pure pleasure to play (and most Double Cut owners agree on that), then you have the 60s Tribute Studio (really nice guitars). And in the Custom area any 60s model should have a slimmer neck. Heres a small chart that shows different neck shapes. Well I hope all that helps a bit. It is definitely confusing when you are new to this :) Good luck with your hunt, and if you want to know anything else just ask GREAT chart. Now here is a question for you... How does the neck shape affect the tone of the guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 GREAT chart. Now here is a question for you... How does the neck shape affect the tone of the guitar? I'm sure Rabs knows, but he's not allowed to tell you. He'd be banished from the Luthier's Guild amid a hail of onions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 I would think it's more of a neck finish thing than a neck shape thing? Gibson is nitro which can get sticky. Epiphone is poly which is just basically... no not basically... actually, plastic which can feel smoother sometimes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 I would think it's more of a neck finish thing than a neck shape thing? Gibson is nitro which can get sticky. Epiphone is poly which is just basically... no not basically... actually, plastic which can feel smoother sometimes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 I would think it's more of a neck finish thing than a neck shape thing? Gibson is nitro which can get sticky. Epiphone is poly which is just basically... no not basically... actually, plastic which can feel smoother sometimes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 I would think it's more of a neck finish thing than a neck shape thing? Gibson is nitro which can get sticky. Epiphone is poly which is just basically... no not basically... actually, plastic which can feel smoother sometimes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 I would think it's more of a neck finish thing than a neck shape thing? Gibson is nitro which can get sticky. Epiphone is poly which is just basically... no not basically... actually, plastic which can feel smoother sometimes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 GREAT chart. Now here is a question for you... How does the neck shape affect the tone of the guitar? The string is vibrating from 2 places: The bridge, and the frets where you finger on the neck. Over half of the string length is on over the neck for most notes most of the time. Vibrations or stiffness from one anchor point to another is a longer distance on the neck than the body. So the neck plays a HUGE part in the tone of the guitar. Not just size, but stiffness, tension, even weight and mass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Did my phone just make 40 freaking replys? Sorry, I'm trying to use the mobile site but it's really cumbersome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 The string is vibrating from 2 places: The bridge, and the frets where you finger on the neck. Over half of the string length is on over the neck for most notes most of the time. Vibrations or stiffness from one anchor point to another is a longer distance on the neck than the body. So the neck plays a HUGE part in the tone of the guitar. Not just size, but stiffness, tension, even weight and mass. Yes the neck DOES play a huge part in tone i agree, but what tone do you get from the various shapes? I mean what effect does the shape give, example, is it deeper, brighter or darker, richer, if its thinner, more angled or what shape would give what desired or not desired tone? My 2015 LP Studio has a wide neck, I find sliding up from 1st to 5th frets that the frets want to stop me and even feel kinda sharp like im going to cut myself while my 2000 special has a much different, thinner neck that i slide right over the frets easily, both are mohagony with rosewood. (or so i think). They have different p/u's so tone comparisons dont make allot of sense really. Even unplugged, the 2015 has maple top, the special is all mohagony. (which i apparently cannot spell). The 2015 's neck seems like about 3/4" wider, and also tone is drastically changed by the titanium nut vs the bone nut i had put on the 2000. So its impossible to compare the necks affect on tone with only those two to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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