Guitar slinger Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Ok, I've posted this picture before, but it should not hurt to create a thread to discuss that matter. I've read here and there that Gibson has been reinforcing the neck heel and also the neck-headstock joint. I think my guitar pretty much proves it: Given this new way to set the neck, even the strap button looks like a reiforcement... I think they should set that as a standard. About the headstock, there does not seem to have any improvement, except that it looks sturdy. And the weight of this guitar is really solid... Still, I'm not in the mood to let it hit the gorund so soon =) Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhrT Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Still' date=' I'm not in the mood to let it hit the gorund so soon =)[/quote']Why should you anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TattooedCarrot Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 What model SG is that? If it s a standard, then yes it looks to be changed. But it also looks very much like the same joint they've been using on Historics for years. Here's a pic of my 2000 Historic SG/Les Paul Standard RI. It has the 62 style heal. Looks the same as yours to me, which would mean no change unless I'm missing something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TattooedCarrot Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Looks like yours might have a little bit of a lip on the sides and mine does not. not sure if that's a different built spec, or just the camera angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Very different to my '79 SG. The sides of the neck are flush with the cutaways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar slinger Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 Then here's another: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar slinger Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 80 LPC, your fretboard looks to go deeper into the body. How many frets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameswithesg Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 ive noticed standards are a little stronger (looking) with the neck heel at the 20th / 19th fret, my 61 reissue's neck heel is at about the 21st 22nd, maybe a little weaker??? anyways its good that gibson is trying out new and possibly stronger neck joints, not one of gibson's strong points, the neck on mine (as with other gibsons) is so thin which makes it sooooooo easy to play, though probably a little more vulnerable to breaks, but you win some you loose some, my question is why did the headstock/neck joint get smaller over the years, ??? i can tell these are different woods but.... which one is stronger?? this was the best pic i could find of some of the old ones ive seen to what most of us know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Guitar slinger, it has 22 frets. An interesting difference is that on yours and TCs, the strap button is in line wth the joint of the neck/body. On mine it is set further into the body. Correction - I just looked again, and the strap button seems to be in the same position (halfway along the cutaway), but my neck/body joint is at the 18th fret - what is your fret at the body joint ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar slinger Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 What model SG is that? If it s a standard' date=' then yes it looks to be changed. But it also looks very much like the same joint they've been using on Historics for years. Here's a pic of my 2000 Historic SG/Les Paul Standard RI. It has the 62 style heal. Looks the same as yours to me, which would mean no change unless I'm missing something.[/quote'] It is a historic, and a standard. The guitar is this: http://www.gibsoncustom.com/flash/products/designer/SGStandard/SGStandard.html And what you are saying is my point exactely. The historic are reiforced to be more tough than the vintage SGs were =) I just think they should do that neck heel in all Gibson USA SGs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar slinger Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 Guitar slinger' date=' it has 22 frets. An interesting difference is that on yours and TCs, the strap button is in line wth the joint of the neck/body. On mine it is set further into the body. Correction - I just looked again, and the strap button seems to be in the same position (halfway along the cutaway), but my neck/body joint is at the 18th fret - what is your fret at the body joint ?[/quote'] You could say it's either 18 or 22. The neck looks to join the body at the 22th fret, but if you consider the small round body "prolongament" that goes under the neck, you could say it joins at the 18th fret. Also, I hear those guitar (historics, like mine) have longer neck tenons, but I can't check that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 my question is why did the headstock/neck joint get smaller over the years' date=' ??? i can tell these are different woods but.... which one is stronger?? [img']http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/rhenderson29/DSCF3481.jpg[/img] to what most of us know The headstock/neck joint actually started off being smaller way back before electrics. Gibson and Martin built necks like this. But it is a weak design due to the short grain which is produced when the headstock is cut at an angle. Gibson's guitars kept this shape up to around 1970, when I think that the 'volute' was introduced. The volute is the thicker contour where the headstock joins the neck. The idea was to give strength and stiffness to minimise fractures, but it can't overcome the fundamental problem of short grain. Since the volute is not historically correct, reissues will have the slimmer 50s and 60s style headstocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 You could say it's either 18 or 22. The neck looks to join the body at the 22th fret' date=' but if you consider the small round body "prolongament" that goes under the neck, you could say it joins at the 18th fret. [/quote'] Looking again at your picture, the 22nd fret seems to be in line with the neck/body joint. It's quite a difference to mine, and I think you must have better access to the high frets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar slinger Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 Looking again at your picture' date=' the 22nd fret seems to be in line with the neck/body joint. It's quite a difference to mine, and I think you must have better access to the high frets.[/quote'] I don't know if I have a better acces, all I know is I have ALL the acces to whatever fret I want to go. I'm not used to play beyond the 17th fret, tough. But the first thing I noticed when I looked at the neck was that the access was awesome. Serious, I can get anywhere on the neck. I'll post some more pictures or some videos to show you how great the neck is. But my guitar is really needing some set-up right now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Would be great to see more pictures or video. I sometimes think that there are so many fantastic guitars on this forum, but never any links to hear them. Just short samples would be good. I made a steel guitar and posted pictures on Flickr with a short sample track. I would like to post a couple of tracks of my Gibsons, but my LP Custom is waiting for me to install new frets, and the SG needs a new nut (and really needs a refret also. I tend to be pretty hard on frets...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameswithesg Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 i LOVE the accessability of the sg, though sometimes i wish they had 24 frets instead of 22, just to get to that high E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar slinger Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 Would be great to see more pictures or video. I sometimes think that there are so many fantastic guitars on this forum' date=' but never any links to hear them. Just short samples would be good. I made a steel guitar and posted pictures on Flickr with a short sample track. I would like to post a couple of tracks of my Gibsons, but my LP Custom is waiting for me to install new frets, and the SG needs a new nut (and really needs a refret also. I tend to be pretty hard on frets...)[/quote'] I hear you. I too love how many astonishing guitars we have here - but there are a few to be heard.... I've put up a video on youtube today but it turned out very, very lame. The audio is clipping and the full, warm sound is not there. It sounds very thin through Isight... But I'll find another way around =) And soon enough we'll have more pictures here. About the frets, I always use 11's and I play as hard as I possibly can. So even my Richie Kotzen Tele that has the biggest frets in the world suffers a lot. The fact that my SG was Ple'd (at least I think it was) makes me more cautios abot her. I'm using .10, because I know it will never be plek'd again, and that makes me a little bit sad =( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Yes, I know what you mean about the Youtube videos - so many seem to have clipping audio, and the compression must remove some of the warmth and dynamics. Regarding the Plek system, I do wonder about this, because wood does move slightly with changes in temperature and humidity. If a guitar has been Plek'd and then goes to a completely different climate, chances are that the neck/fretboard will shift slightly and the perfect alignment of the frets will be lost. I would be in favour of the guitar being Plek'd after it had acclimatised to the region where the owner lives. I like hard fretwire with a high profile, and I do everything I can to maintain that height when I refret. Sometimes, techs remove a lot of material when dressing the frets, and of course it brings the next refret a lot closer ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameswithesg Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 how do you know if your guitar has been plek'd is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar slinger Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 how do you know if your guitar has been plek'd is it? Being it a Custom Shop crafted in 2007' date=' it kinda HAS to be Plek'd, but I first guessed by looking at the frets: [img']http://www.guitarczar.com/Auctions/pb190056.jpg[/img] Look closely at the edges of the frets. Can you see an unusual square plastic thing here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameswithesg Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 the neck binding???? im not familiar with what plek'd is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar slinger Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 the neck binding???? im not familiar with what plek'd is... LOL no, mate. Plek is a machine that is present nowadays in the Gibson factory that measures, calculates, set and polish the frets of the VOS and Les Paul standard 2008 guitars. They call it a fret dressing machine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameswithesg Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 haha, wow i was way off, learn something new every day eh? is there an advantage/disadvantage? or difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar slinger Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 haha' date=' wow i was way off, learn something new every day eh? is there an advantage/disadvantage? or difference?[/quote'] Gibson claims to provide unbeatable playability and virtually eliminating string buzz. I can't back up the string buzz issue but it DOES look very accurate and well done. But Gibson also claims that the Dark Fire is a great deal, so... cross your fingers hahah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameswithesg Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 well i dont have a VOS, just a usa 61 reissue, with a neck binding, and it too looks very precise compared to some gibsons ive seen, and plays like a dream, or like cutting hot butter with a knife do the usa 61's get "plek'd"? haha, glad you feel similarly, ill tune my guitar by meself thankyouverymuch, no "robotics" necessary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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