Do U Like 'em Chunky, Skinny, Curvy, or Flat

[JayinLA]

I wanted to post about what got me playing a Gibson to begin with. I remember my first electric guitar well. It was a Mexican Made Tele with a maple neck and classic 2 pickup design. Had the Grease bucket and was TV Yellow. My dad took me to a pawn shop and I picked it out. He told me that Jimmy Page recorded Led Zepplin I on a Tele, so I got the guitar and a songbook that was a Zepplin Anthology type deal. I learned how to play all the riffs, and some of the solos. I was known around town as the guy who could play like Jimmy Page. ( not by any stretch, but for a bunch of kids I'm sure they were impressed). I started playing in different bands by the 8th grade. We were always swapping ideas and instruments.

 

One day, I had a buddy showed up with his brand new Epiphhone Les Paul in white. (Probably a Studio...I don't really remember) I picked it up and started warming up with it. Almost immediately I was in "the zone" We went out back and smoked a "hand-rolled cigarette" that was pretty potent. Went back inside. I didn't even ask him if I could play his Epiphone. I pulled the lead out of my Tele, plugged the 'Les Paul' into my Peavy amplifier, Josh, My drummer sat on the stool. I started playing the opening riff to Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) and immidiately he joined in, I was deep in "the zone" at this point and pulled off the first jam I was ever really exitied about. My hands just seemed to move with so much ease everywhere. The sustain, and the growling humbuckers really made the sound titanic. I was able to pull stuff off that I'd only ever heard on records of my heros. I couldn't believe it. Truly changed my life.

 

Once we fininshed that 15 min Voodoo Chile Jam, I pulled the strap off and turned the guitar around and started looking it over with an eagle's eye. I knew everyone was talking about how good that jam was. Josh's parents even came downstairs a minute or two into the jam. I didn't even hear what anyone was saying. I was just looking this guitar over. It hadn't even been set up right. But I looked at the neck and then the neck on my Tele. I could see how much chubbier the neck was, how much fatter the frets were, and it seemed to have just the right amount of angle (nearly flat). Then I looked at the twin humbuckers and realized I had been playing the wrong guitar. I pleaded with my buddy to trade me straight away for my Tele, but he wasn't having it.

 

I saved up a few bucks, and traded my tele in for an American Les Paul Studio and $250 bucks, which was a hell of a deal I thought. I still have that Studio, and most nights it is right behind me, as I plug my standard in. Its my backup, usually tuned to "open E" for slide numbers. I still play it to this day.

 

I realized something in Josh's basement that day. I like 'em Chubby and fairly flat. Not necissarily my women, but as for my Les Paul Studio, It's the best girl a boy could ever have.

[AlanH]

My two Gibsons have '50s necks and I find them very comfortable, even though they're slightly fuller in the palm. For some reason, even though they suit many people, I can't seem to get on with my Charvel San Dimas so I've made the decision to put it up for sale. It's being under-played and I can't justify keeping it even though it was part of a limited run of production Charvels from the Fender USA factory.

[rocketman]

I have them all, and I honestly got used to playing all of them. I really don't prefer one over the other. I guess I like both kinds...country and western.

[Searcy]

The wider and flatter the better.

[fromnabulax]

Ah yes, what McCartney referred to as the old "herbal jazz cigarette!"

 

I think rather than neck thickness and flatness, I go for tonal qualities.

 

There are some necks that I guess I prefer over others, but for me I if I want that Tele twang, I Reach for the Tele. If I want the quack of a Strat, I reach for the Strat. If I want the low buttery melts sound of a jazz box, it's a Gibson or Epiphone hollow body.

 

If I had to choose one over another though, I would say that I prefer a neck a bit chunkier with a gentle radius that best resembles that of an acoustic guitar. I learned on an acoustic and still think if myself as primarily an acoustic player that transitioned to electric.

[Rabs]

Hmmm well for me its totally the 60s slim neck that does it...

 

I had a Studio for my first Gibson back in about 1993 ish.. I did love it but always found the neck a bit chunky... When the day came for me to get a Standard (2002) I went into the shop knowing exactly what I wanted. A darkburst Standard like one I had seen Slash play, I had no idea at that time that there was so many different models or different neck shapes...

 

So I tried it out and was so disappointed, the neck was almost exactly the same as my studio, almost felt square in the high frets and I had (wrongly) assumed that the Standard was going to play so much better as it cost so much more... So I told the guy in the shop what I thought and he brought out a darkburst 1960 Classic with a slim 60s neck, and man it was like a total revelation to me, all of a sudden it felt like I could do more.

 

Ever since then I only go for 60s necks.. Ive also tried some that are more flat at the back like you get on a Firebird or V, didn't like them either.

 

So yeah.. im definitely a slim 60s neck guy :)

[cody78]

Fat and rounded for me! Gibson Les Paul wise, I like the profile on my '57 Custom Re-issue and my 1997 Studio the best. Both have 50's profiles and they feel most comfortable to me. My Junior, Special & Traditional Pro have medium profiles I would say, as they are not quite as slim as some of the 60's ones, but not that chunky either. My Classic 1960 has my least favourite profile as it's probably the thinnest Gibson neck in my collection. Still feels nice enough, but could do with being a bit fatter.

 

Most of my other Gibson guitars have chunky round necks just the way I like them; ES-175, L-5CES, ES-5 SM, Dove, J-185, SG Standard, SG Special, J-15, Melody Maker '59 RI. The only other slimmer profile ones I have is an SG Custom and an SG Standard 60.

[jdgm]

It's (almost) all good....I love my '56 LP Custom neck profile which has good chunkiness. Also have a '67 Tele with a 'normal' tele neck for the period, chunky but not so wide or flat; however my MIJ 80s Strat has the 'E' series neck and this is wide and flat with (ahem) broad shoulders, very good feel. I'm more conscious of board width as I have big stubby fingertips.

 

Good topic!

[Retired]

I'm with Rab, I love the slim 60's neck on my Les Paul, My first guitar was a Gretch Silver Jet.

[milod]

I think there's more the the neck/fingerboard for playing ease on any sort of guitar. I think it's the whole feel of a given instrument, and each type will be somewhat different for each player and what he/she is doing for style and technique.

 

m

[NHTom]

Hmmmmmm..........good question.

 

I think it depends on what I'm doing..........the thin/flat ones for shredding, up to baseball bat for rhythm chunk.

 

Currently (and it changes often) my favorite neck in my stable is my Fender American Special Strat.....not sure what it is. It's just a normal kind of neck, but is just wonderful to play. I find my self going back to it time and time again. Other than that, my DC Special is my go to. 60's style. It's just awesome.

 

NHTom

[Ryan H]

For me it's a combination of things...thickness, profile, edge radius, fretboard radius and fret size...can't really narrow it down to just the back of the neck.

 

I found the perfect neck profile for me in my '64 Gibson Melody Maker. It felt "right" from the moment I picked it up. The problem is, no manufacturer makes that neck profile. At the first fret, it's about 0.75". At the 12th fret, it's a full 1". Quite the drastic taper. Makes it nice and comfortable down at the nut-end, but there's enough wood up around the 12th fret to keep things sounding fat. It also has a weird contour...it starts out as a pretty standard C, then gradually becomes a D as you get higher up. Standard Gibson 12" radius, and 6130 fretwire is my preference.

 

And then there's edge radius, which is more of a factor of this being a vintage instrument that's been around the block a time or two.

 

-Ryan

[StRanger7032]

I guess I like mine petite. My favorite neck is the 1961 SG profile, which is narrower and thinner than even the 60's "Slim Taper". My 1993 G-400 has that neck profile and I find it to be the most playable of anything I own. Gibson made an SG Ultra Slim a couple years ago with that same neck profile, but they were impossible to find in the US. My hands/fingers are small, which is probably the reason I like it so much. I don't care much for the chunky 50's neck. I had a Gibson ES with the big neck and I never bonded with it.

[cody78]

...the thin/flat ones for shredding, up to baseball bat for rhythm chunk.

 

 

You can still 'shred' on a fat rounded profile. I'm 6'2 tall and have quite large hands so maybe that's why the chunky profiles suit me better. Recently watched a video of someone playing crazy fast on a Gibson archtop. I myself play fast lines on mine and you can sweep pick on them too if that's what you are into. I sometimes use part sweep patterns played clean for some jazz stuff. You can play anything on any guitar in my opinion, it just will sound and feel different depending on which instrument you use and what the setup/ action is like.

[pippy]

For me it's a combination of things...thickness, profile, edge radius, fretboard radius and fret size...

I'm with Ryan.

 

Of my Les Pauls I much prefer the necks on my 1995 guitars (one 1960 Classic and one 1960 Re-Issue). They are both (supposedly) '60s profile with a nice C profile.

The least comfortable is the 1993 '59 R-I. It's HUGE and FAT and has MASSIVE shoulders. Far more so than a genuine '57 'Baseball Bat I tried.

If I start out on the R9 it's actually fine - even nice - but if I try to swap-over to it after one of the above it's not pleasant at all.

In between these comes the '91 1960 Classic. It has a wand-thin, flat-backed neck which is, just as above, fine if I start on it but strange (although not unpleasant) if I swap to it later.

 

The guitar of mine with the most comfortable neck is the '60s Classic Series Strat. It probably feels 'normal' because it's an exact clone of the one on the '64 I had for 24 years.

 

The only other guitar's neck I feel deserves a mention is that of my D'Angelico EXL-1 "Excel" jazz-box.

Hard to describe. It's 'Not Too' anything; Not too thick, not too thin. Not too flat; not too curved.

It's also very slightly asymmetrical - I thought the heel was just badly shaped until I read a bit more about it! - and simply very, very sweet to play.

 

Pip.

[btoth76]

This...

 

 

Best of both (50s/60s) worlds. 70s profile - thin behind the nut, and gets thicker towards the heel.

 

Cheers... Bence

[capmaster]

I have them all, and I honestly got used to playing all of them. I really don't prefer one over the other. I guess I like both kinds...country and western.

You're one of the Blues Brothers, aren't you? Then you still seem to be on a mission from God!

 

All kidding aside, that's what I decided to do long ago, too. The sound is what counts.

 

 

The wider and flatter the better.

Would also be my motto on principal, but I guess I've already come too far. Sometimes I think about selling all of my stuff and having a few guitars built with necks made to my desire, but there even isn't a single locking nut available matching my specs...

 

 

It's (almost) all good... ... I'm more conscious of board width as I have big stubby fingertips.

...

My stubby fingers are my biggest hindrance at all. The string spacings on bass guitars seem more user-friendly to me...

 

 

For me it's a combination of things...thickness, profile, edge radius, fretboard radius and fret size...can't really narrow it down to just the back of the neck.

...

-Ryan

Very well stated. For me it is always about appropriately switching the relays in my brain when slinging a certain guitar on my shoulders. There's some more to adapt to like bridge, vibrato if applicable, controls and switches, and all the other proportions making up playability just are some more aspects of the entity I have to set on my mind.

 

In short, if I feel a specific guitar, I try to think that specific guitar!

[kidblast]

I don't think I really care either way... 6 strings, stays in tune, pickups/cable/amp work, yep! cleared for take off.. good to go..

[Tman]

60's slim tapered and 70's profile (as defined by Bence) the best.

[LPguitarman]

60's Slim Taper for me. I have small hands.

[quapman]

I don't think I really care either way... 6 strings, stays in tune, pickups/cable/amp work, yep! cleared for take off.. good to go..

 

 

I'm with you. I go between a nylon string acoustic to my Hamer to my Gibson. Only takes a few measures to adjust.

Maybe cuz I'm just used my guitars but I don't have to stick to one kind.

That said, I don't have any chunky necks so maybe I do prefer them slim.

[4Hayden]

The wider and flatter the better.

+1 I have big hands

 

4H

[Pesh]

My first LP has somewhat of a hybrid neck; or all those I played; it was slightly slimmer than a '50s, but thicker than a 60's. It matches up with my first guitar (the Squier 'Strat) very nicely, with exception to the nut width. It also has a slight asymmetric carve to it, in favour of the bass side (as you'd hope), which makes it very comfortable. The neck on my Studio is comfortable, although sometimes it can be a bit thin.

 

Since then I've preferred the fatter necks when test-driving.

[kidblast]

Maybe cuz I'm just used my guitars but I don't have to stick to one kind.

That said, I don't have any chunky necks so maybe I do prefer them slim.

 

yea, same here. I have a bunch of guitars and I don't stick to just one or two.

 

my nylon neck is traditionally big and wide, I have small hands, sometimes, it's a challenge, but it just takes a bit of re-positioning of the forearm and maybe some elbow movement to compensate.