Philby Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 (edited) Hi everyone, I am the happy owner of an R8 and repeatidly heard that its thick neck (a bit too thick tbh) contributed a lot to its huge, warm sound, what do you think ? Especially compared to R9s for instance Here's an example of the warm sound I have in mind : Edited February 26, 2020 by Philby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Hi Philby, welcome to the forum. In my experience most Les Pauls have their own characteristics and I think this is especially the case with the Custom shop re-issues (as was certainly the case with the original 50's ones). The other thing that I feel is massively overlooked is the influence the amp has on the tone. Glad to hear that your enjoying yours. What year is your R8? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly campbell Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 welcome to the forum Philby, aThat is sure a sweet tone ... I would enjoy it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 They also changed the neck angle on the Les Pauls between like 1956 and 1960. I heard Bernie Marsden saying how they started with a flatter neck angle in the early fifties and then increased it until 1959, when it was at a maximum, and then made the 1960 model flatter. Neck angle effects sustain and that stuff, so maybe that has something to do with it. '58's and '59's have the greatest neck angle... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 I bought an R8 when Gibson first ran them several years back. Still have it like new in the case; just too heavy to enjoy much. When I do play it the fat neck just takes a few minutes with which to get comfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 (edited) I would say that the neck probably has more to do with the overall sound than say the body but every guitar as mentioned has its own characteristic.. So you could take say ten R8s and play each one in turn and you will find differences between feel and sound on each one. It comes down to every factor.. Exact neck size (and as they are finished by hand each is slightly different) and type of wood, neck angle obviously pickups and wiring. It all makes a tiny difference which adds up to a huge difference for the player. Its why when searching for a LP really you have to go and play as many as you can to increase the chance of finding that exact one that fits you like a glove. Edited February 28, 2020 by Rabs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 On 2/28/2020 at 5:09 PM, badbluesplayer said: They also changed the neck angle on the Les Pauls between like 1956 and 1960. I heard Bernie Marsden saying how they started with a flatter neck angle in the early fifties and then increased it until 1959, when it was at a maximum, and then made the 1960 model flatter. Neck angle effects sustain and that stuff, so maybe that has something to do with it. '58's and '59's have the greatest neck angle... This is an interesting film highlighting the differences from year to year: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 I honestly do not know so my default position is passively skeptical. That makes sense. The onus is always on the proponent to show otherwise. I can be convinced easily enough. I have no agenda. What I can say without reservation is that your LP sounds superb! Really excellent tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinch Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Hi Philby, Is that you playing? Sounds f--king awesome! Now that’s tone! I've never really thought about neck thickness contributing to tone, probably because I always felt the baseball bat necks were a bit too baseball-batty, but then again, I've played a 50s neck for an entirety of, what, five minutes? Let's just say I like a happy medium. But I would (and do) listen to Rabs. It makes a whole HELLA lotta sense that the neck's thickness would contribute to the thickness of the tone. Why was I only thinking of the body (cue jokes)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philby Posted March 6, 2020 Author Share Posted March 6, 2020 Yes its me playing ! Thanks a lot I appreciate. If you want to hear more of this guitar, here an instrumental where it takes the spotlight : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCKvurW2Xl4&feature=youtu.be To answer the question above, I purchased this R8 in december 2018 (on Thomann), so I guess it was manufactured that year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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