Neck Shapes

[MorrisrownSal]

I counted nine different neck shapes in the current Gibson lineup, after I became curious about the very different neck on my 50s LG-2. NINE!!!

i know someone on the UMGF has a neat diagram of all the different Martin neck shapes. I was wondering if ay of you might have the same for these Gibson shapes. Still floored NINE.
 

Advanced Response

Round

Slim Taper

Historic V

Historic

V

C

Luthiers Choice AJ

Historic AJ

 

 

 

[j45nick]

 I have five Gibsons with five different neck profiles and four different nut widths.

[BigKahune]

I haven't seen a chart for Gibson acoustics. I did this one for Gibson electrics several years ago based on info gathered from owners - last update to it was 2016. It's somewhat translatable to acoustic. You might not find it useful, but FWIW - 

 

[BluesKing777]

3 hours ago, j45nick said:

 I have five Gibsons with five different neck profiles and four different nut widths.

 

The secret is out then, Nick. Every Gibson has a different neck!😃

 

BluesKing777.

 

[j45nick]

1 hour ago, BigKahune said:

I haven't seen a chart for Gibson acoustics. I did this one for Gibson electrics several years ago based on info gathered from owners - last update to it was 2016. It's somewhat translatable to acoustic. You might not find it useful, but FWIW - 

 

The early 50's U-shape there is essentially what my recently-acquired 1950 J-45 has, and is very similar to what my '47 L-7 had, so it may be typical of Gibson acoustics from early post-war years to early 50s.  Both of my 1950 J-45s have a first-fret depth of .90-.92".

I have no idea how they compare to the "no trussrod" banners or other banners with trussrod and slightly wider nut, or with the true "baseball bat" banner necks. Someone with one of those, or with a J-45 Legend, might comment on that.

The 60s'-style oval C there is probably pretty much the same as early/mid 60s acoustics (about '61-on) that ZW calls the "backless wonders."

The 50's rounded D-shape on that chart is pretty typical of mid/late 50's acoustics as well as electrics. It's very similar to the neck on my '59 ES-335 Historic. Just a bit less full, with less depth and softer shoulders that the early-50s U-shape. It's a very comfortable neck shape for a lot of people, including me, although I like the big handful of the fat U. 

If you play thumb-over bass style on the fat-U neck, be prepared to exercise that thumb to get a bit more flexibility in your hand.

 

[tpbiii]

I think I have 52 different shapes on my 48 Gibson guitars.😎

[Sgt. Pepper]

14 hours ago, Salfromchatham said:

I counted nine different neck shapes in the current Gibson lineup, after I became curious about the very different neck on my 50s LG-2. NINE!!!

i know someone on the UMGF has a neat diagram of all the different Martin neck shapes. I was wondering if ay of you might have the same for these Gibson shapes. Still floored NINE.
 

Advanced Response

Round

Slim Taper

Historic V

Historic

V

C

Luthiers Choice AJ

Historic AJ

 

 

 

Under King Henry's reign I remember there being over a 100 LP models on their website, so 9 different neck shapes shock you from Gibson?

[BigKahune]

On 5/21/2020 at 11:14 AM, j45nick said:

The early 50's U-shape there is essentially what my recently-acquired 1950 J-45 has, and is very similar to what my '47 L-7 had, so it may be typical of Gibson acoustics from early post-war years to early 50s.  Both of my 1950 J-45s have a first-fret depth of .90-.92"

Thanks Nick.

Gibson tends to include neck shape info in their electric specs, which makes categorizing them fairly easy. Meanwhile there will always be some variance for a particular neck shape with the handwork that is done on them. For some reason the acoustic division never got into it much. But some users can find a way to relate certain acoustic neck shapes to what descriptions Gibson uses for their electric neck shapes. Thanks again Nick. 😎