Neck nomenclature.......

[highxj]

When describing a neck as 50's, 60's slim, etc...does this refer to the general profile of the neck or the width of the nut/string spacing at the nut?? I have noticed that my Gibson LP VM has wider string spacing at the nut than my Epi Casino. Thanks for educating me.

 

Dan

[Big Norm]

I'm also curious...I'm a former Fender user, and it is easy to make a difference between the neck shapes and radius, It look easier to me to describe a neck as a D or C or V shape with 7.25 or 9.5 or 12 inches radius. For me, beeing a 50's or 6o's or slim does'nt mean nothing. Maybe because I'm not enough old in the Gibson-Epi world to know all those expressions. I'm playing a Les Paul Ultra, and I bought it mainly because it's neck shape, that remind me a lot a Strat neck but with a little bit of a larger radius. I would say 12". How would you call my Ultra's neck shape ?

[Biff]

The Les Pauls have always been 1.68" at the nut, the Epiphone Ultras being an exception (1.65").

 

The definitions '50s or '60s for Gibson necks are quite arbitrary because AFAIK the necks are still hand-rolled.

They seem to reflect the average profile and the roundness of the neck more than the fretboard radius, which on Tune-o-matic bridges is a constant 12". The '50s necks can be like a split baseball bat or a have a soft comfortable V shape, I think the '60s necks are more like Fender C-shaped necks.

 

Epiphones on the other hand, mostly have necks that are more like the Gibson '60s style.

Different factories have produced necks with different touch and feel, and there is variance between different models.

My LP has one like a 60s neck without the slim taper, the Dot has a clubbier neck with a slight taper and my '57 Junior has about as '50s neck as an Epiphone can ever have.

 

The Ultra's neck shape would be "slim taper", probably with 12" radius like the Ultra II :)

[carverman]

I'm also curious...I'm a former Fender user' date=' and it is easy to make a difference between the neck shapes and radius, It look easier to me to describe a neck as a D or C or V shape with 7.25 or 9.5 or 12 inches radius. For me, beeing a 50's or 6o's or slim does'nt mean nothing. Maybe because I'm not enough old in the Gibson-Epi world to know all those expressions. I'm playing a Les Paul Ultra, and I bought it mainly because it's neck shape, that remind me a lot a Strat neck but with a little bit of a larger radius. I would say 12". How would you call my Ultra's neck shape ?[/quote']

 

I believe that Gibson/Epiphone use a 12 inch radius on their fretboards. That is what I'm using from

Stew-Mac and their fretboard feels exactly like the one on my Epiphone LP Custom.

 

Well I've been around Epis for a long-long time, and I would have to describe the late 50's and 60s

neck profile perception as a tiny bit " thinner and somewhat D shaped" compared to some of the necks

on the more modern Epis. I'm currently in the process of working on the walnut neck

of my LP special and going by a full size drawing from Stew-Mac (1959 LP Flame top),

the neck thickness (including 6 mm fingerboard thickness) is 23mm at the 1st fret

and 26 mm at the 12th fret.

 

Compare that to caliper measurements taken off my '05 Lp Custom" 23mm at 1st fret

and 25mm at 12th. My Broadway (which feels like it has a fast neck),

measures 21mm at 1st fret and 25mm at the 11th fret,(since the curvature for the

heel starts on the 12th fret). I took a caliper reading of another Epi and the results

were pretty much the same 22mm to 25mm.

 

I think that the neck profile has a lot to do with the perception of "fast". A D-Shape

neck will feel faster than a C-shape, and the shape of the C will also have some

effect on how it feels deepending on where the thumb of the fretting hand is placed.

A "flattened" C will feel faster than a "fatter C" even if the measurements are exactly

the same.

[Memphs1978]

so... i wonder if my gold top's neck is diffrent then my custom... it feels like it is to me.. but that could just be me too... idk what do you guys think? btw they are both made in the EE factory ( i hope that makes sence )

[RotcanX]

Actually, what it is, is that a '50s neck is a rounded profile all the way to the heel. The concept of the 'slim taper' neck profile was that it would flatten out as you get closer to the heel so that, essentially, the neck thickness remains constant (i.e. 'slim') as it 'tapers' out to its maximum width. It's also a little flatter at the nut compared to the '50s neck but not by much.

[tulsaslim]

Yes, this is a very 'general' description. For instance I own a Gibson333, a Gibson LP DC Pro, and an original '62 SG- all claiming to have ''60's slim-taper' neck profiles. I can tell you for certain, however, that all three necks are different. The 333 has the slimmest neck followed by the SG. The neck on the LP DC Pro is about the same as an EPI LP.

[Notes_Norton]

The neck on my 1970 Gibson ES-330 and my 2000 Epiphone Casino are very close in dimensions. The Epi is just a bit wider at the nut, I suspect being the difference between US and Metric tools. I believe it is the "Slim Taper" neck, but I'm not sure (another guitarist called it that). Anyway, I really like that neck. It's not too fat and the frets aren't as rounded for me like the Kramer/Focus/Faux-Strat that I owned.

 

As far as I'm concerned, Gibson/Epi could put that neck on all their guitars and I'd love it (others would not though).

 

Notes

[13yguitarman]

Usually epiphone uses a hybrid style a 50's and a 60's neck combined and this profile is usually found on gibson flying v's

[Big Norm]

Ok...So if I understand well, there is no way to have precisions on neck shapes for Epiphone... I mean not easy as Fender...Anyway as long I'm happy with my neck, it doesn't bother me to unknow the spec..Lolll