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neck profiles


GuitarGod319

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Hey GuitarGod...

I just bought myself a Les Paul a few weeks ago.

 

I tried out both styles of neck..The 50's fat style, and the 60's slim taper.

For me it was no contest. The 60's slim taper felt custom made as soon as I

held it in my hand. Its like a shredders neck. Great lead, and soloing and

for chording it feels just right. I felt instantly comfortable with this neck.

 

The 50's style was a little too beefy for me. I play an SRV Strat as well as my

Les Paul and that model Strat has an oval shape beefy neck...but the 50's LP

is even thicker then that. To some im sure it feel great, but to me its a little

too round.

 

Check them both out and get back to us!

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I prefer the 50's neck. The thing I like about Les Pauls are that they are meaty, and heavy and a beefy neck just seems to go with that to me. I like to feel like I'm holding onto something substantial. I have fairly long fingers, so they fit nicely around the 50's neck and it is very comfortable to me. Plus, I am more of a bluesy, classic rock player, not so much of a shredder, so I don't need super fast action. I'm probably in the minority on this though.

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Saturn....

I hear ya!

I have also heard that the slimmer necks will tire your hands quicker.

 

btw...

Thats a gorgeous Les Paul in your avatar!

 

Thanks. It's a Studio Plus. When I got it, I thought I was kind of skimping because I didn't go with a Standard, but I've come to be glad I went with this one. I actually prefer the 490R/498T p/u's and the top seems to me like it's gottten even prettier with a few years age. Plus, like I said, it has that 50's neck that I like. Maybe it's the way I hold the guitar, but my fingers lay against the bottom of the neck at a wierd angle when I play a thinner neck. I guess I would adjust to it if I played a 60's neck on a regular basis. A buddy of mine has a 1982 Ash Strat with a really wide, thin neck. It's a beautiful guitar and sounds great (if you like Strat sounds) but I can not get used to the neck.

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I prefer the 50's neck. The thing I like about Les Pauls are that they are meaty' date=' and heavy and a beefy neck just seems to go with that to me. I like to feel like I'm holding onto something substantial. I have fairly long fingers, so they fit nicely around the 50's neck and it is very comfortable to me. Plus, I am more of a bluesy, classic rock player, not so much of a shredder, so I don't need super fast action. I'm probably in the minority on this though. [/quote']

I like 50's necks as well. But my lespaul has a 60's one... I would like to get a lespaul with a 50's neck...

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I strongly recommend to test both types of necks.

 

I bought a SG with a fatter neck without testing it before resp. a SG with the slim taper neck was not in my price range.

And I'm not happy with it. I can play it but I don't feel at home (like on my Strat).

 

Remember, the neck is the guitar from the player point of view.

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I have the same comments as saturn, could have written that myself.

 

Truth is that you have to pick your favorite after playing both, I have a well, Stiff Hand (I have a metal plate in my neck) and having a 50's neck is perfect for me. My america stratocaster has a fat neck as well and I tend to play those 2 guitars more...

 

I have a Casino with a real thin neck and it tires my hand within 10 minutes...

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Like Kaicho8888 said, get the neck that feels best to you. You shred on 50's style necks as well as you can on slimmer necks. The neck profiles that Gibson USA uses are not historically accurate. The Gibson USA 50's rounded/50's/rounded is closest to a historical 1960 profile. The Gibson USA slim taper/60's slim taper that they use on the Standard and Studios (yes it has been available on the Studio) is slimmer than any historic profile, and the 60's slim taper that they use on the Classic is thinner still. The fret board width does not change, but the front to back thickness does, as well as the cross sectional shape (like Fenders V and C shaped neck profiles). The historic reissue profiles are not considered to be dead on, but there was a lot of variance on the originals so they had to compromise some. Also there can be a lot of variance in the historic reissues due to the hand shaping of the necks. Basically with the reissues, The 52 to 57 reissues have a very simliar sized beefy neck, the 58 gets a bit thinner, the 59 gets a little thinner again, and the 1960 tapers more and is thinner again.

Some people can play both necks, some can't. Some can play as fast on thicker necks as others can on thin ones. There is no tone advantage to one over the other. It is merely a matter of playing comfort.

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  • 2 months later...

I prefer the rounded 50's style. First guitar I ever had as a kid was a really well made les paul copy with the rounded neck. It was what I learned on and played for several years, I never had a problem playing fast shredder type of licks on it. In fact, as I got a little older and more into metal music I started buying Jackson guitars which all have the slim necks. Although I could play them fine, I never really felt comfortable on them. And they really did seem to tire my hand faster for whatever reason. I recently bought a Les Paul with the 50's neck and it felt like going home again. I'll not be buying anymore guitars with slim necks from now on.

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I have the opposite problem. I have shorter fingers, and the '50's necks make my hand hurt after about five minutes...The thinner the better for me. That's why it would be key for me to find a nice LP Studio with a thin 60's neck , as well as the financial reasons. I've shied away from them for years, because of the supposed fat 50's profile.

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I like the fat SG necks, but those are fatter than 50's necks, so you probably wouldn't like them (not many people do).

If there are other LP's at your local shop, research them and see what their neck profile is. You're bound to find one with a 60's neck and one with a 50's neck there so you can compare. Just do research on the guitars there.

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Wow' date=' I didn't even notice that. Looks like LesPaul6666 brought it back to life. I only posted because it was on the first page.[/quote']

 

Yep, I found this thread and posted since it's an important topic for me when trying to find new LP's. I know I'm in the minority with the slim neck preference, I have to put all the Gibson's in line and spend time with each and every one, even then I'm usually not successful finding a Studio with a thin enough neck.

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I'm far from an expert, but just looking at gibson.com it doesn't appear they make a studio with a 60's style neck. Maybe they have in the past though, I don't know. Looks like you'll have to get a standard if you want the 60's neck.

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I'm far from an expert' date=' but just looking at gibson.com it doesn't appear they make a studio with a 60's style neck. Maybe they have in the past though, I don't know. Looks like you'll have to get a standard if you want the 60's neck.[/quote']

 

50s neck only for the Studio

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