How can I determine the neck shape on my new 2004 les paul standard premium plus

[hbpatter83]

I just picked up the 04 standard premium plus with honey burst finish and one reason I bought it was how well it played and sounded... Well that's just one reason.. another is I just had to have it for whatever reason. Anyway I'm curious as to what the neck shape is. It looks like a C shape but beyond that I don't know much. I've heard there are many shapes but are differences of small increments. I may not be good enough where a neck shape makes much difference. I have many guitars and I'm not sure one stands out over another in neck shape. Except my strat... I can feel the V in that but it doesn't affect my playing too much.

 

I searched the forum here and didn't find anything.

 

Thanks in advance

 

HP

[saturn]

I think you have what's known on Gibson's as the 50s Neck. They are slightly more beefy than the 60s, or Slim Taper Neck, but not as fat as the necks on the historic reissues like R8 or R9.

 

I'm sure someone here with more knowledge than me can elaborate.

[Bluemoon]

You could call Gibson with your serial number. They should be able to tell you.

 

Did Gibson, though, produce two neck types in 2004?

[hbpatter83]

Thanks Saturn and Bluemoon. I'll call/email Gibson with my serial # and see what they say. I'll get back with that info.

 

HP

[modoc_333]

all premium plus standards from those years are the standard 50s style... not to be confused with the 50s style used on the historics, which is fatter.

[dogbiscuit]

I was actually wondering the same thing about my les paul. It's a 2001 standard, with the grovers.

Anyone know if this is a 50's or 60's neck?

[hbpatter83]

I sent an email to Gibson customer service with my serial # and here's the response:

 

Thanks for the email. The serial number is consistent with a 50’s neck model. Unfortunately, we do not have information on neck shapes of the 70’s and 80’s Gibson models, but typically the ES-335 necks of this time were rounded(somewhat in between the 50’s and 60’s profiles in thickness). The 50's is a more rounded thicker neck(the thickness on the 1st fret is .818" and on the 12th fret .963") and the 60's is the thinnest with a thickness of .800" on the 1st fret and .875" on the 12th. The radius, scale, and nut width are the same on both necks. Thanks again!

 

The reference in there about the 335 is because I asked if he could compare the les paul neck to my 80's 335.

 

Interesting difference between the 50's and 60's neck....018" difference at the 1st fret. and about .09" at the 12th. I don't know about any of you but I don't think I could feel a difference. So it must be more of profile difference than anything else. I don't think when he say's radius is the same as the profile. Anyway I don't know too much about guitar construction so I may be way off.

 

Saturn, Bluemoon, mdoc_333, thanks for the help.

 

Dogbiscuit, Just send an email with your serial and question and you'll get an answer. Send to: service@gibson.com

 

HP

[bobv]

thanks pitterpatter for forwarding that information for us. The "radius" is probably referring to the fretboard radius of 12" which Gibson never changed (Fender adjusted from 7-1/4" to 9-1/2" but Gibbies were always 12 if I'm not mistaken). Believe me, you can feel the difference in neck profiles even for .020 or .030 of thickness, and in fact some players swear by a fat neck. I was raised on a paper-thin Hagstrom neck so the baseball bats are hard for me to adjust to. Maybe the guys who like fat necks are the same ones who brag about eating Habaneros? Just kidding. You really have to play them for awhile to know what you like. I'm starting to appreciate some more meat on the neck.

[hbpatter83]

Thanks bobv

 

When I get some time I may check the neck thickness of all my guitars... I have some micrometers around so it wouldn't be a big deal... that's one of those things I'd probably never get around to though. Do you know how to measure the neck radius? I think that would be pretty difficult.. and probably not worth doing.. Still curious though.

 

HP

[flyingarmadillo]

Stewart-MacDonald sells a set of templates for setting string height that also allows you to determine the fretboard radius. http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/0353

[hbpatter83]

Stewart-MacDonald sells a set of templates for setting string height that also allows you to determine the fretboard radius. http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/0353

 

Great web site. Thank you for the info.

 

HP