why do cheaper guitars have the 60's neck?

[mr.chEn]

this is just kind of from personal experience.. but i notice that the mexican fenders, the squires, low level epiphones, and all copy cat guitars have the 60's slim necks.. is there a reason for this? is it easier to make?

[GuitarJunkie]

this is just kind of from personal experience.. but i notice that the mexican fenders' date=' the squires, low level epiphones, and all copy cat guitars have the 60's slim necks.. is there a reason for this? is it easier to make? [/quote']

 

Generally, cheaper guitars are aimed at the entry-level or casual player. Most beginners probably find a thinner neck more comfortable and feel that it would make it easier to play.

[NeoConMan]

Younger too, smaller hands.

 

I'm a big guy, but I still prefer the 60 neck.

People laugh at me when I tell them, like they don't believe me.

[Wolff]

I'm very partial to the 60's neck. I find the baseball bat type 50's necks almost unplayable probably because I have somewhat small hands. All 4 of my Gibsons have the 60's slim neck. The ultimate neck profile IMO.

[FennRx]

I'm very partial to the 60's neck. I find the baseball bat type 50's necks almost unplayable probably because I have somewhat small hands. All 4 of my Gibsons have the 60's slim neck. The ultimate neck profile IMO.

 

50s neck isnt a baseball bat. play an R7- some of those are practical joke big

[MI_Canuck]

On SG's - you actually have to pay MORE to get the 60's neck, so I disagree somewhat with the cheaper guitars have slimmer necks. To get a 60's neck on an SG, you have to either get the '61 Reissue, Angus model (which is even slimmer) or a Custom Shop Historic. Epis have fatter necks. Somewhere between 50's and 60's but closer to 50's.

 

On Les Pauls, the Vintage Mahogany is the cheapest LP, has the thick 50's neck. You have to get a Classic, Classic Antique or Custom Shop to get a 60's neck. Some Standards have 60's option (the '08 Silverburst for instance).

 

I lucked out in finding an SG Standard that has a nice slim neck - which I prefer having smaller hands. I measured it as being closer to '61 RI and Angus model.

 

It's all personal preference. Case in point above, some with bigger hands like the 60's neck, and I'm sure there are some with smaller hands that still prefer the 50's neck.

[crossroadsnyc]

 

50s neck isnt a baseball bat. play an R7- some of those are practical joke big

 

 

True. My LP Standard with a 50's neck profile feels considerably smaller than my R8. While the 50's neck is very comfortable, I prefer the larger neck on the R8. I can see the appeal in the 60's neck, but I can't manage to play one for more than 20 minutes without getting a cramp in my hand and forearm. The smallest neck I have on a guitar is my American Deluxe Stratocaster - very comfortable for me as well, but not as comfortable as my LP's.

[ChanMan]

Just a thought, but aren't the thinner necks supposed to be better for shredders? Could just be my cynical nature, but it seems there are more shred guitarists being used as marketing tools than any other genre of player. Could just be what I am being exposed to, though, I'll admit... but it would make sense to gear your product to align with your marketing strategy.

[MI_Canuck]

I always thought wide necks (but maybe thin/shallow?) with larger fingerboard radius (like 15") was the preference of shredders...

 

60's necks are narrow (width) and thin (depth), and have standard Gibson 12" radius iirc

[ChanMan]

Good point on width!

 

I am not at all sure, as I am not really a "shred" kinda guy... I just noted that thin seemed to be a buzzword with the Deans and Ibanez folks...

[phil47uk]

It's absolutely nothing to do with anything else other than a personal feel factor.

The reason necks slimmed out during the 60's was by popular demand. The bassball bat necks of the late 50's Les Paul's were becoming prehistoric and outdated by the more modern feel of the Strat necks.

Gibson tried changing to a slim taper by 1960, but Strats were all the rage and the Les Paul went the way of the Dodo, until their resurrection in popularity some half a decade later.

 

Of course some necks went to extremes such as many of the shred guitars, but generally it's all to do with personal likes and dislikes.

 

I have played guitar professionally for over 40 years now and can assure you that's all it is. Many pro players have all sorts of necks on their guitars. I have Strats with different profile necks and my R0 has a fairly slim feel compared to say an R8. I chose it simply because I don't happen to like the feel of very fat necks.

Clapton played a 1960 slim necked Les paul on the Beano album and also most of Kossoffs guitars were slim necked too. Even Peter Green said he wished he could have found one like Claptons back then as his was like a tree trunk.

Neck profile has nothing to do with entry level or top of the range guitars. I have many pupils who have Epihones with a far fatter neck than my R0 and I certainly don't have small hands.

No myths.. No magic.. Simply personal taste.

[marius]

none of my gibsons or the other brands have thick necks, its all "60" style. guess that means I do not have any expenisive guitars

[phil47uk]

none of my gibsons or the other brands have thick necks' date=' its all "60" style. guess that means I do not have any expenisive guitars [/quote']

 

Not at all. It's just that the Standard line don't produce those huge necks like on the custom shop 57's.

 

An off the shelf 50's Standard has a fatter neck than my custom shop R0 and the 60's Standard is nothing like an original 60's neck anyway unless you buy the R0. The 60's Standard is an elipse like the Classic. An R0 has shoulders like a 50's ,but is shaved flatter at the back of the profile. You often see this sort of profile on many Classical guitars.

 

1995 Classic P.P neck left.. 2003 custom shop 1960 R0 right.

 

[turtle]

i think the 50's necks on the standards are the 59 profile> my honeyburst is supposed to have a 60's neck but is close if not as thick as my 50's necked cherry sunburst> i almost didnt even pick the guitar off the wall when i saw the 60's sticker on it but when i played it i was very pleased> i played a 60s vos reissue and that neck was thicker then my standards 50's neck> they must all be a little different> and yeah when i played an r7 , the neck was pretty huge> but i like the thicker necks personally > i have big hands>

[ChanMan]

My Standard (not a cheap guitar) has a '60s neck. It was thinner than most of the other '60s neck labeled LPs I played while at the Gibson Showcase. I think I've seen where some one actually posted measurements for both their 50's and 60's neck guitars, and it was a marginal (<2mm) difference.

 

 

+1 to it's all about personal choice. Play 'em all, and let God sort 'em out!

[ckledzepplin]

i prefer a 50's neck

[phil47uk]

My Standard (not a cheap guitar) has a '60s neck. It was thinner than most of the other '60s neck labeled LPs I played while at the Gibson Showcase. I think I've seen where some one actually posted measurements for both their 50's and 60's neck guitars' date=' and it was a marginal (<2mm) difference.

 

 

+1 to it's all about personal choice. Play 'em all, and let God sort 'em out![/quote']

 

 

Obviously whoever put that myth around about cheap guitars having slimmer necks has about as much knowledge of guitars as I have of how to fix the Hadron collider...LOL

 

 

 

 

 

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[mr.chEn]

 

 

Obviously whoever put that myth around about cheap guitars having slimmer necks has about as much knowledge of guitars as I have of how to fix the Hadron collider...LOL

 

 

 

 

 

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i wasnt asking if 60's necks were cheaper.. i was asking why most cheap guitars have 60's neck.. look at the $150 guitar kits you can get at walmart.. those have slim necks.. so do most squiers and epiphones

[RichCI]

I have no idea what shape neck my LP Custom has. I also own a 57 RI Strat, a 52 RI Tele, a MIM Standard Strat, an SG Junior and a few other guitars. I really don't have any preference for one neck over the other on any of those guitars, probably because I switch around to all of them on a pretty regular basis. When it comes to my band, I definitely favor the 57 RI Strat as I can get more sounds out of it and it works well with all the music we play whereas the LP, while it definitely does the heavier tones better than the Strat, there are some songs we play that absolutely require a Strat. So, being the lazy person I am, I'll sometimes haul only one guitar with me and, if I do, it's the Strat.

 

Okay, I went off on a tangent.

[crossroadsnyc]

Chen, it's not a stupid question. I believe that on some of the more inexpensive guitars you are talking about it may come down to just poor craftsmanship. When talking about a Gibson neck, it's all about personal preference and what feels best to you as a player. I can see why you would logically make that connection, but I can put your fears to rest that the slim 60's neck is not cheap, nor is it inferior to a larger 50's / historic(s).

 

I'd also suggest that the necks on a guitar you'd find at a walmart are in no way similar to a Gibson 60's neck profile. It' really comes down to poor craftsmanship and trying to make the cheapest (literally) product possible v. professional craftsmanship of the highest caliber.

 

Which do you prefer?

[MI_Canuck]

 

 

i wasnt asking if 60's necks were cheaper.. i was asking why most cheap guitars have 60's neck.. look at the $150 guitar kits you can get at walmart.. those have slim necks.. so do most squiers and epiphones

 

I disagree about the Epiphones...

Epis have thick necks - at least the two I used to own (an '04 G-400 Goth and a '91 LP)... Closer to 50's than 60's... Not really close to 60's profile actually.

 

In fact, the Epi Slash LP model was said to have one of the thickest necks on a LP...

[phil47uk]

 

 

i wasnt asking if 60's necks were cheaper.. i was asking why most cheap guitars have 60's neck.. look at the $150 guitar kits you can get at walmart.. those have slim necks.. so do most squiers and epiphones

 

I wasn't refering to your question mr.chEn, or to you personally. I was refering to a myth re neck size that often pops up in forums. It was a general answer.

But even in my post I did say that not all cheap guitars have slim necks. For instance a guy I knows Epiphone has a fatter neck than my R0.

In fact it's only really one make of guitar today that have massive necks and that's the Gibson custom shop range of 57. 58 and 59 Les Pauls. The only reason they are huge is that they are replicas of originals. And back in the 50's, many guitars had huge necks.

[Riffster]

I think nut width is getting mixed up with neck profile. A thin neck on a Squier can have a 1.61" nut width, others have a 1.65". MIM Fenders usually have a 1.65" nut while American made Fenders can be found with a 1.69" nut width.

 

On Gibsons the slimmer neck still has the 1.69" width at the nut right?

 

On the Fender/Squier side narrower nut widths do seem associated with the price.

 

A lot of entry-level guitars seem to have a narrow nut width, that is of course a generalization.

 

I think a lot of marketing goes into nut width and neck profiles, every brand seems to have a different strategy.