Slim Necks

[fretplay]

Every time I pick up a pre 60s guitar it has a neck like a tree truck or baseball bate. Did slim neck guitars come in 60s plus? Can't be because of truss rods they were in much earlier.

 

Any comments guys?

[EuroAussie]

My 69' Bird has a very slim neck, almost too slim as I miss a bit of chunkiness to hold onto. Meanwhile I find the SWDs' neck is almost a bit too thick ... then there is the AL SJ, which is 100% spot on.

 

But back to your question, not sure exactly when they came in but can confirm the 69' edition does have a slim neck.

[blindboygrunt]

i always assumed that the slimmer necks became more common with the growth in popularity of the electric guitar , so they would be similar for folk who alternated the two ?

this is the place to be proved wrong though ... am i wrong again boffins?

[pfox14]

I agree that slimmer necks coincide with the rising poplularity of the electric guitars, so it's seems that the 60s saw slimmer necks then previous decades. However, the early 30s 1 3/4" nut "C" profile necks were pretty slim all things considered.

[zombywoof]

Gibson went to what they called the fast playing low action neck (or something like that) in 1960. I am a guessing it was a give the people what they want move. Definietly a harbinger of what was to come the next year.

 

Compared to the Kay Krafts and others though (most of which did not start installing rods in the necks until the 1950s), even pre-War Gibson necks seem downright skimpy.

[fretplay]

I think Zoobywoof has it right here, it seems that although the truss rod electric was well established into the 40s and 50s the neck profile was still chunky.

The slim profile seems to come in from 1960 onwards. Does any member has a slim neck guitar pre 1960? I would be interested to know.

[larryp58]

1960 was the year that the "slim-taper" neck came. The same year the Les Paul went double-cutaway and was called the SG. Ithink it's a fantastic feeling neck.

[Rambler]

You all nailed the pre-history of the LP neck. What about the current era? I'd be thinking Taylor took the point. I recall seeing some of Bob T's guitars back in the 80s when I was in the Midwest. Martin came up with their LP neck in the 80s. A truss rod and a skinny neck was a big concession for them, but they did it to stay competitive. Fender went thin around then as well, with their AM Stds. Even their first vintage series had modest profiles.

 

Interesting how its swung back the other way, with chunky profiles appearing not only on on vintage models but imports like Rec. King.

[Mojorule]

You all nailed the pre-history of the LP neck. What about the current era? I'd be thinking Taylor took the point. I recall seeing some of Bob T's guitars back in the 80s when I was in the Midwest. Martin came up with their LP neck in the 80s. A truss rod and a skinny neck was a big concession for them, but they did it to stay competitive. Fender went thin around then as well, with their AM Stds. Even their first vintage series had modest profiles.

 

Interesting how its swung back the other way, with chunky profiles appearing not only on on vintage models but imports like Rec. King.

 

Everybody now realizes what Gibson short-scale guitars from the 1940s always proved: girth is more important than length.