Les Pauls vs SGs... It must be summer

[zionstrat]

Only Les Paul never owned an SG... he despised them and was very vocal on not wanting anything to do with them. He only held them for promo shots really, as they were made to completely replace Les Paul's (and did for a few years). I can't blame him, the models than him and Mary were holding had horrible tuning and even worse intonation. Great inlays though!

Yep, I used to see him play at fat Tuesdays and he enjoyed talking to customers between sets. I knew he was not a fan of the SG but I wanted to learn more, specifically what he didn't like. Don't know if he was having a rough night or his hatred of SGs was that overpowering, but he would not talk about them at all. Not even a little bit.

I've heard a lot of his SG hatred had to do with Mary Ford loving them so much :-)

[Ashurbanipal]

According to Les, at any rate, his original contract with Gibson went to 1962, but since he was going through divorce at the time, he and Gibson decided to let it lapse, otherwise part of the money from the guitar royalties would going to his pending ex. With the guitars themselves, his main problem was the more flexible neck compared to a LP. His main request was to fix this but they didn't do it to satisfaction ultimately, so the contract was allowed to lapse, also since the divorce proceedings were ongoing.

Certainly on that pair of Customs, the neck/body joint is quite small compared to regular production models, which had the neck pu moved down to remedy this.

This one was part of his estate. It's the one with the anodized guard from the promos (note the lack of binding). The wear on the fingerboard suggests it was played a bit, and he went to the trouble of putting his low impedance pups in it and a Maestro vibrola. Not sure about the pickguard though .


The black guard one seems to have stayed stock.

[Texsunburst59]

I’ve owned 3 Gibson SG’s over the years, and I just couldn’t bond with them.

I owned a ‘71 SG Deluxe, ‘00 SG Supreme, and an ‘07 SG-3.

I tried everything I could to learn to get along with them, but to no avail.

They’re all long gone now, and I’ll most likely never own one again.

I’m an LP lover all the way.

Here’s a shot of my beauties.

[Rex_Rocker]

I wish they made more of the higher-end CS Les Paul Standars in that dark red finish like the one on the right rather than make them ALL varying shades of washed out orange.

Don't get me wrong. I like traditional tobacco/dark burst as much as anyone. It's just that not everyone who plays a nice Les Paul does it to be like Jimmy Page.

[Mincer]

I wish they made more of the higher-end CS Les Paul Standars in that dark red finish like the one on the right rather than make them ALL varying shades of washed out orange.

Don't get me wrong. I like traditional tobacco/dark burst as much as anyone. It's just that not everyone who plays a nice Les Paul does it to be like Jimmy Page.

I don't particularly like the 'traditional' colors of an LP, much myself. The traditional specs, even less.

[zionstrat]

I don't particularly like the 'traditional' colors of an LP, much myself. The traditional specs, even less.

Yes and clown bursts are among the most egregious things that anyone ever did to a guitar.

I've always wanted a wine colored '70s deluxe. To my eye that was the perfect combination and I'm not even very visually oriented.

[Securb]

You know i used to only like 60's or slim Gibson necks. Many times whenever someone said baseball bat or chuncky necks i would shy away when looking to buy but i gotta say i love them all now.
The 58' Jr. i got is a fat-*ss neck for sure all mahogany and love that guitar.
.

Same here I hated fat necks until I got my Traditional with the 50's neck. The amazing sustain and thick tone make the guitar a joy to play. Plus after a while, you no longer notice the thickness, at least I don't.

[Rex_Rocker]

2 of my 3 best-sounding guitars have had thin necks, so I don't associate fat necks with good tones. One of them was an Ibanez with a ridiculously thin neck.

My current Les Paul Tribute does have a thick-ish neck, which honestly, I'm more or less used to by now. It's OK, but I'd much rather have the Gibson 60's. That has got to be one my top 3 favorite necks.

I do have small hands and play with my finger behind the neck 99.9% of the time, TBH.

[beaubrummels]

2 of my 3 best-sounding guitars have had thin necks, so I don't associate fat necks with good tones. One of them was an Ibanez with a ridiculously thin neck.

My current Les Paul Tribute does have a thick-ish neck, which honestly, I'm more or less used to by now. It's OK, but I'd much rather have the Gibson 60's. That has got to be one my top 3 favorite necks.

I do have small hands and play with my finger behind the neck 99.9% of the time, TBH.

I can agree with this. The one exception I've noticed where a baseball bat helps the sound is on Gibsons that are lightweight or have significant weight relief, e.g. LP Studio or Melody Makers, etc. Other than that, don't need a thick neck for sound if the body is solid and the hardware too. (Though some people feel a certain thickness fits their hand better. Not me though.)

[Rex_Rocker]

I can agree with this. The one exception I've noticed where a baseball bat helps the sound is on Gibsons that are lightweight or have significant weight relief, e.g. LP Studio or Melody Makers, etc. Other than that, don't need a thick neck for sound if the body is solid and the hardware too. (Though some people feel a certain thickness fits their hand better. Not me though.)

100%.

A dud is a dud. You can slap the thickest neck in the crummiest guitar, and it would still not be good.

If a guitar is built well and the thin neck is well built and designed, I don't see why it would make the guitar sound bad.

I'm sure there is a tonal difference between the same guitar with thick neck vs. a thin neck, but if you plan said guitar around a thinner neck... I mean... my old RGA121 with the fixed bridge and the Mahogany body sounded FANTASTIC with the paper-thin neck. It didn't sound like a Les Paul, true, but it still sounded fat, full, and with good sustain.

JME.

[Seashore]

I don't like thin necks or anything with more squared-off sides. I guess that's a "D" profile. I can play on them but I don't enjoy them as much. My hands aren't huge but they're on the larger side, and small necks somehow actually make me work harder. I didn't really think about it until I got used to playing 6 string bass. Dealing with that neck sensitized me to neck profiles more. Having said that, I haven't played a Gibson that I couldn't get used to.

[Rex_Rocker]

To add to my statement... my Epi's neck is very very slightly thicker than my Gibsons... yet it still sounds much brighter and wiry by comparison. Even if the Gibson has a very slightly thinner (and chambered) body and a Maple neck.

[Securb]

I don't like thin necks

No crap! The neck on your Les Paul is massive. But very comfortable.

[Seashore]

No crap! The neck on your Les Paul is massive. But very comfortable.

Man I love the neck on that guitar SO MUCH. It doesn't feel massive to me, it's the most balanced and playable out of my three 7 strings. The profile just felt right the first time I picked it up. I don't even mind the heel joint!

[Securb]

Man I love the neck on that guitar SO MUCH. It doesn't feel massive to me, it's the most balanced and playable out of my three 7 strings. The profile just felt right the first time I picked it up. I don't even mind the heel joint!

Okay maybe "massive" is a bit but it is a big neck but yes it plays like a dream and takes little time to get used to it.