Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

[Lewguitar]

I've only owned two "new" Gibsons - ie: Gibsons made since about 1998.

One was a '98 or '99 Gibson Historic '59 Les Paul and the other is my 2000 Es-335.

I believe Gibson offers a "fat neck" and a "60's neck" and maybe a "wide thin"?

I could be wrong about the names for each neck.

Anyways, I prefer the neck of my 2000 ES-335.

It's about 1 11/16" wide at the nut. 2 1/16" wide at the 12th fret.
About 7/8" thick at the nut. About 7/8" thick at the 12th fret.

Hard to measure the thickness without a caliper so I'm probably off a little on the thickness.

That's the most comfortable Gibson neck I've ever owned and it reminds me a lot of the feel of the neck on my '60 ES-355 that was stolen around 1980.

So would that be what Gibson calls the 60's style neck?

Even though my year 2000 ES-335 has the look of a late 50's dot neck, does Gibson generally use the 60's style neck on most ES-335's?

Mine is not a Custom Shop guitar, BTW.

Thanks!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

It's about 1 11/16" wide at the nut. 2 1/16" wide at the 12th fret.
About 7/8" thick at the nut. About 7/8" thick at the 12th fret.

Hard to measure the thickness without a caliper so I'm probably off a little on the thickness.

I made the thickness measurements from the top edge of the neck binding to the back of the neck. The neck would actually measure a little thicker than than if I included the arch of the fingerboard. I don't have a caliper handy to make an accurate measurement.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

It sounds like you have a 60's style neck Lew. I have that same neck shape (at least I think I do) on my 359. It is a very comfortable neck profile & I personally like it better then the 50's neck. I never really speced mine out, but I now when we ordered it it was a 60's neck.

How you feeling? Are you spending any time at work? Work is a good distraction from the constant thinking of........ everything else.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

It sounds like you have a 60's style neck Lew. I have that same neck shape (at least I think I do) on my 359. It is a very comfortable neck profile & I personally like it better then the 50's neck. I never really speced mine out, but I now when we ordered it it was a 60's neck.

How you feeling? Are you spending any time at work? Work is a good distraction from the constant thinking of........ everything else.

That's what I thought. I think mine is a 60's neck too - even though the other details of the guitar are more 50's style.

I'm feeling better. This is one of those "I have my good days and bad days" sort of things. Never been in this position before. Sickest I've ever been previously was with a bad cold, bad flu or bad hangover! This is different.

I haven't returned to work yet -which is why I've been posting here more often again. Aside from missing all of you guys, I've got a lot of time on my hands.

I'm planning on going in this weekend though.

I've kind of put Lew's Guitars on the back burner for the time being because it's hard for me to ship in a timely manner and I lack the patience it takes dealing with certain types of demanding or manipulative customers. I hope to get back into it again when I start to really recover and get my strength back.

Thanks for asking!

Lew

 

[jeremy]

Re: Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

if its 7/8" thick at the nut i dont think its a 60's neck. does it feel wide and flat? those spec's seem more like a '59 rounded carve.

the width dimentions are the same on most gibson necks 1 11/16" at the nut 2 1/16" at the 12th

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

I have a 96' studio LP. According to Gibson the studio's have 50's neck profiles. The Neck was chunky like my 90' LP,But nothing like my 67' Melody Maker which was pencil thin. When I got the 96' LP, It was already a basket case. So I had no issue's taking a rasp to the back of the neck (Unwound string side) So now the neck is Asymmetrical. Everyone who plays it claims to love the way the neck feels.:cool2: I like it! But ,Please! I don't recommend doing this to your Gibson!!:28:

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

Another 335 in the near future? :cool2:

All the "modern" 335s I've played are 60s slim taper.

Personally I'd advocate you picking up an 80s pre-historic 335 and slap in the correct pots and go to town!

Luke

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

Another 335 in the near future? :cool2:

All the "modern" 335s I've played are 60s slim taper.

Personally I'd advocate you picking up an 80s pre-historic 335 and slap in the correct pots and go to town!

Luke

You're reading my mind Luke! I'm kind of looking for a natural finish ES-335. Doesn't have to be flamey although that would be nice. And it doesn't have to be a Historic model either. My 2000 ES-335 is just a regular Dot Neck and it's as good a guitar as I've ever owned or played.

I'm thinking if I could find a natural finish ES-335 from roughly the same production run as mine, and find it for a good price, I might grab another one.

I have two sets of Tom Holmes humbuckers. One set is in my "new" ES-335 and I'm thinking of sending the second set to Seymour to see if he can wind me set of Antiquitys with full strength alnico 2 magnets that'll match or even improve on the tone of my Holmes humbuckers.

Kinda silly I guess, but I'm a bit of a loyalist and just want a set of Duncans that sound as good or better to me as the Holmes.

if its 7/8" thick at the nut i dont think its a 60's neck. does it feel wide and flat? those spec's seem more like a '59 rounded carve.

the width dimensions are the same on most gibson necks 1 11/16" at the nut 2 1/16" at the 12th

No - it doesn't feel wide and flat. I've never owned a wide flat new Gibson so I don't know how those feel but I have owned a vintage early 60's ES-335 with block fingerboard inlays and stop tailpiece that definitely had a wide flat feel to the neck. I didn't really like it so I sold it in the early 70's. Probably worth a small fortune today!

My '59 Historic Les Paul had a much chunkier feel to it than my 2000 ES-335. I seem to remember the neck being almost 1" thick at the nut. It played beautifully but I like the neck on my Es-335 better.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

Lew.... If you are considering another 335, take a look at the 339 or the 359. They are very similar tonally yet they still have some Les Paul in them. I was going to buy a 335, but decided on the 359 instead. My 335 is/was my favorite HB guitar so I figured if I was going to buy something new it should be a little different. This is it!

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gibson-Custom-ES-359-Semi-Hollow-Electric-Guitar-515965-i1388586.gc

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

Out of all the Gibson neck profiles I've come across, here's the basic rundown....minus numbers.

59 Historic - baseball bat
57 Historic - baseball bat
58 Historic - thick but not quite a bat.

90's Std's with "rounded 59" Seemingly the same as today's 50's neck.
90's Classic 60 had the thinnest neck of all of them. Slim tapered.
57 Black Beauty Customs have a neck that's not tapered, but is very slightly smaller than a 50's neck.....basically a 50's neck on the thin side of the spectrum.

Modern 50's neck is the standard rounded C shape, which used to be called rounded 59
Modern 60's neck is a tiny bit bigger than the 90's Classic 60, but it's the same profile.

Most modern LP's are either 50's or 60's slim tapered......but a very nice feel.
Most modern 335's primarily come in the 60's slim tapered neck.....I think all of them, unless it's a custom ordered 50's neck from the Memphis Custom Shop. I'm not positive, but if you look at all the ES-335's nowadays, they have the same 60's neck.


Normally, I'm a fan of the modern 50's neck, but since I play my 2007 ES-335 quite a bit, I've really grown to love the neck on it. I also usually use 11's on all my guitars, but keep 10's on that one.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

the way its supposed to be now, and this has changed over the years...

52-58 ri's have the bats
59 is still big but not as big as the older ones
60-64 have the thin necks

the normal line either has the 59 rounded or 60 slim taper

 

[uOpt]

Re: Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

"wide/thin" is a PRS designation.

You cannot neglect the frets here. When I first actually measured thicknesses on my necks and the dimensions on the frets I discovered that the fret size directly influences how thick the neck feels. That means that necks that I thought the same were not because they had different frets and vice versa.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Can someone coach me on new Gibson neck shapes?

I find that the 60's Slim Taper necks vary all over the place. The 335 I have is slightly asymmetrical, larger on the bass side, with a fairly noticeable hump, or ridge. The 1960 VOS Historics have the Slim Taper, but they are definitely larger than the 335, with just the slightest of a v-shaping. The Classic Antiques I have are identical, feeling thin and wide; as does my 1997 Honeyburst Classic Premium Plus. But then, the 1996 HCSB Classic feels slightly bigger and more rounded. Finally, the Custom Shop Elegant is also a slim taper, even larger than the '96 Classic--definitely a more substantial in feel to that one, and yet different than the 1960 Historics. This guitar also has a compound radius to the ebony fretboard--so it is quite a bit different than the others.

My LP Supremes have a different neck than the others--it's what I've heard called the "Custom" neck. They're more tapered from nut to body than the Slim Taper, and it feels round like a 1959 Historic neck--a very different feel than any of the other guitars.

The '58 Historic has the biggest neck of all, but it is not unmanageable. It does take me a few seconds to adapt to it, but it is quite comfortable. The 335 neck is also one that takes me a while to get used to, because of the "ridge"; but once I do, it is fine.

The biggest issue I have wth Gibson necks is actually in the bridge. Once I had my ABR-1 and Nashville Tune-O-Matics' bridge saddles filed down to match the radius of the fingerboards, it was pure heaven. These are some of the best playing guitars I've ever owned, and matching the saddle height exactly to the fingerboard radius was key. I'm able to play with much lower action than I ever have in the past.

So which one do I like the best? The necks on the two 1960 VOS Historics are just about perfect for me; but honestly, I like whichever one I'm playing!

Bill