Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

[EVH5150]

How much of a difference is there between the two necks? Which do you prefer? Which one is closer in feel to a Fender Strat neck in size in your opinion? (I have a telecaster and a strat and haven't played a Les Paul in a while) I have never played a Classic and was wondering if anyone has played both and noticed a considerable difference between the two.

 

[Lee_M.]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

The 60's is definitely easier to play for some people (whom aren't used to large necks). I find that I like the fatter neck - it is just personal preference. Some could argue that the fatter neck gives a thicker tone, but I haven't really seen that. I've owned 2 Historics (R9 and R8), as well as a thin neck Standard from the early '90's - they all sound good as long as you have decent pots, caps and pickups.

 

[Thames]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

Personaly, I prefer the fatter 50's neck. I sold an awesome MIJ '78 Greco 60LP replica just because I couldnt stand the neck, too thin. :blackeye:

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

The ´60s is closer to a strat, profile-wise.

I prefer the ´59 roundback on a paul, for that reason I tend to steer away from classics. The ones with teh ´59 profile just feel "right" to me on a Paul, and for me that´s more important. I could build a Lester with an Ultra-thin Neck if I wanted to, But I´d likely never play it because the thin neck on a lester wouold be "psychologically wrong", If you know what I mean.

I haven´t A/B´d them (the necks) as I haven´t had the chance. Both play really well, the ´50s necks DO fatten the tone compared to the ´60s necks (Simple physics: more wood to transfer vibrations towards the body, hence a slightly faster transfer with less "damping" of the bottom end. This I can attest to from personal experience as a luthier, I purposely tried this experiment once a few years back, I have the souindclips somewhere... Believe it or not, Bigger neck = Bigger tone)

 

[JfromHouston]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

I tried both and IMO the fatter neck was much more comfortable. I also have an older Jackson with a super thin neck and after 20-30 minutes of play they feel cramped and worn out. After 2 hours of playing on my LP I still feel good to go. I have heard that the 60's neck is a good transition if your coming off of thinner necks but I say just get the fatter neck. You will get accustomed to it and chances are you'll love it after the first week or so. And the 50's neck isn't the baseball bat that they once were. You can still get the super fat necks but I have only seen them on the RIs.

J

 

[59paul]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

I've got both. I like both. The 60's neck is a slightly different feel, but both are very comfortable to me.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

59 Profile all the way. It almost annoys me that Gibson offers the slim taper 60's,
because I keep running into guitars I like, then realize it's got the noodle neck. LOL

 

[jmv]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

I've got the 50's profile on mine... very comfortable. I don't even notice it when switching from my strat... its just comfy. The 60's neck would be closer to the strat shapes...

I think alot of it depends on what size hands you have. Mine are pretty averaged size, and it doesn't bother me. Some people with smaller hands find it way too big, though. I'd try playing some for yourself, personally.

 

[strat_master]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

I liek the 60's slim taper a bit more, i can play the 59 rouned easily too, but i liek the slimmer neck becaus eim used ot my strat neck. Both are greata nd i wouldnt mind either one

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

I always liked a fat neck on my guitars. My 2000 LP Standard offers that in spades. It's just right and chords are painless. It's a great guitar to practice soloing on, any other guitar feels easy afterwards.

 

[Grandor]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

Isnt an easy guitar a good thing?

 

[EVH5150]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

I used to have a 70's Gibson Les Paul Deluxe and it had that baseball bat feel to it....so I sold it. I tried some Standards at a guitar shop a few weeks ago and they felt different from the Strat neck but not the 2 x 4 feel that my deluxe had. I guess I agree that even though the slim taper neck is a good idea for marketing purposes...it almost seems like a hybrid. I think I am going the Standard route if I get one because a Les Paul is a Les Paul and the rounded neck is part of its makeup and character. Also, I am not really crazy about the Ceramic Pickups offered in a Classic and I guess I want more of a vintage Seth Lover type tone which the 490's seem to have. I have also seen standards that come stock if I am not mistaken with Burstbuckers which seem similar to the Duncan 59 or Custom 5 SH-14

 

[Lee_M.]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

I haven´t A/B´d them (the necks) as I haven´t had the chance. Both play really well, the ´50s necks DO fatten the tone compared to the ´60s necks (Simple physics: more wood to transfer vibrations towards the body, hence a slightly faster transfer with less "damping" of the bottom end.

That's cool and I believe you. I get short-term memory loss with tone sometimes, and more often than not, I'll tweak my EQ and gain with each guitar (which prohibits the direct A/B test).

The physics do make sense. I guess what I meant to say is that the difference in tone from the smaller neck could be made up for with different pups. I personally just don't remember hearing that much of a difference (plugged into an amp). Unplugged, I imagine you could hear a big difference.

 

[korovamilkdud]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

I started with a slim neck Epiphone and now play a fat-necked Gibson. I can't really say I have a preference. I played slim for a long time, but it didn't take long to get used to the fat neck.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

The 50's profile has more shoulder to it. The 60's profile is more rounded...more like a C shape than a D shape. Lew

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

That's cool and I believe you. I get short-term memory loss with tone sometimes, and more often than not, I'll tweak my EQ and gain with each guitar (which prohibits the direct A/B test).

The physics do make sense. I guess what I meant to say is that the difference in tone from the smaller neck could be made up for with different pups. I personally just don't remember hearing that much of a difference (plugged into an amp). Unplugged, I imagine you could hear a big difference.

Definitely. The difference isn´t huge, that´s why I recommend "buying a neck" by feel and not by what is to be expected from the tone. But it´s there

 

[stratvox]

Re: Gibson Les Paul..60's slimline vs. 50's rounded

Ive been playing strat and strat type guitars for over 20 years. Im used to thin necks. I played a Les Paul classic to see what the hype was and hated it. I tried a goldtop r7 with the fat baseball neckon a whim thinking that because i have small hands i would not like it. I now own it and havent picked up my strats in weeks.