Any Gibson neck profile experts around?

adamm82

from the 4 Gibsons I own they all have different necks. I will keep this in mind when I make my les paul purchase in the future. Obviously I'll try to play as many as I can to get a feel but I was wondering how my current guitars compare to say a 58,59,60s neck etc. What would be closest to what? 

 SG Special I am not sure what profile it is exactly but it's probably the thickest of them all. 2010 model

Les paul junior is 'vintage' spec so I assume it's a 50's neck profile, it's thicker than my Tribute gold top, can't find it on the gibson website. 

2016 Les Paul studio they call slim profile. 

60's Tribute gold top, feels the thinnest. I assume this would be like the 60's necks but I am not sure. 

I think the Les Paul junior is my favourite to play though I've been playing a the tribute a lot as I just got it.

Thanks!

ESBlonde

Have you noticed how the experts haven't all piled in as you would expect? there is a reason, whilst some characturistics can be explained there are subtle and sometime not so subtle differences between similar guitar models. The necks are hand sanded and whilst they should conform to standards they do vary quite a bit. This is one of the reasons why the standard answer is to play them all (58, 59 & then 60 get slimmer as a rule).

xibxang

Remember there's an asymmetric profile too, where the neck's thinner at the GBE side than it is at the EAD.

guitars4you

ESBlonde said:

Have you noticed how the experts haven't all piled in as you would expect? there is a reason, whilst some characturistics can be explained there are subtle and sometime not so subtle differences between similar guitar models. The necks are hand sanded and whilst they should conform to standards they do vary quite a bit. This is one of the reasons why the standard answer is to play them all (58, 59 & then 60 get slimmer as a rule).

you've probably hit the nail on the head - even the 50's profile they talk about on a regular production LP Std is not the same as a 59 LP model - On a production model 50's means more meat than others but not 'historic 59' flavour - I'm not sure if there is an answer to this - Agree that even the sanding after the neck has come from a CNC machine has an impact on the final feel/size - I don't know how many CNC jigs sizes Gibson have set up, but it is a few and take into account that Gibson change this option as and when they introduce new models and adjust spec on existing models - And we all know this is more common than changes by our own beloved leaders

I would suggest @adamm82 that you are already use to handling different models with different profiles - As and when you buy a LP, then try a few out and pick the one that feels right - Let your hands decide and not a tape measure

adamm82

ESBlonde said:

Have you noticed how the experts haven't all piled in as you would expect? there is a reason, whilst some characturistics can be explained there are subtle and sometime not so subtle differences between similar guitar models. The necks are hand sanded and whilst they should conform to standards they do vary quite a bit. This is one of the reasons why the standard answer is to play them all (58, 59 & then 60 get slimmer as a rule).

Thanks for this info, I have read and watched many videos on Les Pauls and this topic of the necks are always talked about in great detail. The Captain for example does this quite a lot obviously he's selling the guitars and full of technical info but when I hear certain necks described it's hard to know what they mean. now I have a few gibson guitars I try to get a rough idea of the reference to my own guitars. 

But I'm going to try as many as I can and find the right one.

jeztone2

I had a Les Paul Classic with a slim taper neck. I thought it was too thin. I played another one recently that felt totally different to my original. Same year, but a lot more meat on the neck.

The LP Classic I have now had the asymmetrical neck and that's better. But as many other have said. There's massive inconsistencies.