Les Paul nut width

adampeter

After buying probably around 8-10 les pauls over the years i still haven't found one i can get comfortable with.
Ive had everything from studios, loads of standards and a couple of custom shop jobs.
Question is, does Gibson do a Les Paul with a vintage fender nut width? around the 42mm mark

Danielsguitars

The only one I played like that was a 67 ( I think ) sg junior

I couldn't get on with the neck just too thin and narrow

I thought fender were wider than 42mm, I'll be looking at a few vintage ones in the next few months, I'll take some measurements 

adampeter

@customkits ; i have a couple of vintage spec'd strats and the nut width is just under 42mm, which is perfect for me, every LP feels much to wide.
Dont mind a chunky neck but there's something about a vintage width nut i get on with.

Danielsguitars

adampeter said:

@customkits ; i have a couple of vintage spec'd strats and the nut width is just under 42mm, which is perfect for me, every LP feels much to wide.
Dont mind a chunky neck but there's something about a vintage width nut i get on with.

I played a 52 tele and 62 strat and the neck was the first thing I noticed as they're the first fender necks I really liked because they felt really similar to some vintage Gibson's I've played, just slightly slimmer

It'll be interesting when i measure properly, I'll be looking at the 52 again plus a 57 and 74 tele, mostly for feel and ageing for a couple of planned builds

Danielsguitars

adampeter said:

After buying probably around 8-10 les pauls over the years i still haven't found one i can get comfortable with.
Ive had everything from studios, loads of standards and a couple of custom shop jobs.
Question is, does Gibson do a Les Paul with a vintage fender nut width? around the 42mm mark

i think youd have to get something custom made

richardhomer

Surely the difference between the nut width on a Les Paul and a Strat is negligible? Fretboard radius, binding, fret size and the amount of shoulder will all contribute to the different feel.

My main electric is a Strat with a chunky neck. My Gibson is wider at the nut - but shallower in depth. By the octave, the Gibson neck is a fair bit chunkier than the Strat. I can easily swap between them, even though they feel quite different. I still prefer the feel of the Strat - but after a couple of minutes on the 335 I forget this and just get on with playing it.  

Danielsguitars

richardhomer said:

Surely the difference between the nut width on a Les Paul and a Strat is negligible? Fretboard radius, binding, fret size and the amount of shoulder will all contribute to the different feel.

My main electric is a Strat with a chunky neck. My Gibson is wider at the nut - but shallower in depth. By the octave, the Gibson neck is a fair bit chunkier than the Strat. I can easily swap between them, even though they feel quite different. I still prefer the feel of the Strat - but after a couple of minutes on the 335 I forget this and just get on with playing it.  

They do feel very different to me, it also depends what you play the most and most comfortable with

FelineGuitars

Gibsons are 1 11/16" (42.8mm) while Fender are narrower at 1 5/8" ( 41.3mm)

Skipped

It is interesting  (well....interesting for us...) that the Les Paul didn't get the narrow nut in 1968 and 1969.....

In 1965 of all these Gibson guitars were switched over to the narrow nut (during that year). 335, 330, 345,355, Trini,  Sg, Melody Maker, Firebird, Jazz Boxes, Acoustics......
Maybe it was all Gibson models.

But not the Les Pauls?

A couple of older LPF threads here musing about why Gibson did it.....and the influence of the Beatles......and Rickenbacker,  at that moment.

https://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?153640-Switch-to-narrower-nut-width-in-1965-some-facts

https://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?158567-My-survey-regarding-1965-nut-widths  

ICBM

Les Pauls were not made in 1965, or any year between 1961 and 1968, so they missed the change to narrow necks. When Gibson reissued them in '68, they had the sense to use the original dimensions.

I don't know why they did it, but nut widths and neck sizes seem to go in fashion cycles - right now it's 'fat' necks... everyone seems to want a neck with a 'nice fat 50s-style neck' - the sort of size that was seen as clumsy and undesirable in the 1960s and 70s, to the point that players like Jimmy Page had their 50s Les Pauls shaved down, which would be seen as sacrilege now. In the late 80s and early 90s it was wide, thin necks with huge frets, late 90s was 'boat' necks...

adampeter

It amazes me the difference 1mm can make on a nut.