Les Paul - Slim Taper Neck

rgalpin · Post by **rgalpin** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:21 am

Does anyone know how to definitively determine if a Les Paul has the 60s slim taper neck just by looking at the year/model?

I've asked this question before and never really got anything definitive - but now I am getting real close to buying a LP off eBay but I absolutely have to have the skinniest neck available on a LP because my hands are used to my Warmoth strat conversion neck and I really can't get comfortable on anything else - at least not $2400 worth of comfortable - you know?

any help would be great. thx.

908ssp · Post by **908ssp** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:42 am

I don't sorry.

Here is what I do when looking for fat neck Flys. I ask the seller to take a measurement for me. I ask them to wrap a 1/2" wide strip of paper around the neck between the 1st fret and the nut and mark across the paper where it is doubled over then measure the distance between the marks. I compare this to measurements I have made on my other guitars. This will give a pretty good idea of the size. Since the width is fairly consistent the measurement tells you the girth the thickness and roundness of the neck. Also since the measurement is the circumference of the neck the numbers are larger and easier to measure than say the thickness alone.

rgalpin · Post by **rgalpin** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:53 am

Sounds like a good way to determinate the size. Thanks!

nitro · Post by **nitro** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:42 pm

Rgalpin, the "Gibson les paul classic"is the guitar you are talking about,its based on the 1960 les paul,it has a slimmer taper neck(skinny).I own one and its a great guitar,fast neck.

ThunderOne · Post by **ThunderOne** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 5:36 pm

nitro wrote:Rgalpin, the "Gibson les paul classic"is the guitar you are talking about,its based on the 1960 les paul,it has a slimmer taper neck(skinny).I own one and its a great guitar,fast neck.

I agree with Nitro. I got one recently and I like it alot. It's called a Classic Antique Honeyburst. It has the 1960 slim taper neck, exposed Classic '57 PU in the neck position and Classic Plus '57 bridge and a Crown headstock inlay with headstock binding. It also is chambered which makes it much lighter than a VOS Reissue. I'm still debating whether this is a good or bad thing for a Les Paul. Anyway, it doesn't pretend to be a RI and I appreciate it on it's own merit even if I'm used to the chunky '50s neck and the extra non-relieved body weight of a typical Les Paul.

rgalpin · Post by **rgalpin** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 6:11 pm

Les Paul Classic!! That's the ticket brothers! Thank you. You prolly saved me from a baseball bat.

marT · Post by **marT** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 5:00 am

I have a 60's taper on my LP and while it is quite fast I don't like the stability of it (or lack of). I find it really hard to dial out relief on it. I thought I got it right and straight the other day but it appears to have crept back in a bit over a few days.

Its a fantastic sounding guitar however, I just need the relief sorted. I might take it to my tech to do a good fret level which it is due for anyway and get them to sort it out.

So yeah, just be aware that skinny necks can be quite unstable, in my experience anyway.

gutpile · Post by **gutpile** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 1:11 pm

marT wrote:I have a 60's taper on my LP and while it is quite fast I don't like the stability of it (or lack of). I find it really hard to dial out relief on it. I thought I got it right and straight the other day but it appears to have crept back in a bit over a few days.

Its a fantastic sounding guitar however, I just need the relief sorted. I might take it to my tech to do a good fret level which it is due for anyway and get them to sort it out.

So yeah, just be aware that skinny necks can be quite unstable, in my experience anyway.

Mine has a skinny neck and I had to take it in when I got it to get the frets leveled too... Then it took me about two weeks to get the relief adjusted just right... you have to go a liitle at a time and wait a day for it settle then another little adjustment wait a day....etc, etc... I found that if a neck really needs adjusting you can almost never adjust it just once due to the "creep" that you mentioned... I haven't had to change anything for over a year now...

yngwie308 · Post by **yngwie308** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 7:35 pm

My Gary Moore Heritage Les Pauls have a slim '60's style neck profile and they rock.
yngwie308

fivecoyote · Post by **fivecoyote** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:12 pm

Don't know if it's too late to be of help here, but I also wanted/needed a LP with the thinnest neck possible. I was traveling a lot at the time and was able to play LPs -- new and used -- in several states. I must have played 20 in LA alone -- my point being that like NYC there's a strip with a bunch of stores on it (if I remember right) so you can test guitar after guitar to your heart's content. I thought I'd find a used gem, but ended up with a new LP Classic (LP Standard specs). Sounded great, though not sure I like the Slash-like sound of the pickups -- I need to change the bridge pickup. But I still can get a surprising # of different sounds out of it. Guitar is very heavy, sustains a chord or note for like an hour -- everything you would expect. Great playing, stays in tune okay, looks great too. Classic.

For what it's worth, I played a lot of 70s and 80s LPs and couldn't stand the feel (big neck, kind of junky feeling) or sound of any of them. I'm sure some good ones are out there, but I didn't run across any. Neck size of these seemed to vary, but most were huge-feeling and the slimmer ones weren't as slim as the Classic.

Only other one I'd consider getting is an LP Custom just for the ebony board, which I prefer -- but I guess don't really need.

AJW · Post by **AJW** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:27 pm

You should have seen what the MF stupid deal of the day was today: Gibson Les Paul Standard '60s Neck Electric Guitar $1699 (SOLD OUT)

I should have posted that this morning!