Kuroyama - although I haven't seen the whole movie - I did catch the Brokeback reference.
About that tenon pictures (which I brought over to this page as well) - they aren't "my" pictures, but they ARE accurate. That IS how the rocker tenon looks - it is ROUND on the bottom!!! There is no bullshit involved there. It is so that the worker can literally "rock" the neck into position and the proper angle. Thats why they call it the "rocker" tenon. Bear in mind, there is still tight wood to wood contact on the sides of the tenon - but there is very little contact on the bottom. That was all done for efficiency. Now that we're in agreement that it LOOKS like a stupid idea...
You said "not at all fit to the joint, and not at all flush to the wood." That is my point - it isn't. The long tenon and transitional long tenon ARE fitting to the joint and flush with the wood of the body - that is why they had to be so precise. Not only is the tenon longer, it actually makes contact with the back of the guitar. The short tenon does not make contact with the back of the guitar, and the portion of the tenon that does touch the sides of the neck pocket is shorter. I would guesstimate that there is about 50% LESS contact on the short tenon, between what you lose on the sides due to shortness, and what you lose on the bottom due to the rocker.
I would just assume that Gibson pull their heads out of their asses and start using long tenons on everything. It can only make a good thing even better. But... if they did that... they couldn't charge me the $3,000 that I paid for my plain top R8 (or $5,000 for a flame top R9!). The one thing that they did do was make what is essentially an imported version of the Historic in Japan - poly coated - and price it reasonably at $1k (Elitist).
I've got 3 long tenon LP's and my '69 has the transitional long tenon. I'm sold. I've played a shitload of LP's and the tenon has been a deciding factor for me - I notice the difference.
Now, off of my soap box - my brother has the same Special that you have - TV yellow faded - and that guitar is a machine - I absolutely LOVE it! Of course, it has the short tenon - and you're right - it doesn't doom the guitar, because his rocks hard. I think that it would be even more mind blowing if it had another inch of tongue and contact on the bottom.
