Neck Profiles

[warrengoldberg]

I recently had a “59 Les Paul Historic refinished along with a recommended reshaping of the neck, being told that the “correct profile” for a ’59, is the one that was found on one of Joe Bonamassa’s ’59
Les Pauls, (that he refinished) that had a neck profile of .873 at the 1st. and .925 at the 12th.

My guitar originally specked out at .874 at the 1st and .980 at the 12th. It now reads .874 at the 1st. and .936 at the 12th. My belief is that he took too much off of the neck at the 12th fret, and has possibly devalued the guitar.

I know that there is a wide range that these necks fall into and all of them are hand sanded, so they all are slightly different, and that there is no perfect ’59 neck profile, but there is a range that they fall into.

I did some research and got these figures from Gibson:
1958 1st .900, 12th 1.00
1959 1st .818, 12th .963
1960 1st .800, 12th .925
1960 1st .800, 12th .875 Slim Profile

Wildwood Guitars, range for a ’59 is: 1st .880, 12th 1.06
The Beauty of the Burst, range for a ’59 is: 1st .854, 12th 1.0
Jimmy Page’s ’59: 1st .830, 12th .880

Obviously, its not about numbers, but about feel & playability, and ultimately it come down to the individual player, regardless of what the numbers are.

Would appreciate your thoughts & feedback.

 

[RRfireblade]

With all do respect....

The refinish and reshaping of the neck threw all the 'value' out the window. Not to mention the huge chunk of additional money you have now invested.

One would not do what you did if 'value' was the primary concern, one only would do that to a life long keeper unless investment/return was of no concern.


That being said, the specs are whatever they are now. If they missed the mark, it is what it is. If you're not satisfied or were guaranteed to be within a certain tolerance, then you would have to go back to Starr.

 

[Montrose]

This should go into the Historic or modding category.

So is your question, that the guitar is now not as valuable with the neck shave? Or is the question, does the neck shape now fall into the correct vintage ballpark?

Any modification will potentially devalue a guitar, but all of that is subjective to a buyer. Does the neck play better for you? That's really all that's going to matter. When you go to resell, definitely state that the neck was modified, and leave it up to the buyer. Most Historic's have different neck shapes and sizes, just take a look through Wildwood or MGL to take a look at the neck measurements for instruments there, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

I think you've answered you're own question, but I thought I'd give you a second opinion as well

 

[Montrose]

With all do respect....

The refinish and reshaping of the neck threw all the 'value' out the window. Not to mention the huge chunk of additional money you have now invested.

One would not do what you did if 'value' was the primary concern, one only would do that to a life long keeper unless investment/return was of no concern.

I don't know about all of the value, but your guitar will not bring the higher end numbers due to the modification.

 

[Dilemma]

its not about numbers, but about feel & playability, and ultimately it come down to the individual player, regardless of what the numbers are.

Would appreciate your thoughts & feedback.

So? How does it play and feel?

 

[tzd]

the “correct profile” for a ’59, is the one that was found on one of Joe Bonamassa’s ’59 Les Pauls, (that he refinished) that had a neck profile of:

.873 at the 1st. and .925 at the 12th.

My guitar now reads:

.874 at the 1st. and .936 at the 12th.

My belief is that he took too much off of the neck at the 12th fret

Your math is wrong. He took off too little.

 

[RRfireblade]

I don't know about all of the value, but your guitar will not bring the higher end numbers due to the modification.

Obviously not "all" as in it's worthless now, just meaning that it is worth far less than the total investment.

 

[Dilemma]

So OP, he recommended a reshaping and you agreed to it? How come?

 

[Stranger]

If you like the neck great, if not, then it was a really bad idea. Modifying a guitar doesn't always drop the price, Jimmy Page's No1 Lester is worth $1 million, at least he declined that offer. However, I suspect you don't have the same draw as Mr Page

 

[herzog]

Someone will like the neck dimensions and pay for the privilege...you just gotta find him/her when you sell it

 

[Stranger]

Someone will like the neck dimensions and pay for the privilege...you just gotta find him/her when you sell it

True, my ideal is .88 at 1st and .98 at 12th with a 59 rounded profile. You could have the same numbers with a hard V or a soft V or C shape profile and it wouldn't be right ... for me. But as you say, someone will like it

 

[warrengoldberg]

Neck reshaping was done by Historic Makeovers, not Starr Guitars.

 

[tzd]

Neck reshaping was done by Historic Makeovers, not Starr Guitars.

So, do you have two R9's, one reshaped and refinished by Historic Makeovers, and another refinished by Starr Guitars, or do you have one R9 that was reshaped and refinished by Historic Makeovers, and subsequently refinished by Starr Guitars?

 

[RRfireblade]

So, do you have two R9's, one reshaped and refinished by Historic Makeovers, and another refinished by Starr Guitars, or do you have one R9 that was reshaped and refinished by Historic Makeovers, and subsequently refinished by Starr Guitars?

Inquiring minds wanna know.

 

[warrengoldberg]

One guitar that was originally shaped & refinished by Historic Makeovers, color was wrong, & concerns about the neck, led me to find another refinisher, who turned out to be the person who did all of the refinishing for Historic Makeovers, until January of this year. I had no inkling of this till I posted about the how beautiful the guitar came out, and one of the members of this forum made this information known.

 

[RRfireblade]

One guitar that was originally shaped & refinished by Historic Makeovers, color was wrong, & concerns about the neck, led me to find another refinisher, who turned out to be the person who did all of the refinishing for Historic Makeovers, until January of this year. I had no inkling of this till I posted about the how beautiful the guitar came out, and one of the members of this forum made this information known.

I guess it's no big deal but isn't this the thread on this same guitar?

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/gib...es-paul-historic-kip-elder-starr-guitars.html

Just had my 2013, ’59 Les Paul Historic refinished by Kip Elder of Starr Guitars, Winter Park, FL., starrguitars | Orlando's Best Custom Guitar Shop. After speaking to Kip I felt very confident about sending my guitar to him.

Beautiful! Tell us exactly what you had done...only a refinish?

The guitar was refinished due to an accident that damaged the finish & couldn't be repaired. Also I did not like the overly plastic lacquer that Gibson uses
and prefer the old style nitro.

Guitar had a top carve and neck reshaping.

This story seems to be getting more and more convoluted.

 

[Brutalisateur]

Saying that any Gibson neck (until they standardized neck shapes a few years ago) has any kind of specific measurements is ludicrous.

Neck reshaping was done by Historic Makeovers, not Starr Guitars.

A guitar that has been restored by HM will probably sell for a bit more than a stock historic, since they have an excellent reputation

 

[Stranger]

Saying that any Gibson neck (until they standardized neck shapes a few years ago) has any kind of specific measurements is ludicrous.



A guitar that has been restored by HM will probably sell for a bit more than a stock historic, since they have an excellent reputation

Highly doubtful! People personalise things to make them .... erm, personal. Not everyone wants the same thing. And collectors ALWAYS want as original as possible