Reissue neck thickness ?

[djlogan33]

Is it true that the R8 has the largest/thickest neck of the Reissues?

I have larger than normal hands and I feel I have more control of my left hand when I am playing a guitar with a larger/thicker neck.
It’s my understanding that a larger/thicker gives the guitar better tone and more sustain too.

When I decided to get my first Les Paul, I bought a 2006 Standard 50’s neck, which was the thickest neck Les Paul neck I had seen, at the time.

About a year ago, I played a R8 and realized that it had a larger/thicker neck than my 50’s neck.

Because it is hard sometimes to feel the difference, I use a thin metric tape measure.
I measure the necks @ the 3rd, 7th & 12th frets, from one edge of the fingerboard, underneath the neck to the edge of the fingerboard on the other side of the neck.

Compared to my first LP (Std-50's-neck), my R8 is about the same thickness @ the 12th fret, noticeable thicker @ the 7th fret and much thicker @ the 3rd-fret..
My Lucille's neck is exactly the same thickness @ all three frets as my Std-50's-neck.

The R9's are slightly thinner @ all three frets than the R8's.

The R0’s neck (60’s) is real thin...way too thin for me...

Comments?

 

[BDW60]

Sounds like you have it about right.

But I have noticed there is no real consistency in historic carves since they are done by hand. Depends on which one you pick up, which is cool with me.

I have played R8s that are thick but manageable, even for my stubby fingers. I have also played a couple that were obscenely large, just ridiculous, total baseball bat. The R9s seem to range anywhere from "petite R8" carve to "chunky 60s" carve.

My G0 happens to have what I consider to be a perfect carve ... more substantial than a 60s slim taper found on the 60s neck Standards and Classics, but not into 50s territory.

 

[Texas07R8]

I'd agree with your conclusions. The R8s seem to have the thicker necks on average but you will find some thinner than others.

The R9 necks I compared my R8 to are about the same thickness but they're more C shaped and the R8 is more D shaped so it feels fuller. I have seen a few R8 and R9 with almost identical profiles. I guess because they are hand shaped you get variances and that's not always a bad thing, sometimes that's how the "Magic" is found.

 

[Tim Plains]

Is it true that the R8 has the largest/thickest neck of the Reissues?

Not even close. If you think R8 necks are fat, try an R6!
R7s have fat necks, too. Not sure if they're generally the thicker, thinner, or same as an R6.

 

[djlogan33]

Sounds like you have it about right.

But I have noticed there is no real consistency in historic carves since they are done by hand. Depends on which one you pick up, which is cool with me.

========================================================
I was told by a Gibson employees that maybe the original 1950's were hand made, but the
Reissues necks are machine made which make them almost exactly the same size.

They are hand sanded as a finishing process, but the sanding done change the thickness.
So, R8's necks are almost exactly the same size as well as the R9's.

During my shopping process for my R8 VOS and R8 Flametop, I measured every neck @ the 3rd, 7th and 12th frets.

They were all the same size. I did the same on several R9's.
They were all exactly the same thickness @ all three fret locations.
I measured all the Lucille guitars before I bought mine.
They also hade the same size necks.

 

[BDW60]

Sounds like you have it about right.

But I have noticed there is no real consistency in historic carves since they are done by hand. Depends on which one you pick up, which is cool with me.

========================================================
I was told by a Gibson employees that maybe the original 1950's were hand made, but the
Reissues necks are machine made which make them almost exactly the same size.

They are hand sanded as a finishing process, but the sanding done change the thickness.
So, R8's necks are almost exactly the same size as well as the R9's.

During my shopping process for my R8 VOS and R8 Flametop, I measured every neck @ the 3rd, 7th and 12th frets.

They were all the same size. I did the same on several R9's.
They were all exactly the same thickness @ all three fret locations.
I measured all the Lucille guitars before I bought mine.
They also hade the same size necks.

If you think that's true, go to marksguitarloft.com and check out the different historics he has for sale. On most of them, he has detailed neck measurements listed. They are generally not consistent from R8 to R8, or R9 to R9. They may be machine cut, but the hand finishing apparently does have an effect on what you end up with.

 

[bluesjuke]

Amount of shoulder has a large affect on the perception of "largeness" on a neck too.
The standards have a greater taper than the Historics do.
Some HIstorics seem to not even taper much at all likely due to the hand finishing.