Wish I'd never tried a 50's neck...

[1977cj5]

New member here. I'm in my mid 60's and have been playing since my teens. Mostly for fun, never in a band, mainly jamming with friends. Have managed to own, sell and trade a bunch of guitars over these years. Somehow, they all have or had pretty similar necks. Not sure how I managed to never end up with a 50's neck.

So, a month or two ago, on a whim, I purchased (online form GC used gear) a Epiphone Traditional Pro special edition from 2015. Honeyburst with Zebra Pickups. When it arrived, I was shocked and disappointed on how huge the neck was and felt. I then learned these models have a 50's neck.

My first thought was to return it, but it looked and sounded so good, thought Id play it for a few days and then decide.

Well, I ended up loving the neck and the guitar.

Loving the Epi Traditional Pro, I really wanted to try the real thing, so I ordered and received a 2015 Gibson Trad Pro Les Paul (again from GC used), plain top honey, that my wife is giving me next week for my birthday. I was hoping it had the 50's neck, but it has a 60's (I wanted t check it out before she boxed it up... its beautiful and looks new).

So... now my other guitars, and new Gibson TradPro feel like they have pencil necks. They feel really weird in my hands, not in a good way. I don't want to dislike all of my favorite guitars, especially my new Gibby.

I stopped playing the Epi about 5 days ago, and have been playing my Gibson les Paul Jr DC with a 60's neck and now after 5 days it feels great and normal again. It took days not minutes for me to adjust to it.

Any of you guys or gals, go back and forth between thin and thick necks with no issues?

 

[ArchEtech]

Necks are really finicky for some people. I maybe have some preferences but I don’t mind baseball bats or the flat wide SG profiles. I actually like the variety.

Now the radius I am picky about, nothing less than 9 past the 12th or I just don’t like the feel and bending.

Good job sticking with it.

 

[gball]

Any of you guys or gals, go back and forth between thin and thick necks with no issues?

All the time. I have a '50s Standard with probably the biggest neck of any of the ones that I have tried (which, frankly, is why I bought it). On the other end my '79 Custom has an extremely thin neck and those super-low, wide frets from that era. They couldn't feel more different, but no trouble going from one to the other, or to one of my others - my Traditional has the medium size "59-ish" profile, Special is big but not as big as the 50s and my Classic is a SlimTaper, so thin but not too thin.

I find that the different size necks do cause me to hold them differently and play slightly differently too, which can be used to advantage for the material I am playing.

 

[mudface]

I like them all.... though too thin and flat like a Ibeenhad....wizard necks..... no bueno.

Fat chubby-n-clubby, no problem. '70s Gibson thin, no problem. Love'm to death.

 

[Der_Kaiser]

I was exactly the same when I got my 2013 traditional, I thought that was it I was a baseball bat man all day long but these days I don’t care.

I’ve got an 81 custom which will be like gball’s 79 nice and thin and my R0 which is a 59 neck a fairly chunky piece of mahogany, an sg standard with a thin 60’s type and an American Original 50’s Strat which has a monster of a neck.

After a few minutes playing them who cares, I like having different guitars for their differences and neck size and shape is just another thing that gives them their character.

 

[Sinster]

I go back and forth without issues. My '13 has the baseball bat neck and my others have either 60's or 50's. I don't notice when I go from one to the other.

 

[bum]

I have no preference neck wise, I have a really fat 70s Strat and a slim 60s Gretsch, I never really think about it to be honest, they are just different guitars with their own quirks and feel.
I think unless you have comically large hands or teeny tiny baby hands then it's an issue, if you are achingly average like me it's not a problem.

 

[LTigh]

Eh. I've had Les Pauls (and "LP-like" singlecuts) of various neck configurations over the years.

While I've found to my surprise that a chunky '50s neck is incredibly comfy, I've never found it to be the be-all, end-all of necks.

With the current roster, the Standard '50s has a nice CHONK, but not quite the "baseball bat" of the older "Les Paul Melody Maker" I used to own (that was comfy in its own right, just couldn't gel with those not-P90s). In fact, I've found that Gibson's current '50s-style neck to be THINNER than those made by some Japanese manufactures for their Domestic Market (Edwards, Tokai).

I've found no issues transitioning between the Trifecta of my current roster (Standard 50s, 60s, and Deluxe 70s), despite the differing neck sizes (despite claims from the Norlin Camp that the current Deluxe 70s is just a re-skinned Standard 50s P90 with plain top and mini-humbuckers, the neck is somewhere between a 50s chonky and 60s slim-taper).

I suppose appreciate the differences for what they are?

 

[Roxy13]

Yes, I make myself play different guitars every day so that I don't get stuck on a certain neck shape or scale length.

 

[frehley76]

The fatter the better for me, but I do have quite a few with thinner necks. If I like the way the guitar sounds, then I will live with any profile.

 

[1977cj5]

Thanks for all the replies. Thinking that since ive played so many years on 60 style necks that it was probably more of a shock to me than if I had tried a 50's years ago. I'm leaving the 50's neck Epi in the case and will be playing my 60's necks until my birthday. I will then open the case to my New to me Gibson Trad Pro with 60's neck. Will play it until it feels like its mine. Then... and only then, I'll break the Epi back out and slowly go back and forth. If its too much for my stubborn brain, I'll leave the Epi alone. I have too many other favorite guitars with 60's necks.
Thanks again!

 

[ErictheRed]

I go between pretty much all neck sizes without issues. Switching to a different guitar feels weird at first, but it only takes about fifteen minutes and I'm all used to the new neck.

 

[cooltouch]

My favorite Gibson neck profile is the Slim-60s profile found on 61 and later Gibsons -- and most modern ones, these days. A few years ago, however, I bought an Epiphone Joe Pass model from Sweetwater, and was initially disappointed to find that it had a somewhat baseball bat-shaped neck. But I found, to my relief, that I had no trouble adjusting to its contour at all. In fact, I was able to switch back and forth between the Joe Pass and guitars with thinner neck profiles without problems. So, for me, at least, Gibson profiles aren't much of an issue. But Fenders! Now that's a different matter. I have a few with necks that I like, but I recently bought a Squier Tele Affinity that has a neck I just can't get used to easily. And I'm not all that sure why. I mean, structurally, it's just fine. There's nothing obviously wrong with it. I think it's actually a combination of factors and not just the neck contour. But then, that's Fender.

 

[efstop]

The necks on my Gibsons range from slim taper on an SG to '50s round on a few of them. I don't find the SG neck to be too thin for me yet I didn't like the same neck on a '17 Tribute I had for a year or so.
I only really dislike super skinny necks, but I don't buy those kinds of guitars.
For me, Les Paul necks need to be fat.

 

[Zungle]

I prefer big fat necks...also like a wide neck with some meat....preferably satin.

I've owned a kept a few smaller profiled guitars around because they were really nice, but I just end up never playing them....

 

[redcoats1976]

i have both.i use the 50s some days and 60s others.youll get used to it...

 

[Duane_the_tub]

Switching directly from one to the other, during a gig or session, can be tough. I always need a few minutes to get reacclimated, particularly if I'm going from a more full profile to a 60s or even Carmelita/Lou carve.

Still not as bad as switching scales, though. LP to Strat makes me feel like my skills have instantly regressed.

 

[dc007]

Wide thin = no. All others are fine. Although I did play a Tele with a bb neck for sure and I did not get along with that

 

[1allspub]

I like fat necks and I cannot lie.
You other brothers can't deny.


I do prefer 50s necks. From a tactile perspective they just feel better in-hand. I can play 60s necks (even really thin ones) just fine though. They cause me no discomfort. That said, it’s been my experience that the thinner-necked LPs I’ve had have been sonically inferior to the fatter ones. All the best LPs I’ve owned have had 50s necks... could just be coincidence and a quirk of my sample set and may not reflect the experience of others, but it’s been mine. YMMV!

 

[InTheEvening]

I tend to prefer slimmer necks all else being equal BUT I have guitars with vastly different necks and switch between them often without too many big issues. My SG special has the thinnest neck of the bunch and it feels a bit wider, my Les Paul Custom has a thinner neck as well but has super wide and low frets which gives it a very unique feel, my Charvel super strat has an almost unfinished neck and my Les Paul Junior has a chunky 50’s profile much thicker than my other guitars. They all feel very different and take some getting used to when I switch but I enjoy playing all of them and the variety is nice.