Does this spec Les Paul exist...?

FarleyUK

I'm a very keen Les Paul player, and have owned a few through the years; I currently have a 2008 Les Paul Standard in satin honey burst, and a white 2010 Custom. Both amazing guitars.

However, I also own a 2020 SG Standard... and I REALLY love the neck on it. From research, it's a 'rounded' neck, but it's also a lot wider (it feels) than the Les Paul's necks.

So, I'm looking for a LP with the same neck profile. The closest I think I can find is a 50's neck - but it's not quite as chunky, from what I see online about it. I guess it might be a U-shape... but not sure if that means the fretboard is also wider, or just thicker at the back?

Does anyone know if it's possible to get a LP with the rounded neck profile?

bertie

perhaps time to get the verniers out and take some measurements ?   even using things like C D U etc, there are variances within

guitars4you

Interesting you say it is wider - Chances are it is still 43mm-ish which equates to 1 11/16 across nut width - But as it has a slmmer depth about its neck profile/curve, and as such it does feel wide/slim - But top nut width across the fingerboard will be about the same

But I don't know of an LP that has that same 'slim' character across the actual neck profile - I admit I don't know all the finer detail of all the modern LP's - But in my experience many SG's have that wide/slim character and LP's have more meat about them, even a slimmer LP

kennyabis

Most Les Paul's with a 50s spec are described as having a rounded neck profile. If its an actual wider fretboard then you could look at the 2015 models, they are marmite to a lot of people because of the wider neck 

timmypix

FarleyUK said:

I'm a very keen Les Paul player, and have owned a few through the years; I currently have a 2008 Les Paul Standard in satin honey burst, and a white 2010 Custom. Both amazing guitars.

However, I also own a 2020 SG Standard... and I REALLY love the neck on it. From research, it's a 'rounded' neck, but it's also a lot wider (it feels) than the Les Paul's necks.

So, I'm looking for a LP with the same neck profile. The closest I think I can find is a 50's neck - but it's not quite as chunky, from what I see online about it. I guess it might be a U-shape... but not sure if that means the fretboard is also wider, or just thicker at the back?

Does anyone know if it's possible to get a LP with the rounded neck profile?

Gibson necks vary massively within spec, so you can pick a model to ballpark but don't expect them all to be identical - try multiple examples if you can.

Two extreme examples: 

• My mate and I have the same model SG, both supposedly slim taper profiles. Mine is definitely a slim taper, his... well, we think they put the wrong neck on it, it's the rounded profile you're talking about.
• My Slash LP supposedly comes with a 50s rounded profile, and I remember trying one in PMT before I bought mine and being taken with how much more substantial the neck was than the slim tapers I'm used to. Yet mine arrived, and it's basically a slim taper - a little rounder perhaps, but nowhere near as chunky as it's supposed to be.

I had a 2017 Custom that had a rounded neck that I wouldn't call the full 50s rounded, just a nice medium C - perhaps more 59ish, but the only R9 I've played had a specific profile so I can't say for sure. I think most modern CS Customs have that medium rounded profile - not the full 50s, rounder than the 60s slim. But that's not exactly the cheapest option!

However, I'd say try a few 50s Standards if you can - I'm sure I've read that the USA 50s rounded neck is not quite the hefty baseball they stick on R7s and R8s, and I was generally under the impression that Gibson USA only really does the two main traditional neck shapes: 50s rounded or 60s slim. They might not always use the decade prefix in the specs, but they've really tried to simplify things since 2019.

I'd imagine that if the USA 50s rounded profile is what you're after (and I think it is), a used Les Paul Traditional should be a fairly safe bet as that's the one model they didn't muck around with a whole lot, and it's the precursor to the current 50s Standard.

Final note - I also notice my SG neck feels wider than my Les Pauls when I first pick it up, even though I'm fairly sure it's not, so I wonder if it's just an SG thing and how the body sits that makes it feel that way?

stickyfiddle

I don’t know for sure, but what OP describes is juts like my 2000-ish SG Std’s neck. Round but not “fat” in the best way. My ES-330 is similar. I think they call it “rounded 60’s” but I’ve never played a Les Paul that’s quite as comfy. 

FarleyUK

Thanks all - think I'm going to have to go to the new Gibson Garage when it opens in London and have a word.

TTBZ

I believe the Tributes have the rounded neck profile. My 2008 SG has it too and it is really comfy though there are times where I'd prefer something a bit thinner! I get hand cramps on songs with lots of bar chords or stretched chords as I have small hands/short fingers.

FarleyUK

TTBZ said:

I believe the Tributes have the rounded neck profile. My 2008 SG has it too and it is really comfy though there are times where I'd prefer something a bit thinner! I get hand cramps on songs with lots of bar chords or stretched chords as I have small hands/short fingers.

Just had a look at the tribute range, and have to say, not a fan of the look  

Think I’ll try and test run a 2015 Traditional and see how that feels. Or see if Gibson can do a special ‘custom’ order (and get a new mortgage to pay for it!). 

timmypix

FarleyUK said:

TTBZ said:

I believe the Tributes have the rounded neck profile. My 2008 SG has it too and it is really comfy though there are times where I'd prefer something a bit thinner! I get hand cramps on songs with lots of bar chords or stretched chords as I have small hands/short fingers.

Just had a look at the tribute range, and have to say, not a fan of the look  

Think I’ll try and test run a 2015 Traditional and see how that feels. Or see if Gibson can do a special ‘custom’ order (and get a new mortgage to pay for it!). 

Of all the years you could pick, that's probably going to be the one that's not what you want. 2015 featured wider fingerboards, and therefore wider necks to accommodate said boards. They feel fine once you've adjusted, but feel very weird to switch to coming from another guitar. 

My friend had a 2016 HP SG with the wide fingerboard/neck and it made the 50s rounded SG neck feel tiny.

I don't think you need to do a special order - just find a Les Paul Traditional from 2008 - 2019 (2015 and 2016/17 HP models aside) or a 2019 onwards 50s Standard.

I've just had a quick look at the Gibson site and it looks like Gibson are doing their usual name changing - the 50s Standards are described as having "50s Vintage" neck profiles as opposed to rounded... except for the 50s Faded, which is described as "rounded". Now, those definitely have the same necks as their gloss siblings, so I think Gibson are just giving the same profile different names for different models - they can't very well call it "50s Vintage" on the "Modern" collection SG Standard, where they call it "rounded" again.

This isn't unusual for Gibson - they've renamed the pickups in the 60s Standard and Classics as "60s Burstbuckers", but they still say 61R/T on the pickups themselves, for example.

So I'd be very confident in the 50s Standard/Traditionals having the neck you like.

p90fool

I have a 2012 Traditional and an SG which sounds just like the one you describe and they are a little different. 

The SG does feel wider but actually measures pretty much the same as the Traditional, but maybe it's just heftier in the shoulders. 
Similarly, the Trad feels a touch deeper front to back than the SG but actually isn't. 

I'm talking about subtle differences here though, which you forget about within seconds of swapping between the two guitars. 

If you try a non 2015 Traditional you won't find it's exactly the same as your SG, but I'm sure you'll be immediately comfortable on it.