Maple necks on 2013/4 Les Pauls.. opinions?

[Steve A.]

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/t...sp-maple-neck/

I really like the basically one piece maple necks on the 2013/4 LPJ's and other models (including Standards!) On my 2013 LPJ there is single piece of maple going from the tuners to the neck/body joint. (There are two small wings on the headstock however they are well outside of the tuner mounting holes so they are more cosmetic than functional.) It is my understanding that the headstock on many or most Les Pauls with mahogany necks is glued to the actual neck.

With a single piece of maple going from the tuners to the body joint I think that there is a lot more snap and sustain to each note. On the 2014 LPJs with a carved maple top as the note sustains you can hear it go up to the second overtone (up 19 frets) for perhaps a half-second near the end of the envelope. On my 2013 LPJ with a carved mahogany top the sustains stays on the fundamental note. (BTW these guitars are some of the first Les Paul Junior/Special guitars with a carved top and are basically a LP Studio with a matte nitrocellulose finish and no pickguard.)

I have several Gibson Les Pauls and none of them have the sustain of the 2013/4 LPJs. (I have a mid-70's LP Standard that has been out of service for almost 20 years that might have a maple neck according to the attached thread. I need to check that out!)


Steve Ahola

P.S. Some of the recent Gibsons have what they call a 500k "non-linear" pot. It goes from 0 to 5 very gradually which suggests an exaggerated audio taper in that portion of the pot range. I like linear taper volume pots because they give me much better control when turning down from 10 (I don't do volume swelle with my right pinkie because of ulnar nerve damage in my right arm.)
Getting back to the new Gibson pot it goes from 10 to 5 very gradually so I suspect that section of the pot range is linear or reverse audio taper. IMO this pot has the best of both tapers and incidentally works really well as a tone control, too.

To replicate that taper we could start with 2M (or higher) pot and add tapering resistors between the wiper and both outside terminals. (See the GeoFX article by R.G. Keen for more details on that.)

One other technical note: the SPST push-pull switch on the volume controls on the 2013 LPJ Pro does not short the "middle" pickup leads directly to ground- the circuited is routed through a .033uf cap. Donald Brosnac attributes that trick to Bill Lawrence in his 1979 book on Guitar Electronics. With the cap the signal is brighter but still retains some hum-cancelling, mainly of the lower frequencies.

P.P.S. Many people have mentioned having to get used to the maple neck and I finally figured what they were talking about: the maple neck on LP is like jogging on concrete compared to jogging on blacktop for a mahogany neck. To be more specific the maple neck is like sections of freeways which are concrete slabs topped with blacktop (that would be the rosewood fretboard.) After playing this guitar the bones in my fretting fingers are sore (usually it is fleshy fingertips.) But I do hope that I get used to it because the tone and sustain really blows me away!

[potatofarmer]

I like it a lot. Something about the SGJ neck - thin, flat, really really fast, and stable as a rock.

Never played a Gibson mahogany neck, but I have played a few Epiphone ones, and being used to maple necks the (lower-grade?) mahogany just feels like a block of rubber. Like, no wonder there are so many broken headstocks, I bet I could snap this thing right now.

There's another lefty SGJ in my area and if I had the money....

[tedmich]

Gibson's are too often designed visually IMHO. The head stock does not have a linear string path in the plane of the bridge, the bindings are non-functional and the weakness of BOTH ends of the SG neck are legendary. Maple will help with structurally unsound neck designs vs a softer wood like mahogany, but maple boards are always a cheap alternative to a more durable, darker and harder fret board wood. When Gibbies have a full CF spar out to the end of the peg head, a straight string path over the nut and a good hard maple back and a hard dark and unfinished fret board without a decorative binding I'll think they are both modernizing and going with functionality over aesthetics. More likely we'll see robo tuners, abalone inlays and cheap woods.

[Tony Bones]

I picked up a 2014 Les Paul Melody maker as an impulse buy because I liked the combination of features. It has a Maple neck and maple cap on the body. I think the combination of tone woods works very well!

First, there are many different kinds of Maple. The stuff that Gibson chose here seems to be lighter in weight than so-called rock maple. A quick google search brought me to The Wood Database which shows that Maple can range in weight from 32 pcf (pounds per cubic foot) to 44 pcf while African and Honduran Mahogany are in the 37 to 40 pcf range. The point is that the lightest Maple is actually less dense than the most true Mahogany. Of course there's lots of different wood being called Mahogany. I think Gibson is currently using Spanish Cedar (which is neither Cedar nor Mahogany) which is lighter at 29 pcf. Who knows what goes into Epiphones, etc.

Anyway, whatever Gibson is using for Maple necks is not the same thing they used in 1957, but it does result in a good, resonant guitar. I could have bought a very pretty Epiphone for less than I paid for the very plain Les Paul Melody maker, but the Gibson is alive in my hands. Unplugged it vibrates and resonates just like a good guitar is supposed to.

[Steve A.]

I do wonder if there is some sort of finish on the rosewood fretboard on the maple necks for the 2013 and 2014 models as it doesn't seem to "breathe" as much as I'd expect. And the bones in my fretting fingers are still sore from playing my 2013 LPJ and 2014 MM too much yesterday- it was like a walk in the park when I picked up the PRS SE Semi-Hollow that I just refretted. I will probably replace the cryogenically-treated frets on the 2014 MM since they are pyramid shaped and medium width with Jescar EVO Gold frets (.047"/.104".) M-m-m-m delicious!

Steve Ahola

P.S. It looks like most if not all of the 2015 Gibsons have their G-Force robotuners.
The Gibson angled headstock and 3+3 tuners go back a long ways with their acoustics. IMO with the straight in-line Fender headstock there is WAY too much extra string for the high-E which makes it easier to bend but less responsive. The high E string on a Gibson with a wraparound bridge has no extra string at all and is very responsive to subtle changes in tension.
BTW the Gibson angled headstock puts more pressure on the nut which IMO is a good thing. And no need for string retainers which can suck tone...

[Tony Bones]

I do wonder if there is some sort of finish on the rosewood fretboard on the maple necks for the 2013 and 2014 models as it doesn't seem to "breathe" as much as I'd expect.

I'm certain there's no finish on the fretboard of my 2014 MM. But, who knows what they're calling Rosewood?

And the bones in my fretting fingers are still sore from playing my 2013 LPJ and 2014 MM too much yesterday- it was like a walk in the park when I picked up the PRS SE Semi-Hollow that I just refretted. I will probably replace the cryogenically-treated frets on the 2014 MM since they are pyramid shaped and medium width with Jescar EVO Gold frets (.047"/.104".) M-m-m-m delicious!

If my fingers hurt I've assumed it to be because I play the hell out of this guitar! I do hate the frets though. (I see them as tall and square shouldered, not triangular.) As it happens, I have the guitar on the bench right now. I taped off the frets this afternoon and will take them down tomorrow. I'm fine with the width, but I need to lower them and give them more of a crown.

[Steve A.]

If my fingers hurt I've assumed it to be because I play the hell out of this guitar! I do hate the frets though. (I see them as tall and square shouldered, not triangular.) As it happens, I have the guitar on the bench right now. I taped off the frets this afternoon and will take them down tomorrow. I'm fine with the width, but I need to lower them and give them more of a crown.

Great idea! I was thinking of eventually refretting my MM14 with Jescar EVO Gold frets but for now leveling and recrowning them with a rounder shape would help a lot. My LPJ13 has rounder frets so I will leave it alone for now.

The pain in my finger bones is gone- it was a completely new sensation for me which kinda freaked me out.

Steve Ahola