Gibson ES-Les Paul neck angle

[Jx30510]

Hi fellow jazzmasters !
I'm eyeing a 2015 Gibson Es Les Paul Goldtop with P90 (MHS, these are delicious)
It's a beautiful guitar, and to me is kind of the Gibson GB10 of some sort.
Is way lighter than a GB10 (3.5 kg against 2.8) which appeals to me.

Anyway, one thing bugs me on the one I'm interested in, is the Tom bridge seems maxed up. The stop bar is also, pretty far from the body, obviously to lessen the string break. Otherwise it would just put too much tension on the ABR1.

You can also notice the 6 screws on the P90's are maxed out. This lets me suppose that the strings are so high the pickup magnetic field have a hard time reaching them?





There doesn't seem to be high action, so the no option of bringing the bridge down in my opinion.

So, this is an awkward neck/body angle issue ? Is it even an issue ?

I have to admit this gets me a bit reluctant..

Beautiful guitar otherwise

[skiboyny]

Have you played this? I'm not at all familiar with this model but I will say that Gibson very often has a larger neck angle resulting in a high bridge. Truthfully they are all over the place with neck angles, but often high bridge can be very normal. Still I would confirm that the playability is where you would want it. It does make the action a bit stiffer feeling. The pick guard holds the pickups and unless there is a way to adjust it, the screws are the way to go to get the sound you're looking for.

[ruger9]

skiboyny is right on, except for one thing (that's inconsequential to the "high bridge" question anyway): the pickups are body-mounted, not pickguard mounted.

Looking at the bridge P90, and how high it is out of the body, that's what most bridge P90s on Les Pauls look like, meaning it looks normal to me. Gibson is all over the place with neck angles, so there's a +/- component there, but the string height off the body at the saddles is high for these guitars, as normal.

[ThatRhythmMan]

One more thing FWIW the pole screws in the pickup cannot be maxed out per se. Those screws can be backed out all the way until they come out of the bobbin. For that to happen the heads would be well above strings.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jx30510]

Thanks very much for the advice.
In my opinion the neck angle on this one is off to its limit ?
When I say the pickup poles are maxed out, I mean that they're unscrewed to the point it doesn't look quite normal. I explain this by the fact that the strings are so high over the body, the owner had to find a solution so that they don't sound to weak.
Everything I see on the setup (high poles, high bridge, high stopbar) doesn't get me very confident.
I can't test it so I think l'm gonna abandon the idea on this one...
And yes, one thing l didn't think of, this may give the guitar a stiff feel. From what I see, there's no more room in the setup to tweak that.
I like to setup my guitars, but with this one I feel WYSIWYG..

[jads57]

Even though it probably doesn’t matter, it always bugs me when the angle is higher on solid and semi hollow guitars. It might be an advantage for Archtop guitars.

I’ve owned numerous Gibsons, from old vintage 1950’s new 2020’s Archtops,Semi Hollow, and Solid Bodies,over a 50 year period.
Even some of the solid body and semi hollow which had too much neck pitch always bothered me.
I do realize with vintage models some of the earliest Les Pauls and 335’s were pitched incorrectly,with to little resulting in bridges not being able to work correctly.

But I prefer a shallow pitch overall in those guitars. That is one thing I really like about PRS designs.

[339 in june]

Hi fellow jazzmasters !
I'm eyeing a 2015 Gibson Es Les Paul Goldtop with P90 (MHS, these are delicious)
It's a beautiful guitar, and to me is kind of the Gibson GB10 of some sort.
Is way lighter than a GB10 (3.5 kg against 2.8) which appeals to me.

Anyway, one thing bugs me on the one I'm interested in, is the Tom bridge seems maxed up. The stop bar is also, pretty far from the body, obviously to lessen the string break. Otherwise it would just put too much tension on the ABR1.

You can also notice the 6 screws on the P90's are maxed out. This lets me suppose that the strings are so high the pickup magnetic field have a hard time reaching them?





There doesn't seem to be high action, so the no option of bringing the bridge down in my opinion.

So, this is an awkward neck/body angle issue ? Is it even an issue ?

I have to admit this gets me a bit reluctant..

Beautiful guitar otherwise

My advice on this one is : if you can't have your hands on it before you buy, don't buy it !
This is based on the experience I had with this seller some years ago, looking for a Gibson ES125T. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to go to his former shop in Paris near St Michel at that time. The guitar was priced in line with the market but was litterally unplayable (couldn't even tune it to pitch ! ) and needed a neck reset. This was not disclosed in the ad and could not be seen on the pics.
Maybe it's worth a trip to Avignon, but I'm not sure

[Jx30510]

Even though it probably doesn’t matter, it always bugs me when the angle is higher on solid and semi hollow guitars. It might be an advantage for Archtop guitars.

I’ve owned numerous Gibsons, from old vintage 1950’s new 2020’s Archtops,Semi Hollow, and Solid Bodies,over a 50 year period.
Even some of the solid body and semi hollow which had too much neck pitch always bothered me.
I do realize with vintage models some of the earliest Les Pauls and 335’s were pitched incorrectly,with to little resulting in bridges not being able to work correctly.

But I prefer a shallow pitch overall in those guitars. That is one thing I really like about PRS designs.

I was not aware PRS had this design. I've come to learn I like shallow pitch, because they tend to give a loose slinky feel, with a percussive quality. I really love that.
For me a guitar with too much tension is just dead and flat sounding.

For one reason I can't put my finger on, I've been putting PRS out of my radar.. I very often observe their specs and stuff, but just never pull the trigger.
I find them a bit underwhelming.. and admit I don't like those OVERwhelming birds on the fingerboard.. but I could get over that if the guitar is incredible..
The PRS S2 semi hollow has really got my attention recently.. the CE24, also

[Jx30510]

My advice on this one is : if you can't have your hands on it before you buy, don't buy it !
This is based on the experience I had with this seller some years ago, looking for a Gibson ES125T. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to go to his former shop in Paris near St Michel at that time. The guitar was priced in line with the market but was litterally unplayable (couldn't even tune it to pitch ! ) and needed a neck reset. This was not disclosed in the ad and could not be seen on the pics.
Maybe it's worth a trip to Avignon, but I'm not sure

So you found out where the guitar is .. yeah I dealed with this shop once, they're a bit overhyped with self confidence..
They often have rare guitars, but I've noticed more than one time that they rate guitars "excellent shape", and the pictures show a different story (roted binding, obvious neck reset need, very high action and the likes..)
Well at least they provide excellent shots of the instruments, so that's a good thing when you have minimum knowledge in lutherie.
I won't take a ride to Avignon to try the guitar, it would cost me 200€ more! And honestly it's not worth it. Even though this guitar must be playable, I won't be spending 3000€ on a quircky Gibson.

[58flame]

For future reference, those bridge posts bend easily.

[garybaldy]

I would want to stack some addition thumb wheels on the exposed thread.

[ruger9]

I was not aware PRS had this design. I've come to learn I like shallow pitch, because they tend to give a loose slinky feel, with a percussive quality. I really love that.
For me a guitar with too much tension is just dead and flat sounding.

For one reason I can't put my finger on, I've been putting PRS out of my radar.. I very often observe their specs and stuff, but just never pull the trigger.
I find them a bit underwhelming.. and admit I don't like those OVERwhelming birds on the fingerboard.. but I could get over that if the guitar is incredible..
The PRS S2 semi hollow has really got my attention recently.. the CE24, also

Same with the Yamaha solid bodies. Like the PRS, they feel like a tele as opposed to a Les Paul. No neck angle.

[jads57]

The PRS Hollow Body is a really great very lightweight and versatile guitar. My issue was the older ones had too small of a neck shape for my tastes.
I see they are finally offering a Vintage Pattern shape neck on the newer offerings. But at $5 to $6.5 Thousand Dollars, I’ll pass at this point.

Years ago I ran into Paul Reed Smith here in St.Paul,MN. At a local shop that carried his line of guitars. I explained to him about my dilemma. He suggested I go through their Custom Shop.
I replied that I’m a Musician Not a Magician, and don’t have $10k for a guitar! He laughed!
Ten years on, and now enough of a market now exists for a bigger neck option and still can’t afford it. Sadly now I’m just lowly retired musician,Lol!

[ruger9]

The PRS Hollow Body is a really great very lightweight and versatile guitar. My issue was the older ones had too small of a neck shape for my tastes.
I see they are finally offering a Vintage Pattern shape neck on the newer offerings. But at $5 to $6.5 Thousand Dollars, I’ll pass at this point.

Years ago I ran into Paul Reed Smith here in St.Paul,MN. At a local shop that carried his line of guitars. I explained to him about my dilemma. He suggested I go through their Custom Shop.
I replied that I’m a Musician Not a Magician, and don’t have $10k for a guitar! He laughed!
Ten years on, and now enough of a market now exists for a bigger neck option and still can’t afford it. Sadly now I’m just lowly retired musician,Lol!

PRS makes some SE versions of their hollowbody. Don't know what the neck shape would be, but that info would likely be on their website. New, just over a grand.

Gorgeous guitar, I might consider one myself. But it's a wide fat neck.

PRS Guitars | SE Hollowbody Standard - 2025

[jads57]

I got a chance to try one,again even though it’s called Fat&Wide Shape. It’s anything but,Lol!

I prefer Fender No Caster, Gibson Historic Chunky 50’s,on my electric guitars. Thanks for the thought!