-
Does this seem excessive ?
I have never seen a fretboard so far away from the body on a 175. Could it have been
Structural changed by a luthier?
-
01-03-2018 11:44 AM
-
Is there supposed to be an accompanying picture?
-
Picture is there now.
-
Looks like mine. Luthier told me there is supposed to be a 3deg rise on the neck.
-
but the gap from the fret board to the body is what i am worried about, is your the
same?
-
Everything looks good. Enjoy! You have one of the most iconic and truly enjoyable jazz guitars of all time.
The raised fingerboard on the ES-175 is quite high--by design--over the body of the guitar. I am certain that it adds to the sound of the guitar, which is AMAZING.
If you play jazz, just put the guitar on the neck pickup and GO.
-
I don't own it yet, it is one of the contenders on my short list of 175's for sale within a 4 hour drive from my home.
This one is a 1985 hog, the other is a 2011 and lastly a 1979. This 85 being the most reasonably priced one.
-
Completely normal.
-
I have a 1985 'hog 175 as well, and I have no idea what you're concerned about, but it looks totally normal.
-
Yep...completely normal neck-to-body business.
AND, it's a mahogany ES-175! They frankly sound better than the ones that are all-maple bodies. If you could try it out I think you'd be mightily impressed/surprised.
-
...added bonus: the pickups are on there right! (The new ones have pickups mounted so that they look like the home/away bleachers at a high school football field--they slope towards each other, which is NOT they way that Gibson did it for about 50 years on this guitar.)
-
Thanks for your replies, Im going to attempt the frigid trek to go check it out.
-
I don't think the neck is that High off the body. I think the illusion is the way the overhang is cut.
The more modern style looks like an "ogee" where the over hang is short.
The one above resembles more of a "cove".
The Ogee puts a lot more wood under the fingerboard, yet it still clears the top (although by a smaller margin).
Im not sure if one has advantages over the other, but it would appear to me that the Newer Ogee style would help resist upward warping of the end of the fretboard more than the cove style.
Here is the newer style that I refer too.
Good catch by the way..
Joe DLast edited by Max405; 01-03-2018 at 09:37 PM.
-
That "gap from the fret board to the body" is really a factor of neck angle together with the shapes of both the arched top, and the neck itself.
Ultimately, where this matters most is at the bridge, as bridge height will impact playability and sound, where the gap under the end of neck does neither. Bridge height, if far off, may inhibit the range of "action" you can set up with, and the string angle behind the bridge is important for down force into the top.
How high are your strings off the top of the guitar at the bridge when you have the action adjusted to your liking?
OK, just realized you are asking about a guitar under consideration for purchase, so the stuff about setup to your liking is not known, but I'll submit the same post anyways as my point about the bridge height being more important than an abritrary gap under the neck remains.
John
-
It all looks fine to me. The bridge height is about right, so the neck angle can't be too far off ideal. No idea about the setup, but it could be tweaked a lot, with nut and trussrod changes, without having the bridge get too high or too low. I'd guess the guitar is worth a look at least.
-
Earlier instruments, pre war, and from the era of pure acoustics, the instruments were built with the fingerboard overhang much closer to the top of the guitar. There was a different neck angle then and the bridge break over resulting from that geometry was not as acute.
For a contemporary instrument, that looks good. And personally, I like the way an instrument built like that feels. Get out there and try it out, run it through the paces and make sure it really works for you on all the other ways. You can take that overhang issue off your list of concerns though.
David
-
This is a detail which I have found interesting, and measured on a few guitars. On a 50's 175 this distance was around 9/16", while vintage Guilds and Epi archtops are closer to 1/2" or slightly less. On the other hand, a newer Heritage Eagle Classic had more like 3/4".
Generally, fretboard extensions and neck joints seem to have become more massive on full sized archtops over time. It adds weight to the axe, but with a nice neck it can still be a very playable instrument.
Generally the only modification a luthier would make is to trim it when resetting the neck.Last edited by fritz jones; 01-04-2018 at 08:53 AM.
-
Here is a closeup of the fretboard end on my 1985 ES-175, and another of the neck/body joint.
-
The fingerboard extension can be part of the styling of an archtop guitar. On this guitar, I used the vacated space to mount thumbwheel vol. and tone controls. Once you get used to having the controls located there it works well for most players.
-
what a fabulous idea!
Originally Posted by matt cushman
-
Matt, What an elegant solution. Ive never seen that before. Great, Efficient use of the space. Your guitar looks "confidence inspiring". That photo angle is almost exactly what I see when I look down at a guitar. If I was playing that guitar, I would see that and know I have a world class instrument in my hands.
Joe D
-
Gorgeous ES-175. Looks perfect.
-
Thanks Lawson! Originally Posted by lawson-stone
Thanks Joe! I like to have the electronics as tidy as possible. Placing the controls near the pickup keeps things nice and quiet and easy to shield.
-
YES! I don't know about the sound, but it just LOOKS so right. Originally Posted by Greentone
-
Matt, Heritage should hire you as a consultant.. Originally Posted by Matt Cushman
The Only Heritage I had that didn't have a pickup/noise problem was my HDA.
Oh yeah, wait.. They didn't wire that one. Ron DeMarino did..
Great work sir.
JD
Reply With Quote
Recommandations for Hollowbodies for $600 and under?
Today, 05:20 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos