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Hello people,
I am still playing my custom Tele exclusively these days, which features a neck modeled after a 59 Gibson LP Junior (but fender scale). I have had other guitars, but I find the usual neck format too thin. I am not interested in another custom order, so my question is - what factory guitars (semis and hollowbodies in particular) or brands feature thicker, more substantial necks...
Examples of necks I find too thin and even a bit uncomfortable to play: eastman t145, 98 epiphone riviera, sadowksy jim hall (although that guitar was incredible).
Very thankful for pointers to readily available instruments...
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12-07-2020 08:40 AM
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You might like an old Gibson ES-125. They are easily found.
Originally Posted by blue_lu
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Good idea. unfortunately these are getting quite expensive in the EU (single PU close to 3k in Euros, dual PU around 4k and above). I checked one out recently which had a twisted neck... so buying blind seems not like a good idea.
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The obvious answer would be Gibson -- there are versions of 175's, 335's, and 339's that have the '59 neck shape. I haven't tried one recently enough to remember, but people here describe the ES 165 as having a very chunky neck. I just picked up a Seventy Seven Hawk Jazz, which has a pretty chunky neck (feels similar to the 59 gibson neck to me). They don't come up used all that often, but when they do, they're a lot cheaper than a 175 or 165. The Godin 5th Ave series have what I consider to be a pretty chunky neck (definitely chunkier than either my D'Angelico semi-hollow or my Am. Std. Strat, if that helps). I tried a couple of The Loar hollow bodies with necks that felt pretty big to me. Take my opinions with a grain of salt, though, because I don't think I'm a very good judge of neck shape and am comfortable with a lot of different sizes/shapes. Originally Posted by blue_lu
John
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Yikes! I've seen more than one last year in the USA for around 1.6k USD... 1.3k Euros. Originally Posted by blue_lu
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The thing is - ES175 are getting pretty scarce in the used market over here. I just missed a blonde VOS model that I would have loved to buy. Plek'ed and nicely setup as well.
oh well.
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50's harmony stratotone...neck like a louisville slugger- baseball bat
even the recent eastwood repro's have substantial necks...
cheers
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Originally Posted by neatomic
50's harmony stratotone...neck like a louisville slugger- baseball bat
even the recent eastwood repro's have substantial necks...
cheers
yes - good one. I would like to try that. love the funkiness of these guitars as well.
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I see you are in Germany. There are many fantastic German-made archtops built in the 1950s and 1960s that have wonderful, big necks. Almost all of them are inexpensive, not hard to find, and many of them are excellent quality.
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Hammertone - could you give me some examples of models I should look into? German archtops are frowned up on here in Germany - maybe without a reason. But the result is that there is little knowledge about these guitars. People tend to gravitate towards the bigger american companies, usually.
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This always seems to be an issue for me as well. Necks are too slim or skinny!
And 1&3/4" are always that way as well.
As mentioned above Gibson makes Historic ES-175,ES-335, and older ES-339 FAT 1950s shapes . And even a few of the New Gibson USA 335s have a bit larger 50's shape.
Unfortunately we" re in the minority much like lefty guitarists. And companies tend to ignore small numbers. Even the ones that are relatively small guitar companies.
So unless you like bolt on F style instruments , you pretty much have to custom order if possible or have an instrument made by a boutique maker.
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Describe what you want in terms of features and I will list various German-made guitars that are worth seeking. Originally Posted by blue_lu
German archtops are frowned upon in Germany because Germans are (insert your choice of negative cliché here). Choosing to be ignorant of one's own cultural history and achievements is simply (insert your choice of deprecation here).Last edited by Hammertone; 12-11-2020 at 07:38 PM.
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Ok! Here we go... Originally Posted by Hammertone
16-17" Body, humbucking Pickups, shallower / thinline body preferred. Big neck, yet good action. Laminated and solid wood guitars are both welcome, that really depends on the guitar...
No preference regarding scale, I do like a wider (43mm) nut.
Your wisdom will be appreciated
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Sounds like you want an es-175 59 vos reissue. It's missing the thinline body but i bet you'll love the neck.
Might be worth asking walkin what the neck size of the at 105m or 205m is.
It's an es-175 with a thinner body. ミッドデプスのコンターブレイシング仕様！ | WALKiN'
Never played one so i have no idea about the neck size but they answer mails in english.
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I can follow you. When I started out 60 years ago, I loved the "fast", slim neck on my 1961 Gibson 175 but as years went by I got guitars with fatter necks and liked them too. Now at my presentadvanced age with osteorthritis in my hands, I can't play the slim neck anymore, I get cramps in my hands.
Fender sells necks with different profiles. A "1951 FAT neck" (deep U shape, not V) is available (MIM if I remember correctly) with 1" thickness in both ends (not tapering front to back). However they are rather narrow at the nut. I have one in order from Thomann at the moment for my Squire CV Tele which comes with a slim neck. Warmoth also has various neck profiles - among those, one that mimics the Fender 1951 FAT necks. Warmoth also lets you choose woods, width at the nut, fretboard curvature etc. When speaking of solid bodies, these days I'd only consider Fender like guitars because of the modular build which allows for a lot of customization. A Squire CV is good and cheap (may benefit from a setup out of the box, though) and is a perfect starting point for such customizations.
As for instrument with set necks, there is no other way than trying out individual instruments. Even for the same brand and model the necks shapes have been all over the place through the years and there's even examples of differences between instruments from the same batch - especially if the necks are hand shaped. I have a Painter P-350 with a very nice substantial neck with good shoulders which supports my thumb staying on the back side of the neck. But sadly Tom Painter is no longer in business and he didn't make many instruments during the very few years he was active, so they are almost never seen up for sale.
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+1 for German archtops
I bought a 60s Klira about six months ago and I'm still enamoured with it. It's 16 1/2" wide, 3 1/8" deep, laminated top, nitro finish that has chequered nicely. Sounds great and plays well. The neck I would describe as fat but it's not a baseball bat. Was originally acoustic but had a Zoller pickup installed. It wasn't expensive, many times less what one could spend for a comparable Gibson.
It played well when I bought it, but I've done some additional set-up work. It has a truss rod and I have the action down to around 2mm without any major buzzing.
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Originally Posted by blue_lu
Originally Posted by Hammertone
Hofner is a good place to start. Some of these have fat necks, some do not. Typically, the necks on 1960's Hofner archtops are pleasantly large and wide and are very playable. It's easy enough to confirm neck width at the nut, and depth at the first and tenth frets, to establish neck size. Most of these models were made in the 1960s and 1970s, some in the 1980s. Some are quite common, some are quite obscure. They all have laminated tops/backs/rims. After @1964, they all came with humbucking pickups. All of the guitars listed below are completely hollow. Originally Posted by blue_lu
16-17" Body, humbucking Pickups, shallower / thinline body preferred. Big neck, yet good action. Laminated and solid wood guitars are both welcome, that really depends on the guitar...No preference regarding scale, I do like a wider (43mm) nut. Your wisdom will be appreciated
Hofner Thinlines (17"+)
Hofner started to offer the Committee as well as the similar Model 468 as a thinline guitar in the mid-1960s. They also offered the 4700, which was a thinline version of their Model 470 archtop. Body widths ranged from @17"+ to @18"+, but they were quite shallow.
-Committee Thinline
-Model 4680
-Model 4700
Here's are a couple of examples, just for illustration:
Vintage 1960s Hofner Committee Thinline Brunette Electric | Reverb
Hofner 4700 1969 | Albert's Collection | Reverb
-Model 4577 (second version - florentine cutaway)
-Model 4710 (florentine cutaway)
-Model A2HL
These were all high-end Hofners. Hofner did offer one plainer @17"+ archtop:
-Model 4550 (occasionaly found as a thinline).
Hofner Models (16"+)
-Model Hofner Senator Thinline - made for Selmer
-President Thinline - made for Selmer
-President Florentine Thinline - made for Selmer
These are generally similar to each other, with minor variations in trim level. They do not have labels, and sellers often don't really know which models they are:
-Model 4500
-Model 4560
-Model 4570
-Model 4572 (first version, 1.25" rims)
-Model 4577 (first version)
Hofner Models (16"+, double-cutaway)
-Ambassador - made for Selmer
-Verithin (1.25" rims) - made for Selmer
-Model 4571
-Model 4573
-Model 4574 (1.25" rims like the Verithin)
-Model 4576 (1.25" rims like the Verithin, Florentine cutaways like the Ambassador)
-Model 4578 (like the Ambassador)
-Model 4600 (related to a Verithin but with a bolt-on neck)
Other German makers made hollow, thinline, 16-17" archtops as well - more on some of those later.Last edited by Hammertone; 12-11-2020 at 07:41 PM.
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yes, there are several parts makers like Warmoth that make replacement necks with thousands of possible configurations. Originally Posted by oldane
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Fortunately for Warmoth, Musikraft, USACG, the Guitar Mill and a few others, Fender is too lazy, stupid or both to offer big necks with anything other than narrow nut widths. The original Jeff Beck Strat from the very early '90s is big, with a 1 11/16" nut width. Mine had a very D-shaped profile. There might be one or two others somewhere in their catalogue. I've used Musikraft and Warmoth necks - 1 3/4" nut, fatback or boatneck profile - lovely stuff. Tonebomb in Calgary will do one as well - I have one of theirs that is quite nice. Originally Posted by oldane
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Hammer Newport came w two different neck carves, the larger being quite substantial. Worth looking for in the used market
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Hamer necks which are called Vintage Carve I believe are around .90"to .96" or there abouts. I've owned several Newports and Monaco models with this neck profile. I would not call them very fat but Med/Large shape.
Gibson 1957 and 1958 Historic models probably have the largest neck shape overall. Followed by the 1959 Historic models.
Fender offers the Nocaster 1" full length for their largest neck.
It really is not popular on most guitars available, and next to impossible to get most makers to offer this as an option. I've tried with G&L, Music Man,, Heritage,etc. They just aren't interested or can't make enough money?
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Interestingly I must conclude, I am insensitive to neck thickness, weird. 2 years ago I got a 1948-1950ish Levin 27, practically a baseball bat neck. I instantly felt it is extreme. It was weird, but after a few days I got used to it. When I went back one of my extra "comfortable" slim Epi neck I felt it also extreme different, but again after a few hours I completely forgot about it.
Now I pick any of them to play, and do not even recognize the neck shape, just love them, one problem less when I am buying a guitar.
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Maybe because I'm originally a lefty when I write. I'm a bit extra sensitive to a necks shape? I really don't like feeling skinny necks because they don't support my left hand properly. And I feel as though my left hand is collapsing.
And mostly because I'm a bit neurotic about neck shapes,LOL !
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@hammertone Thank you for the long post above! I really appreciate it and will look into the guitars you mentioned there.
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I like fat necks and I cannot lie.
Once you go big you can't do twig!
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