Help!I'maRock!
Mediocringly Derivative
i've been doing a bit of looking at Les Paul neck tenons. one of my students is a die hard Slash worshipper and only wants a Les Paul. ok, fine. but i'm determined to make sure he "gets a good one". we played some Epis last week at GC and Sam Ash and i really liked the Joe Bonamassa one even though it's got a greenish tinge to the goldtop.
fortunately, Gibson is out of his parents' price range. but for those interested here is what Gibson neck tenons look like:
all Gibson production Les Pauls use the short design (on the bottom). my problem isn't with the length of the tenon (*chuckle*), but the curved shape at the bottom (*chuckle*). it doesn't promote good contact and allows for too much variation of the neck angle. the top version is what comes on all Custom Shop (Historic, VOS, etc) Les Pauls. the only exception to either of these is the current Les Paul Standard. not the "Standard Traditional", that one uses the short tenon. the Les Paul Standard. Its tenon looks like this:
so basically, if you're spending north of $2500 on a Standard or Custom Shop, the neck joint makes good contact. below that, and it could, but you'll never know. some people don't care. i figure if i'm spending that much, i should care.
so why is this applicable to Epiphone? well, if they're using the rocker joint on Gibsons, then what cost cutting measure have they employed with the import line?
The Joe B model has the same long neck tenon that the more spendy Gibsons have. so does the Slash model. but your standard Epi LP looks like this on the inside:
nevermind the routing in the pic. All production Gibsons have that except for the "Traditional" line, which looks like swiss cheese instead. what you're interested in here is the neck joint. the bottom is flat and there's a lot of contact there. some people complain of a gap between the tenon and the cutaway side of the body joint. that can look like this:
but as you can see, the bottom is still flat and there's still a lot of contact. it's sloppy, but at least there's no rocking back and forth. also, the heel of the joint would prevent any movement.
so my thought is this. either get an Epi Les Paul Standard for around $500 or spend $2500+ on a Gibson Standard (not Traditional) or Custom Shop. at least based on the neck tenon.
fortunately, Gibson is out of his parents' price range. but for those interested here is what Gibson neck tenons look like:
all Gibson production Les Pauls use the short design (on the bottom). my problem isn't with the length of the tenon (*chuckle*), but the curved shape at the bottom (*chuckle*). it doesn't promote good contact and allows for too much variation of the neck angle. the top version is what comes on all Custom Shop (Historic, VOS, etc) Les Pauls. the only exception to either of these is the current Les Paul Standard. not the "Standard Traditional", that one uses the short tenon. the Les Paul Standard. Its tenon looks like this:
so basically, if you're spending north of $2500 on a Standard or Custom Shop, the neck joint makes good contact. below that, and it could, but you'll never know. some people don't care. i figure if i'm spending that much, i should care.
so why is this applicable to Epiphone? well, if they're using the rocker joint on Gibsons, then what cost cutting measure have they employed with the import line?
The Joe B model has the same long neck tenon that the more spendy Gibsons have. so does the Slash model. but your standard Epi LP looks like this on the inside:
nevermind the routing in the pic. All production Gibsons have that except for the "Traditional" line, which looks like swiss cheese instead. what you're interested in here is the neck joint. the bottom is flat and there's a lot of contact there. some people complain of a gap between the tenon and the cutaway side of the body joint. that can look like this:
but as you can see, the bottom is still flat and there's still a lot of contact. it's sloppy, but at least there's no rocking back and forth. also, the heel of the joint would prevent any movement.
so my thought is this. either get an Epi Les Paul Standard for around $500 or spend $2500+ on a Gibson Standard (not Traditional) or Custom Shop. at least based on the neck tenon.
