Recommendations for a first Les Paul w/slim neck

What about some 70s Les Paul? Many were great and had very comfortable necks.

My routed '74 Deluxe has a very nice slim neck. I used to think those necks were the best. But now I play on "Baseball bat" necks as well, and it really doesn't matter to me...

Cam63,

You are all over the map on this quest. And fingerboards are not the part that is slim or fat (since SG's and 335's in the late 60's). It is the depth or amount of wood behind the FB. That being said, the profile shape is also a comfort factor. That may be even more of a factor than the actual depth, as many find a fat neck just fine with rounded off shoulders. I know I do.

Today there are a few good choices in your price range. I have owned a few LP's and had Historics, as well, but this one LP I have now smokes them all. Every tone this thing makes puts a big smile on my face. Music to my ears. Plays like a dream with very low action and no buzz. I almost ignor my other 12 guitars because this one does so much, and does it so well. It does the LP thing and so much more. And at a new MSRP of $1,899 you get tons of value for the money. The neck is a perfect '59 profile. The pickups are the best Gibson makes, IMO (Classic 57 and Super 57). And the split coil options give you a Strat neck tone, Tele combo tone, and killer Les Paul bridge tone just by the flick of the 3-way toggle switch! Plus, you can get other great tones by playing with the controls (who knew 57's sounded so good as single coils???). Then they throw in the extra boost circuit, which with a push on the neck tone pot can take you from classic to metal. Cool! Plus the stock caps have perfect tone control. IMO, this is the best ticket today...plus the wood and improved neck tenon joint on these sounds great (tried a few others since...all good). It has it all!

Find a Les Paul Traditional Pro II 50's neck like this:



Flip the red and black wires on the pickup connections for better single coil tones (uses the outer coils for splitting), and add a 4th push/push pot wired to reverse the phase of the bridge pickup (if you wish) to expand the tone selections even more like this (NOTE, I also added a treble bleed adjustment to the neck pup for added sparkle):



And if you want to change tuning on the fly to just about anything you could ever want, get one of these:




I got my guitar used for $1,450, added the push/push for $14, and the Tronical Tune for $350 (now reduced to $300). That is a whole lot of guitar for $1,814. That is VALUE. Sounds fantastic...plays fantastic...does so much in one guitar. This is the one I take to the grave. What else could you ask for? :wah

Thanks everybody. Some useful tips.
Hey Philbert. Yeah, that looks about right. The price, the mods, everything. I was definitely planning on at least a phase and a serial switch - ever since I saw a video of Jimmy Page being asked if the phase switch was worth doing. (He replied "Oh yeah!")
Thanks.

Cam63 said:

Thanks everybody. Some useful tips.
Hey Philbert. Yeah, that looks about right. The price, the mods, everything. I was definitely planning on at least a phase and a serial switch - ever since I saw a video of Jimmy Page being asked if the phase switch was worth doing. (He replied "Oh yeah!")
Thanks.

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I really didn't expect the extra mods to sound all that good, but man was I surprised how good they really do sound. :wow And yes, the Page tones are there. But even without all the extras, it is a killer LP tone. It is just nicer to have the extra options.

Enjoy the journey. Nothing like a good Lester. I hope you find "the one". LP's can be tricky because the different pieces of wood can be hit or miss. Make sure it "speaks to you". Tone is king. :salude

In your search for a smaller neck don't overlook older customs. The custom on the left is a 92 with a small neck. They are out there.

Ryan Givhan said:

Sometimes its hard to tell through text the tone behind the words. So ill just say this, I was trying to help. To the best of my knowledge all modern les Paul's have the same width nut/fingerboard.

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I got lost for a few months and then saw this again... Hey no prob. I got the message fine and appreciated it. I just meant I needed to measure the necks to convince *myself* that my perception was indeed out of whack.

PHILBERT said:

Cam63,

...
Find a Les Paul Traditional Pro II 50's neck like this:

Click to expand...

Funny, but I keep coming back to this guitar. Quick question. What's the difference between the PRO and the PRO II? Is it just the boost circuit?

Me? i'd get a old 1970's Norlin..just for 'Da Mojo"..

Cam63 said:

Funny, but I keep coming back to this guitar. Quick question. What's the difference between the PRO and the PRO II? Is it just the boost circuit?

Click to expand...

It turns out that the differences are that the Pro II, (when compared to the regular Pro or Pro I),

• has a Super 57 humbucker in the bridge instead of a BurstBucker3,
• the coli-tapping volume controls are push-push instead of push-pull and
• one of the tone knobs has a push-push switch which activates an on-board, battery-powered boost circuit* instead of no push-push and no boost

*If battery is dead or removed, push/push can serve as kill switch. Rest of guitar works passively (without battery).

It *seems* both versions were offered with 60's and 50's neck profiles.

I also *guess* that the Pro II came out in 2012. I haven't been able to find any mention of any earlier Pro II's anywhere.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I just thought I would post this for other folks who may get here and wonder what the outcome was.

The Gibson Les Paul Peter Frampton model has one of the slimmest necks in my collection. It is also one of the most fragile guitars around, as far as headstock breaks go.

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-Custom/Peter-Frampton-Les-Paul.aspx

Aloha_Mark said:

The Gibson Les Paul Peter Frampton model has one of the slimmest necks in my collection. It is also one of the most fragile guitars around, as far as headstock breaks go.

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-Custom/Peter-Frampton-Les-Paul.aspx

Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the reply. I found the link interesting. I hadn't read up on that model before. I've since done a full 180, however.

I tried some of the thinner necks, found them *too* thin, tried an R8 (CR8 actually) and found it perfect for me.

I'm now looking for either a Trad Pro II with the '50s neck (just like "Philbert's") or an R8 if a really smokin' good deal comes along. Unfortunately, with the Trad Pro's being special runs in the U.S.A., they are *incredibly* scarce in Canada so a trip to the U.S. is in order.