58 to 59 transition

[TheYinzer]

Perhaps this has been well documented or posted earlier, but I haven't found it yet. With the early 60 guitars being the same spec as the 59, I'm curious of when the transition occurred from the 58 specs (neck tickness, etc...) to the 59. Was this late 58 or did it happen in in early 59?

 

[Big Al]

There was more than neck thickness that changed.

 

[TheYinzer]

Thanks Al. I understand that the fret wire changed and some have said the pickups sound hotter in a 59. If others care to elaborate on that as well, I'd be interested in hearing.

 

[sws1]

The "neck thickness" thing between 58 and 59 is a myth that was caused by the Custom Shop having different sizes for R8 and R9s. Tons of overlap in neck shape.

Fret sizes changed somewhere around the 9 0600 range, but there was overlap in that too. Not a hard cutover.