Les Pauls with maple necks

[barnesjd]

Got one? Love it? How does it compare to mahogany necks?

 

[joepete77]

My 81 deluxe flametop has a 3pc maple neck. It never really moved or needs trussrod adjustment, I don't know if its due to the maple or it being a 3pc or not.

 

[7 Stringer]

Just got it a couple months ago, love it.

Very snappy biting tone, for a maple board.

Never mind, mine has a mahogany neck with maple board.

I got carried away here folks.

Anyway, still a very nice sounding LP.

Chris

 

[FourT6and2]

My '79 is maple. My '84 is mahogany. Both are one-piece solid bodies. No weight relief. No pancake bodies. Both have the same size neck tenon. The '79 (maple) has a neck volute. The '84 doesn't. Before I swapped the stock pickups out, the '79 had T-Tops, the '84 had Shaws. Now the '79 has BKP Holy Divers and the '84 has Black Dogs. So that will influence the sound greatly. But overall:

The maple necked LPC has a smoother mid range. Slightly tighter in the lows. Extended highs. A little snappier. A little thinner sounding. And you can FEEL this in the way the guitar vibrates when you play it.

The mahogany necked LPC is meatier. Slightly looser in the lows. Thicker sounding. More pronounced mids. It's meaty and has more of a growl. And again, you can FEEL it in how the guitar vibrates acoustically.

The neck profiles are also slightly different. The maple one being a little thinner. The mahogany one being slightly thicker. And again, pickups play a huge role. Top on the mahogany guitar is also carved more. The maple-necked ('79) guitar's top is almost flat.

 

[joepete77]

My '79 is maple. My '84 is mahogany. Both are one-piece solid bodies. No weight relief. No pancake bodies. Both have the same size neck tenon. The '79 (maple) has a neck volute. The '84 doesn't. Before I swapped the stock pickups out, the '79 had T-Tops, the '84 had Shaws. Now the '79 has BKP Holy Divers and the '84 has Black Dogs. So that will influence the sound greatly. But overall:

The maple necked LPC has a smoother mid range. Slightly tighter in the lows. Extended highs. A little snappier. A little thinner sounding. And you can FEEL this in the way the guitar vibrates when you play it.

The mahogany necked LPC is meatier. Slightly looser in the lows. Thicker sounding. More pronounced mids. It's meaty and has more of a growl. And again, you can FEEL it in how the guitar vibrates acoustically.

The neck profiles are also slightly different. The maple one being a little thinner. The mahogany one being slightly thicker. And again, pickups play a huge role. Top on the mahogany guitar is also carved more. The maple-necked ('79) guitar's top is almost flat.

I have an 84 custom as well. I love it. I was told that they are weight relieved, is there any truth to it or did they use both methods in 84?

 

[shgshg]

Dunno if I could ever own an LP that wasn't mahogany/rosewood.

 

[Les Zombie]

I have 2 custom shop zakk lp with maple necks and i love them.

 

[rlord1974]

'78 LP Custom with maple neck. Gets more play time than my other Customs w/mahogany necks. Take from that what you will.

 

[Heritage Softail]

81 3 piece maple neck. Love it. Just a great old LP. The guitar is more lively feeling than my other two mahogany neck LP's. not sure it it is the neck or what. So many things go into a guitar that has the mojo.

 

[barnesjd]

(...)Never mind, mine has a mahogany neck with maple board.

I got carried away here folks.

(...)

Chris

yeah, you got carried away. Get off my thread, jerk!

 

[barnesjd]

I have an 84 custom as well. I love it. I was told that they are weight relieved, is there any truth to it or did they use both methods in 84?

I would say so. http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/gibson- ... 101-a.html

"Weight-relief started around 1982/1983. Every Gibson USA Les Paul between 1982 - 2007 is weight-relieved..."
"Gibson's Custom Shop makes regular production guitars and historic reissues. The regular production guitars, such as the Les Paul Custom, are also weight-relieved. They do not have solid-bodies. "

 

[barnesjd]

I have 2 custom shop zakk lp with maple necks and i love them.

Not that I plan to use EMGs, the Zakk LPs are one of the reasons I believe a maple neck will be right for me, despite how I'm bitching about how things should be traditional in my weight-relief thread.

 

[rupe]

I searched high and low for many years for a Les Paul Custom that I could bond with. I never even considered a Norlin in my search but when I bought a black '76 to flip back in '91, I was surprised by how well this particular example played and sounded. I still had difficulty coming to terms with the fact the a pancake bodies, 3-piece maple necked Custom could be "the one" and figured that I'd hang on to it until a more "legit" version came along. Once I got past the stigma of it being a Norlin instrument, I realized that it was in fact "the one"...and I still have it 22 years later.

As for the neck, it might as well be made of steel. In 20+ years of heavy gigging with strings gauges from 9's to 12's and many nights spent in equipment trailers/vans in all climates/seasons, it has never needed a neck adjustment...it is always dead straight. I can't say that for any other Les Paul that I've owned, especially those with 1-piece mahogany necks. It's been on the shelf for the most part for the past few years as it's original frets are now almost non-existent...but it's a fret job away from breaking back into the starting lineup.

 

[FourT6and2]

I have an 84 custom as well. I love it. I was told that they are weight relieved, is there any truth to it or did they use both methods in 84?

As noted below, they transitioned to weight-relief in the early 80's. As I will get to, the type of weight relief is important to note.

Dunno if I could ever own an LP that wasn't mahogany/rosewood.

I've never seen a LP Custom with rosewood... They are made of mahogany bodies, maple tops, ebony fretboards, and either maple or mahogany necks. So what I gather from your comment, you don't like Customs. You only like Standards, Traditionals, and other LPs with rosewood fretboards? What does this have to do with the conversation?

I have an 84 custom as well. I love it. I was told that they are weight relieved, is there any truth to it or did they use both methods in 84?

I would say so. http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/gibson- ... 101-a.html

"Weight-relief started around 1982/1983. Every Gibson USA Les Paul between 1982 - 2007 is weight-relieved..."
"Gibson's Custom Shop makes regular production guitars and historic reissues. The regular production guitars, such as the Les Paul Custom, are also weight-relieved. They do not have solid-bodies. "

My '84 weighs about the same as my non-weight relieved '79. So I can presume that it is also non-weight relieved. However, when I open up the pickup cavity and electronics cavity, I can see that the routing is much wider and there is more material removed. So this could be seen as some type of weight relief. But it doesn't have the typical "swiss cheese" holes drilled throughout the body. And I've seen this when I've brought the guitar through the airport TSA X-Ray machines. So the information from MyLesPaul isn't 100% accurate. Plus, Gibson/Norlin wasn't very consistent in their building techniques back then. Never knew what you were gonna get, especially during the transitional years.

What I can say is that I generally prefer the sound of my '84 (maybe due to the pickups/electronics). But the '79 feels a little better in the hands. The maple neck really is like a bar of iron. It is solid. Zero movement, even with heavy gauge strings. I have some new electronics on the way (the same type I have in the '84). So a more direct comparison will be possible.

 

[barnesjd]

My '84 weighs about the same as my non-weight relieved '79. So I can presume that it is also non-weight relieved. However, when I open up the pickup cavity and electronics cavity, I can see that the routing is much wider and there is more material removed. So this could be seen as some type of weight relief. But it doesn't have the typical "swiss cheese" holes drilled throughout the body. And I've seen this when I've brought the guitar through the airport TSA X-Ray machines. So the information from MyLesPaul isn't 100% accurate. Plus, Gibson/Norlin wasn't very consistent in their building techniques back then. Never knew what you were gonna get, especially during the transitional years.

Which plant did your '84 come from?