Custom Core H-150 neck size and bridge height?

[deytookerjaabs]

I already have a replica that has a big neck which is overdue for a shave/sand, don't want to shave two necks. I'm not terribly picky but I don't like classic R7/8 type necks with depth and lots of shoulder yet tons of higher priced single cuts often have real big necks. If there's a lot of depth I prefer soft V, less depth is generally fine with any profile.

I've seen some used H-150 cores and the depth usually measures over .90 at the first and described as a "C," are they pretty much all like that?

And, are the bridge heights all over the place or set up to a certain spec?

 

Not sure if I'm going to nab one, still in the browsing phase!

 

 

[davesultra]

I’ve had 2, but currently have only one. The plaintop had what appeared to be a slightly slimmer neck than my Goldtop does. Not terribly different, but noticeable. The GT is definitely closer to an R6/7/8 neck. I’m not home at the time of typing this, so I can’t measure the thickness. As far as the bridges & tailpeces are concerned, the PT sat a little lower than the GT. But as is typical for Heritage, in order to crank the stoptail down, I would have to topwrap. I don’t care for topwrapping so I left it where it is.

Edited February 22 by davesultra

[deytookerjaabs]

8 hours ago, davesultra said:

I’ve had 2, but currently have only one. The plaintop had what appeared to be a slightly slimmer neck than my Goldtop does. Not terribly different, but noticeable. The GT is definitely closer to an R6/7/8 neck. I’m not home at the time of typing this, so I can’t measure the thickness. As far as the bridges & tailpeces are concerned, the PT sat a little lower than the GT. But as is typical for Heritage, in order to crank the stoptail down, I would have to topwrap. I don’t care for topwrapping so I left it where it is.

 

I got a message back from a dealer basically echoing that they're all "chunky with some shoulder." Might be better off just going to a standard. My last 150 was an '02 I think, low bridge height and a nice soft V neck, great guitar. Back to the thrill of the hunt!

[davesultra]

15 hours ago, deytookerjaabs said:

 

I got a message back from a dealer basically echoing that they're all "chunky with some shoulder." Might be better off just going to a standard. My last 150 was an '02 I think, low bridge height and a nice soft V neck, great guitar. Back to the thrill of the hunt!

Measured mine last night. .91” at the 1st & 1.00” at the 12th. Yeah, they’re chunky.

[TalismanRich]

7 hours ago, davesultra said:

Measured mine last night. .91” at the 1st & 1.00” at the 12th. Yeah, they’re chunky.

That makes perfect sense since when Ed Wilson set the specs on the Custom Core, he was obviously targeting the much coveted "59 LP".   

Of course, the 59s were all hand rolled, so they would have varied, just as the old Heritage guitars did.   Roll it,  put the template on it, and if it's close, move on to smoothing and finishing.  You probably had at least a half dozen different people carving necks over the course of a year or 2.    I'll also bet Gibson rarely threw out a neck in the 50s because it was a bit too thin.   It was a business and throwing away necks costs $$$.   They weren't making "boutique" high dollar guitars. 

[deytookerjaabs]

16 hours ago, TalismanRich said:

That makes perfect sense since when Ed Wilson set the specs on the Custom Core, he was obviously targeting the much coveted "59 LP".   

Of course, the 59s were all hand rolled, so they would have varied, just as the old Heritage guitars did.   Roll it,  put the template on it, and if it's close, move on to smoothing and finishing.  You probably had at least a half dozen different people carving necks over the course of a year or 2.    I'll also bet Gibson rarely threw out a neck in the 50s because it was a bit too thin.   It was a business and throwing away necks costs $$$.   They weren't making "boutique" high dollar guitars. 

 

In my experience the stout C that's over .90 at the first fret is not on a large % of 50's Gibson guitars. Some '58's have it, and other years you see it pop up too but it's definitely not the majority or anything like that. My last Gribbons had the "Carmelita" profile and that neck was nice, close to my '64 335. I think it's just this "boutique=huge" thing that people are looking for, sadly. Good news is you can take wood away quite easily....adding it on is another story!

 

 

[bolero]

Yeah I had a boutique LP replica with a huge neck. Tracked the builder down & he shaved it to something more manageable. I got carpal tunnel from playing that thing.

[rockabilly69]

2 hours ago, bolero said:

Yeah I had a boutique LP replica with a huge neck. Tracked the builder down & he shaved it to something more manageable. I got carpal tunnel from playing that thing.

I would like to have the neck shaved on my 1954 Les Paul reissue. And while they're at it, they can strip off the heavy Gibson finish, and replace it with thin non-plasticized nitro. In this one case, if they did that, I would even like a little relic, because I love when Goldtops check and go green, and it would take years for mine to do that, as I only record with it. If I want two P90s live though, I play my USA LP Special or my Historic SG Special. Both of them have great sized necks with the SG being my favorite neck of the three, it's the smallest, but the LP Special and the R4 have bigger tone than the SG. and the USA Special has the biggest neck of any USA Gibson I've played. Not as big as the R4, but still pretty big.

 

The beast...

[img]https://i.imgur.com/SkdvUAu.jpg[/img]

[bolero]

That's nice!!

[deytookerjaabs]

A while back I got a custom shop FB I, same deal, it happened to have the R7+ neck profile (why?). Seller said he couldn't measure it and that "it's not too big." Haha, it almost could not have been bigger! Thought about shaving it but it was white...so shaving the neck would have looked terrible unless I had some high end finish dude touch it up. It had other issues, too light weight. The big neck plus banjo tuners with the featherweight wood made it a neck diver extraordinaire, even when sitting I had to hold my elbow on the horn. It's ironic that it was the lamest Firebird I've owned, as it was also the most expensive, but it did look the best by far. 

Always thought it was a shame they only made a few of the heritage birds (plus many seemed to have the ABR + Tailpiece + regular buckers setup) then the rest were custom ordered, the cult following drove up those prices. Heck, the Gribbons 'bird prices on the used market are going up too. "Back in my day...." no one wanted a 'bird, now these kids can't get off my lawn.

Hmmmmm!