All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside!)

[Number Of The Priest]

Okay, Immortal... I made another hilarious Microsoft Paint drawing of more crazy guitar ideas. Laugh all you like. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] (See Immortal's signature for another example of my terrible mouse drawing skills!!)

This is what I've been imagining as an all-access neck heel for a Les Paul style guitar. The following drawing depicts the back of the guitar at the neck heel. The red half-oval is the shape of where the heel normally is on a Les Paul at around the 16th fret, but I've extended the neck to the point where you can now put your thumb behind the 22nd fret, providing unrestricted access to the highest frets. Basically, I think the neck would extend onto the area that would normally be reserved for the long neck tenon, and the fingerboard would now be sitting on actual neck rather than sitting on the tenon.



What do you guys think? Is this a feasable idea? Imagine contouring between the back of the guitar with the neck, or deep heel scalloping like on some Jackson Warriors I've seen where the upper fret access looks absolutely unreal. Like this Warrior:



Or maybe I'm just crazy. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Do any of these Les Pauls with deep heel exist?

Regular Les Paul heel for reference, represented by the red heel on my terrible MS Paint drawing above:

[Grandturk]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside!)

[ QUOTE ]
Do any of these Les Pauls with deep heel exist?


[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah - its called an SG! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Seriously, I'm not certain if Gibson has ever done an extended cutaway on a true Les Paul. However, they did a limited/custom/prototype model known as the "Less Paul" which was a scaled down version of a Les Paul. I believe it had the type of cutaway you suggest. As for getting one from Gibson? I wouldn't count on them doing it for you - you might want to look at some of the boutique builders for that.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside

I possibly am looking at a boutique builder for this monstrosity of a design... actually, the last picture I posted above is from his website! He's Zeegler's guitar tech/luthier dude and doesn't live too too far from me. [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside

Have you seen Neal Schon's Les Paul?
It has funny heel cut and the scale of the neck is 25.5" I believe.
I will look for the pics later but it had similar heel that you described in the first ... rough image [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Only the way to make Les Paul to have better heel is to have it Neck thru.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside

I've only ever seen the front of Neal Schon's Les Paul Custom. I distinctly remember this because it had a Floyd. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside

The one I saw was not a LPC.
It was a Sunburst Standard w/ Floyd and saw it in one of guitar magazines from U.S. from this year.

[zeegler]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside

Hey, NOTP, have you ever seen a Yamaha Weddington neck joint? Here's a link to a Weddington Special on Ebay right now. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

If you are going to pay Freddy a visit, and want to show him exactly what you want, I'll be glad to meet you, and I'll bring my Weddington Classic so we can show him, or at least give him an idea.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside

That's some nice contouring right there! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] Almost looks like the whole guitar is one piece of wood... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Must be the lack of a heel contributing to that illusion.

Hey, thanks for the offer! [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img] I'll definitely keep that in mind for if/when I finally pull the trigger. You'd bring your Weddington and I'll bring my Shannon... I'd want him to copy my neck profile and your neck joint. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Yeah, you posted a link to Freddy's work ages ago on the JCF and I e-mailed him then and there, and it's definitely something to keep in mind. Perhaps I'll think of his work for a graduation gift to myself in a year and a half... [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside

By the way, here is the link for Zeegler's tech/luthier dude for those who missed it on the JCF before:

http://freddysfrets.com/

[toejam]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside

I can play the highest frets on a Les Paul no problem. You need to work on your technique... wuss! [img]/images/graemlins/baby.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/poke.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[zeegler]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside

LOL @ Joe!

I wish I had a decent digi-cam so I could post a close-up pic of the joint on my Classic. You can clearly see the 3 piece mahogany neck, and the way it is joined. It is hard to believe the neck doesn't just snap off, but it is VERY strong. In fact, when I bought my Weddington brand new, I got a great deal on it because it had a tiny ding in the very top of the headstock. At least that's what we thought, but apparently, it had been dropped directly on it's headstock and the neck had a hairline fracture running from behind the nut to about the 5th or 6th fret. I only realized this when it started going out of tune. The music store paid to have it repaired. The surprising thing is that the neck/body joint didn't even shift enough to crack the finish. It's that strong.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside

I thought you had a pretty good camera! I remember pictures of your Lado. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Toejam... [img]/images/graemlins/eviltongue.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I was going to argue that I had smallish hands, but then again, so do you, so I cannot use that against you. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[toejam]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[ranalli]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside!)

[ QUOTE ]
Okay, Immortal... I made another hilarious Microsoft Paint drawing of more crazy guitar ideas. Laugh all you like. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] (See Immortal's signature for another example of my terrible mouse drawing skills!!)

This is what I've been imagining as an all-access neck heel for a Les Paul style guitar. The following drawing depicts the back of the guitar at the neck heel. The red half-oval is the shape of where the heel normally is on a Les Paul at around the 16th fret, but I've extended the neck to the point where you can now put your thumb behind the 22nd fret, providing unrestricted access to the highest frets. Basically, I think the neck would extend onto the area that would normally be reserved for the long neck tenon, and the fingerboard would now be sitting on actual neck rather than sitting on the tenon.



What do you guys think? Is this a feasable idea? Imagine contouring between the back of the guitar with the neck, or deep heel scalloping like on some Jackson Warriors I've seen where the upper fret access looks absolutely unreal. Like this Warrior:



Or maybe I'm just crazy. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Do any of these Les Pauls with deep heel exist?

Regular Les Paul heel for reference, represented by the red heel on my terrible MS Paint drawing above:



[/ QUOTE ]





This is how a Les Paul heel should be done:




My only complaint about Les Pauls is their joint, otherwise they are one of my favorite guitars.

[zeegler]

Re: All-access Les Paul neck heel? (Bad pic inside

[ QUOTE ]
I thought you had a pretty good camera! I remember pictures of your Lado. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Toejam... [img]/images/graemlins/eviltongue.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I was going to argue that I had smallish hands, but then again, so do you, so I cannot use that against you. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

My camera isn't bad for taking pictures in bright sunlight, but that's about it. For anything that is low-light, or close-ups, forget it. I just shelled out $600 for a digital video camera, but I still don't have a decent still camera.

Gratuitous Lado pic:



How's this for a nice heel?