Long Tenon necks

[tomjackson]

How important are they on a Les Paul or 335? Do they make any difference?

I've just read that the new Slash Les Paul has a short Tenon and that guitar costs over 2k.

Is it a cost thing or do both types have advantages like set neck and bolt on necks?

[Twinfan]

Ah, this old chestnut  :lol:

It's claimed to be a stronger joint and it increases sustain.  However, my Teles sustain just as well (if not better) than a lot of Les Pauls I've owned/played.

It's for cork sniffing spec seekers, like correctly placed tailpieces and the right colour of the plastic pickup rings  :roll:

Play the guitar and if you like it, don't worry about what type of neck joint it's got...

[th3sku11]

I agree with everything above... its really not worth worrying about a particular aspect of construction if the guitar sounds good. I expect that the resonance of the piece of wood its made out of in the first place will have a far greater impact on sustain and completely mask any short/long tenon 'differences'.

My 2p :)

[tomjackson]

Cool, I'm not particularily fussed myself (My Tokai is short I think) but magazines always go on about it so just wandered.

I know most of the Fender related cork sniffing but not the Gibson ones...

[Twinfan]

Gibson cork sniffing all relates to the mythical "vintage accuracy":

* Plastic colour - pickup rings, pickguards
* Knobs - colour, height, fonts used
* Tailpiece location - on LPs, should be at a slight angle like "bursts"
* Neck tenons - short, medium, long
* PAFs - need I say more?
* Brazilian Rosewood fretboards
* The 'right' nitro-cellulose
* Lacquer checking - doing it with a razor blade or a freezer/heater
* etc

The list goes on  :roll:

And remember, anything Murphy aged (or even just painted) commands a huge premium.....

[Philly Q]

I don't know how much it contributes to the actual tone, but I think with a set neck it must be an advantage to have as great a "glued" surface area as possible - just for strength of the joint if nothing else.

[th3sku11]

I don't know how much it contributes to the actual tone, but I think with a set neck it must be an advantage to have as great a "glued" surface area as possible - just for strength of the joint if nothing else.

Probably! What I find interesting about that pic is that its a little deceptive though... the tenon isn't nearly the full width of the neck so the increase in glued surface area between the transitional join and long join there is probably pretty negligible.

That short join looks particularly horrific!  :o

[horsehead]

Dave didn't you put a load of stuff into your SG to make it more original spec?

[gwEm]

Dave didn't you put a load of stuff into your SG to make it more original spec?

dave's all about the look ;)

i've seen that pic of phillyq's several times, and it still shocks me - the low contact area on the short tenon.

[Philly Q]

i've seen that pic of phillyq's several times, and it still shocks me - the low contact area on the short tenon.

Apparently it's done like that so they can tweak the neck angle with a minimum of actual precise wooodwork.  Presumably the gaps end up filled with glue.  :?

[Twinfan]

Dave didn't you put a load of stuff into your SG to make it more original spec?

I did, but as Gwem says it was to make it look right.  It's a proper old SG that deserved to look and sound more like it did originally.  The parts that were on it were cheap and tone sucking, with the exception of the tuners.

It's the muppets with brand new Gibson R9s that send them in for "makeovers" that are beyond belief.  They have the top re-carved, tailpieces altered, truss rods replaced etc.  Blummin madness!   :shock:

[WezV]

philly's pic shows the real issue - how well its fitted

a shor tenon is fine - but the one shown above is not

it was a bad day for gibson when they released those photo's - and quickly withdrew them, but not quick enough.   obviously they probably cut up seconds for the pics - but the idea that some with a join done that badly will have made it out the factory is shocking

[FELINEGUITARS]

I ALWAYS use a long tenon joint - full width as well
This is why I can shave away the heel of my Lion guitars and have great sustain etc - because of the big surface area that is glued together in the long tenon joint

[gordiji]

looking at the photo's common sense tells me the long tenon is preferable, and clearly more of a headache to construct.this doesn't mean it must sound better, it's just good to know something is well made;a rarer and rarer
thing thesedays

[Philly Q]

I ALWAYS use a long tenon joint - full width as well
This is why I can shave away the heel of my Lion guitars and have great sustain etc - because of the big surface area that is glued together in the long tenon joint

Good point, I think the full width tenon plays a part, maybe as much or more than the length. 

PRS use a full width tenon, I believe.  My Epiphone LP Juniors and LP Special have full width tenons too (AFAIK!) and they seem particularly resonant compared with the other LP types I've owned.  They do have that annoying "lip" in the treble cutaway to get in the way of your hand though.