R4 vs R6 vs R8 Neck Size

[JoshPlaysGuitarBadly]

Hi all!

Hoping you'll be able to provide some advice and opinions.

I'm in the market for a P90 loaded Les Paul, and I'm looking at R6s and R4s (non murphy lab, I'm not that rich)

I'm having trouble getting to a store that has both available to compare.

I have a 57 and 58 reissue and I'm loving the neck on those, so if anyone has any insight as to how a 54 or 56 neck compares to the 57 or 58 necks it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[jb_abides]

Well, Depends on the year, recent JC/Cesar-era and endgame HJ-era versus older. [Older, used your are going to see more 'baseball bat' and the like...]

I believe it was ~2018 when they all moved to the same '50s Rounded Medium C' neck profile, except when specifiically named otherwise such as the Carmelita carves such as to be found on Dealer Select, M2M orders, etc. Of course, they still vary slightly from being 'hand-crafted'.

Further, there's remains inconsistent naming either due to dealers not being careful with their website data entry, or Gibson itself being sloppy with nomenclature...

I have seen '50s Rounded Medium C' and 'Chunk-C' being used on factory spec R8s: I called Gibson with the serial number for a 'Chunk-C' dealer-listed R8 and it's formally the '50s Rounded Medium C' but the dealer is using either older (or wrong) naming conventions.

So if shopping online, best to look very closely at posted neck profile specs, perhaps call Gibson with the SN to verify profile, as I did.

Also, the best dealers will measure at 1/12 and provide that information on their site, or will do that for you if you call... Wildwood is a standout in this regard.

Good luck!

 

[renderit]

Just for the record.

Most of mine were bought between 2014 and 2016 and the necks were wonderful on all I played.

My R4 (2014) is HUGE D shape.

My 2016 R5 is the slightly rounded "Deep V".

My 2016 R6 (True Historic) Is slightly smaller but still large kinda (C-D) ish.

2015 R7 goes down again in a C shape, but still large.

2015 R8 smaller but still bigger than their typical R9 C.

2013 R9 is the "perfect C" typical R9.

2014 R0 is the "slim neck" which is as wide side to side but very slim front to back (kinda a flat D).

Every one you can tell what it is blindfolded because of the necks!

I would say the Gibsons tendency BEFORE 2018 was to make them different on the neck sizes.

 

[LCW]

‘24 R8 at 1st/11th/12th frets

 

[RJLII]

A summary of mine below. Even though all are about the same depth, the R8 is the smallest feeling neck.

 

[Blind Lemon Chicken]

On average I'd say they get slightly smaller from 4 to 8.. Murphy 4's are still big..

 

[Cliff Gress]

‘24 R8 at 1st/11th/12th frets

View attachment 30072View attachment 30073View attachment 30074

My 2010 R7 is almost the same. D shaped.

 

[McCarthy]

I have found the newer ‘56 and ‘57 necks to be quite oddly shaped - has anyone else noticed this? Very large, rounded shoulders and C-shaped.

The newer ‘58s I have played recently seem to feel about the same as they always have.