Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey guys,

Would anyone happen to have a good mechanical drawing of Gibson’s 57 Classic Plus pickup? Having pre-purchase specs such as general measurements and string spacing would be great. And, yes, we have already contacted Gibson.
While we’re on the topic, does anyone really know what the greatest contributing factor is which allows a Gibson to sound like a Gibson? Would you say it’s mostly due to wood type/selection, body shape, electronics, or string height at the bridge? Or, maybe, a combo of?

Thanks

i'd say the greatest factors in a solidbody gibson might be mahogany neck material and low to medium-output humbucking pickups.
other contributors would be scale length, mahogany body, and tilted/archtop style geometry, as opposed to "flatmount" fender style.

Like the above poster, I'm sure its a combination of the factors... and I hear a lot of people talking about the mahogany body having a lot to do with it (mahogany being associated with a dark, rich tone).

Would you go as far as saying a "flatmount" Gibson-style custom could sound very close to current production Gibson's?

The reason I'm asking is that it's much easier to rout a zero-degree N-pocket, and we actually kind of dig the “flatmount” look as opposed to Gibbie’s current 5-degree N-angle – especially since we’re planning on using a spoke-style truss-rod.

The other option would be to simply raise the fretboard up off the body about 4mm in order to mimic Gibson’s body-to-string height at the bridge measurement.

Any views/opinions/experience regarding?

My opinion is that pickups are 90% of the sound, and most people can't hear the 10% that's different.
Yes, you can get the Gibson sound without the neck angle, but routing an angle into the neck pocket is as simple as putting a shim under the end of your neck pocket template.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Yep, much easier than putting the neck angle on the neck. I'm not comfortable playing a straight neck guitar.
I use a 2-3 degree angle depending on the bridge height.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

What router bit do you use to rout the pocket, and do you leave the corners round, or square then off with a chisel?

A regular old straight bit works fine - as long as it's sharp. You need to take multiple passes, don't try to take it all out at once.

You can square up the pocket or round the corners on the neck tenon. Don't think it makes any difference since it's covered by the fingerboard. I guess you would gain a little more gluing surface if you square up the pocket but don't think it would be significant.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

I use a 1/2" straight cut pattern bit, but I use fostner bits and a chisel to remove most of the material.



As for rounding the corners, sometimes I do and sometimes I square them up. One's about as easy as the other, so I do whatever I think will look best.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon