Thick neck...

[stevekolt]

Fairly new to Epiphones, pretty darn old to guitars in general. My first Epi was a ES 339 that I foolishly sold. last week I got one of the new Eli Les Paul Specials. Love it! My question is, are there any other current Epi's with that wonderful thick neck carve? The other requirement is weight. Due to a back issue, (and general decrepitude) the weight needs to be eight pounds or less. My Gibson Pro Shop ES-339 weighs in at 6.6 lbs. Would love it if an Epiphone Casino Coupe had a similar neck.
What say y'all, am I chasing a unicorn?

 

[Jim85IROC]

There are a few Epis with thick necks, but not much below 8lbs. The 59 LPs have a thick neck, but you're doing great if you find one under 9lbs, nevermind 8. I believe the new Korina 58 Explorers and Vs have a big neck too. I doubt you'll find an Explorer under 8lbs, but I can't imagine that the Vs are heavy.

 

[Space1999]

The Epi Trad II I had had a big C shaped neck. It weighed in at 8.5 pounds. I have a back issue but that guitar never bothered me at all.
It had an amazing tone to it. Solid Mahagony body and carved tops.

You can pick them up on Reverb all day long around $450, sometimes with a case.
I think they are Epiphone’s best kept secret.
There are quite a many variations so be careful to check out the specs before buying if that is the route you go, but they are all great guitars.

I gave mine to my writing partner because I needed to thin the herd of Epi’s I had. Seven electrics was just too many guitars to keep and maintain. And I can still play it or borrow it whenever I want.

Pat

 

[Equalphone]

A lot of the new hollow / semi hollow Epi's have a "60's slim taper", which can actually work out to a fairly thick neck IME. I believe the Casino is still a Slim-D and for Epi that's usually fairly slim.

 

[Anton Evans]

The Epi Trad II I had had a big C shaped neck. It weighed in at 8.5 pounds. I have a back issue but that guitar never bothered me at all.
It had an amazing tone to it. Solid Mahagony body and carved tops.

You can pick them up on Reverb all day long around $450, sometimes with a case.
I think they are Epiphone’s best kept secret.
There are quite a many variations so be careful to check out the specs before buying if that is the route you go, but they are all great guitars.

I gave mine to my writing partner because I needed to thin the herd of Epi’s I had. Seven electrics was just too many guitars to keep and maintain. And I can still play it or borrow it whenever I want.

Pat

Just checked a Trad Pro II on Reverb and it's listed with the D shaped neck

 

[BlueSquirrel]

Fairly new to Epiphones, pretty darn old to guitars in general. My first Epi was a ES 339 that I foolishly sold. last week I got one of the new Eli Les Paul Specials. Love it! My question is, are there any other current Epi's with that wonderful thick neck carve? The other requirement is weight. Due to a back issue, (and general decrepitude) the weight needs to be eight pounds or less. My Gibson Pro Shop ES-339 weighs in at 6.6 lbs. Would love it if an Epiphone Casino Coupe had a similar neck.
What say y'all, am I chasing a unicorn?

@stevekolt What's the shape of the new Epi Les Paul Specials? Fat C? Or Fat D?

As to the Casino Coupe, it has exactly the same neck as an Epiphone ES-339 (called "slim taper D" but it feels really substantial, bigger than a Casino Worn's C neck). Same body size as an ES-339 as well. And it's an exceptionally light guitar.

Update : just measured my Casino Coupe :
Nut width : 43.4 mm
1st fret : 21.70 mm deep and 43.84 mm wide,
12th fret : 24 mm deep and 53.82 mm wide (and you can feel that the "D" has some "shoulder" to it), so yeah, it's a pretty big neck imho...
According to Trogly's review of the Epiphone Les Paul Standard 50s, for instance, it is bigger than the Les Paul Standard 50s.

As to its weight, it's 2.85 kg and it does not neck dive. It's also incredibly well-balanced if you put it on your lap to play. It's a super comfortable guitar imho.

So if you like Epiphone's ES-339 and you just wish to have a lighter one, just get a Casino Coupe.

 

[stevekolt]

Thanks for the replies everybody. Thanks to BlueSquirrel, heavily leaning towards the Casino Coupe…

 

[BGood]

What's the shape of the new Epi Les Paul Specials? Fat C? Or Fat D?

A nice chunky C shape.

 

[imnotcreative]

@stevekolt What's the shape of the new Epi Les Paul Specials? Fat C? Or Fat D?

As to the Casino Coupe, it has exactly the same neck as an Epiphone ES-339 (called "slim taper D" but it feels really substantial, bigger than a Casino Worn's C neck). Same body size as an ES-339 as well. And it's an exceptionally light guitar.

Update : just measured my Casino Coupe :
Nut width : 43.4 mm
1st fret : 21.70 mm deep and 43.84 mm wide,
12th fret : 24 mm deep and 53.82 mm wide (and you can feel that the "D" has some "shoulder" to it), so yeah, it's a pretty big neck imho...
According to Trogly's review of the Epiphone Les Paul Standard 50s, for instance, it is bigger than the Les Paul Standard 50s.

As to its weight, it's 2.85 kg and it does not neck dive. It's also incredibly well-balanced if you put it on your lap to play. It's a super comfortable guitar imho.

So if you like Epiphone's ES-339 and you just wish to have a lighter one, just get a Casino Coupe.

I have a slightly different experience with my Epi ES-339. The neck feels slimmer(0.84''/21.43mm) than the rounded c necks on my Gibson LP(0.84''/21.43mm) and SG(0.85''/21.59mm) tributes (slightly less shoulder). Comparing to the ''rounded'' neck on my Gibson ES-335(0.87''/22.08mm) it's as if comparing 50's and 60's necks. And it's also quite heavy... I can't give exact weight measurements because i only have a kitchen scale that goes to 3KG's/6.6lb. It feels heavier than my Gibson ES-335 and basically all my other guitars except for the non weight relieved LP's..

 

[BlueSquirrel]

I've never played a Gibson, so I can't compare Epiphone to Gibson.

I think that you - Steve Kolt - should hit a shop where you could try lots of guitars for yourself, or, at least, an online shop with an understanding return policy.

 

[stevekolt]

For me it will definitely be one of the online shops.

 

[Equalphone]

@stevekolt What's the shape of the new Epi Les Paul Specials? Fat C? Or Fat D?

As to the Casino Coupe, it has exactly the same neck as an Epiphone ES-339 (called "slim taper D" but it feels really substantial, bigger than a Casino Worn's C neck). Same body size as an ES-339 as well. And it's an exceptionally light guitar.

Update : just measured my Casino Coupe :
Nut width : 43.4 mm
1st fret : 21.70 mm deep and 43.84 mm wide,
12th fret : 24 mm deep and 53.82 mm wide (and you can feel that the "D" has some "shoulder" to it), so yeah, it's a pretty big neck imho...
According to Trogly's review of the Epiphone Les Paul Standard 50s, for instance, it is bigger than the Les Paul Standard 50s.

As to its weight, it's 2.85 kg and it does not neck dive. It's also incredibly well-balanced if you put it on your lap to play. It's a super comfortable guitar imho.

So if you like Epiphone's ES-339 and you just wish to have a lighter one, just get a Casino Coupe.

That makes your Coupe more of a Slim-C 60's depth in Gibson terms. I can't comment on the contours, obviously. But it's definitely not what Epi usually has when they list Slim-D.

 

[BlueSquirrel]

Are Epi's necks finished by hand? That could explain to some extent why they seem to vary so much.

 

[Epilogue]

Fairly new to Epiphones, pretty darn old to guitars in general. My first Epi was a ES 339 that I foolishly sold. last week I got one of the new Eli Les Paul Specials. Love it! My question is, are there any other current Epi's with that wonderful thick neck carve? The other requirement is weight. Due to a back issue, (and general decrepitude) the weight needs to be eight pounds or less. My Gibson Pro Shop ES-339 weighs in at 6.6 lbs. Would love it if an Epiphone Casino Coupe had a similar neck.
What say y'all, am I chasing a unicorn?

I've got an SG Pro form 2013 that has a thick neck. I thought it might be too thick at first, but it feels great. I had a casino Coupe from 2019, but it was a slim taper neck. I also love the SG for being super-light. V spine-friendly.

 

[Ed Malone]

Fairly new to Epiphones, pretty darn old to guitars in general. My first Epi was a ES 339 that I foolishly sold. last week I got one of the new Eli Les Paul Specials. Love it! My question is, are there any other current Epi's with that wonderful thick neck carve? The other requirement is weight. Due to a back issue, (and general decrepitude) the weight needs to be eight pounds or less. My Gibson Pro Shop ES-339 weighs in at 6.6 lbs. Would love it if an Epiphone Casino Coupe had a similar neck.
What say y'all, am I chasing a unicorn?

I have a 2017 Epi LP Trad Pro IV, has a baseball bat neck (in a good way).

 

[ksmith1941]

For weight relief, look at the Muse models.

 

[BlueSquirrel]

I think that they have slimmer neck, though.

 

[28 Flathead]

Welcome to the forum @

stevekolt​

 

[28 Flathead]

For weight relief, look at the Muse models.

Welcome to Epi Talk @

ksmith1941​

 

[Equalphone]

I think that they have slimmer neck, though.

The Muse has the asymmetrical neck. Supposedly more like a C on top and a D on the bottom.

If anyone has experience with one, I'd be interested in opinions. I haven't been able to find one near me to try out.