Chibson Owners Forum

I cant decide if I want a Les Paul or a strat now.

tooly wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2024 5:13 pm I cant decide if I want a Les Paul or a strat now.

I have 2 Chenders Strats and 3 Chibsons LPs. The Chenders are cheaper, generally speaking. What's your budget?

I don't know yet because I don't know what I want yet.

[/img]How does the neck compare to the new IBG Epiphones? Where and what seller did you buy it from? Do you have digital calipers to take some measurements? Can you describe the binding edge? Is it rolled over, or does it have an unmolested edge. lol Sorry for all the questions. If you read below, you'll understand what I mean, and why I ask.

My buddy also has a Chibson LP Slash Appetite, but I have no clue which seller it came from, because he got it in a trade. It is driving me crazy, because it is very nice, and I don't know which builder built it. I went from not knowing anything about these guitars a couple weeks ago, to now I'm obsessed with them. lol

Anyway, the neck on the Chibson is much more substantial feeling than a 2024 IBG Epiphone 50's LP, that supposedly has a chunky neck. The Epi feels thinner, but mostly it feels more narrow, due to the way Epi curves the neck into the binding now, especially on the low E side. Epi also rounds over the binding edge when they heavily back bevel the frets. This combination of neck/binding rolling over, and fret back beveling takes up too much of the play area, making it impossible to install a nut blank, and widen the string spacing in the nut. The 43mm nut width Epi advertises is not true, because the nut doesn't even go out as wide as the wood, and the rolling over gobbles up some of that width by the time you get up to the top edge of the binding.

I know a lot of people like the new IBG Epiphones, because the headstock looks like a Gibson, and the craftsmanship is nice, but the neck is not accurate, and they are not ideal for a thumb over blues guitarist. You can't install a wider spaced nut anymore, to make chording cleanly much more easy, and to make thumbing over more easy.

Anyway, My buddy's Chibson does not have the neck rounded over like the Epi, and it does not have the binding rolled over. The frets are not heavily back beveled like the Epi. In fact, they have very little back bevel, maybe 7-8 degrees. It has a lot of fret crown on each side of the E strings, so it would be very easy to install a nut blank, and slot it considerably wider, to make chording cleanly much more easy, and to make thumbing over even easier. This neck is very NICE, and it is how a neck should be built. However, it did require a fret leveling to get it playing without fretting out. The trussrod also gave me plenty of relief, but it does turn more snuggly than it should. I'm familiar with a dual action rod, and it isn't due to that.

Here is a picture of what I'm talking about. Epi on the left, Chibby on the right. Notice how much more room the Chibson has for installing a nut with wider spacing.

By the way, Skully is under the clear coat on this one, and the tuners say Gibson Deluxe on the back. I doubt very seriously they are Gibson. lol The build quality is pretty nice, but the rattling TOM is poor. If my buddy will trade with me, I'm going to install a Gotoh Nashville on it. The tail piece is blank on the bottom, and it just falls off when the strings are removed, unlike the Epi tail piece, that stays in place.

The pots are the little cheap ones, the output jack is garbage, and the pickups are the usual over 10K for the neck, and almost 12K for the bridge. The switch actually feels okay. The pot locations are farther forward than a Gibson, and the TOM posts are the large metric ones (I think they miked at 5.77mm). The post threads appear to be M8.

The neck of the Chibson measures .940in=23.88mm thick, right next to the first fret. It also measures 1.019in=25.88mm thick next to the 12th fret. It measures 1.699in=43.16mm wide at the nut, and 2.101in=53.37mm wide at the 12th fret. I installed masking tape in the jaws of the calipers to prevent scratching, and zeroed out the calipers, with the jaws shut on the tape, before measuring. I reconfirmed zero with the jaws shut after measuring. Also, I held the calipers snug to get the smallest possible measurements.

I have a 50s Epiphone LP with the chunky neck. I prefer it to the slimmer neck. So much so I Bought a PRS acoustic with a similar neck over a Taylor.