History of 513 neck carves?

[P90s]

I own one of the original 513s, built back in 2006 when the neck was made of Brazilian rosewood. I think the neck carve on the 513 has been changed at least twice, and I'm wondering if anyone knows the key years and the associated neck carves. I love the 2006 carve: narrow fretboard and deep "D" shape. I wish they were still making guitars with the neck.
Thanks in advance for anyone who knows the neck history of the 513.

 

[RickP]

I have two 2007s, and agree the neck is great. It was originally called the 513 carve, and was particular to this guitar alone AFAIK. It was obviously a good thing, and those ideas tend to spread in the PRS line. I don’t know the years that each change was made, but the 513 carve eventually became the Pattern neck and is among those most commonly used.

There was more discussion on it here.

 

[P90s]

I have two 2007s, and agree the neck is great. It was originally called the 513 carve, and was particular to this guitar alone AFAIK. It was obviously a good thing, and those ideas tend to spread in the PRS line. I don’t know the years that each change was made, but the 513 carve eventually became the Pattern neck and is among those most commonly used.

There was more discussion on it here.

My understanding was that the Pattern neck evolved from the Wide Fat profile. I have a PRS from 2003 with a Wide Fat neck and it feels virtually identical to the current Pattern neck carve. You're saying that the Pattern neck carve came from original 513? Sorry if I'm misreading you, and thanks for the info.

 

[RickP]

Paul in discussing the 513 neck carve, referenced in the article in the thread above:

There´s a slightly different carve to the neck that Smith describes as, “pretty much a wide-fat but 1/64th of an inch [0.4mm] narrower at the nut.”

So the 513 neck is similar to wide fat, but feels thinner because of the nut area carve. Both the pattern and 513 originated in the wide fat, with slight modifications to reach their desired feels.

 

[Rider1260]

My 513 feels deeper than any of my pattern or wide fat guitars.
513 is on the playlist for tonight so we will see

 

[P90s]

Paul in discussing the 513 neck carve, referenced in the article in the thread above:

There´s a slightly different carve to the neck that Smith describes as, “pretty much a wide-fat but 1/64th of an inch [0.4mm] narrower at the nut.”

So the 513 neck is similar to wide fat, but feels thinner because of the nut area carve. Both the pattern and 513 originated in the wide fat, with slight modifications to reach their desired feels.

btw, pretty funny:

Established 1960, Still Not Dead​

 

[Maertl513]

513 could be separated in several production lines:
1- (2004 to 2007) 513 Rosewood (according to the full rosewood neck and serial 10 top)
2- (2007-2009) 513 (mahogany neck + rosewood fretboard)
3 - (2010) 513 Swamp Ash (rock maple neck + rosewood fretboard)
4 - (2010) 513 25th Anniversary (mahogany neck + rosewood fretboard)
5 - (2011-2016) 513 Maple Top (mahogany neck + rosewood fretboard)

1 to 4 offer the 513 neck shape, which is close to Wide Fat, but has jumbo frets (comparable to the DGT).
5 offers the Pattern Regular neck shape, which is - already stated - slightly narrower at the nut.

Neck Shape

Neck width at nut

Neck width at body

Neck depth at 1/2 fret

Neck depth at 12 1/2 fret

Pattern Regular	1 21/32" [42.06 mm]	2 1/4" [57.15 mm]	27/32" [21.41 mm]	59/64" [23.39 mm]
513	42.5 mm	52.4 mm (at 12th fret)	21.0 mm (at 5th fret 22.6 mm)	23.8 mm
Wide Fat	1 11/16" [42.85 mm]	2 1/4" [57.15 mm]	7/8" [22.22 mm]	61/64" [24.20 mm]

Wide Fat actually differs. I let a luthier made me two custom made guitars with a Wide Fat neck. He measured three identical by specs McCartys of one owner. He had one neck shape which suits him most. And this in particular I chose once. I have the metric width only at nut and XII. fret:
Nut 43.2 mm, XII. 53.0 mm [12" radius] 1st custom made guitar; nut 43.3 mm, XII. 52.3 mm [20" radius] 2nd custom made guitar. The neck of the second custom made guitar feels a little bit more chunky.
Comparing a Pattern Regular 513 with a 513 profile there is nearly no difference in the haptic manner.

 

[RickP]

The biggest problem I've had comparing my two 2007s with the other two I've owned is that that 07s are both Braz necks, and the others were finished mahogany. The difference in feel of the wood overshadows the minute measurement differences, as far as I recall. I can say that the original 513 Carve, when it was specifically called that, is among my favorites.

 

[Maertl513]

That's a point, indeed. But: The coated necks of PRS aren't sticky likewise LP necks supposed to be.

 

[Wolfram]

I have two 513s, a 2005 with Brazilian rosewood and 513 neck carve, and a 25th Anniversary with Wide Fat carve (mahogany neck with bound rosewood fingerboard). They are quite different - the 513 carve is slightly narrower and noticeably deeper.

Personally I prefer the Wide Fat - that carve on my 25th Anni 513 is the most comfortable of all my PRSi. Interestingly, the 513's Wide Fat carve also feels different to the Pattern profile on my 2016 McCarty; both very comfortable but different. Perhaps it is the feel of different neck materials - gloss-finished mahogany vs unfinished Indian rosewood on the McCarty.