Neck-thru/Bolt-on?

[RandyRhoads]

My uncle, who is a fine craftsman to say the least, has decided to make me a guitar and has asked me which would I prefer to go for... Neck-thru or Bolt-on neck?

I was just curious what your thoughts were?

What would you say were the pros and cons for each?

[rjohnstone]

It's a preference thing mostly.
The only significant "pro" I can see to a bolt-on vs a neck-thru is you can easily replace the neck if you fuck it up some how or get tired of it.
After that it's all in what you are comfortable with.

[kelly user]

from what i have gathered, bolt on necks and neck thrus are equally as hard to make. have you thought about a set neck guitar. test drive, a few different choices.

[nsubulysses]

Once you go neck thru you never go back

[59custom]

Not to belittle the quallity of you uncles craftsmanship but if he has never built a guitar or is not familiar with scale,Fretboard radius, fretting/leveling technique, installing a trussrod (and making it work Correctly), carving/slotting setting a nut. He will have a hell of a time? It may be a looker but possibly furniture also??? JMO, but maybe he should build you a body and buy a neck for it, route the neckpocket on a centerline, and go from there to get your scale correct, frets 1-12 should measure the same as 12th fret to bridge saddles. Good Luck!

[zeegler]

1 - neck thru
2 - set neck
3 - bolt on

...in that order

[dg]

Not to belittle the quallity of you uncles craftsmanship but if he has never built a guitar or is not familiar with scale,Fretboard radius, fretting/leveling technique, installing a trussrod (and making it work Correctly), carving/slotting setting a nut. He will have a hell of a time? It may be a looker but possibly furniture also??? JMO, but maybe he should build you a body and buy a neck for it, route the neckpocket on a centerline, and go from there to get your scale correct, frets 1-12 should measure the same as 12th fret to bridge saddles. Good Luck!

+1

If it's his first guitar, I think that's great advice. If he does do a neckthrough, a Carvin neckthrough blank would probably be the way to go. Either way, he can focus mostly on body shape & esthetics without having to worry too much about the luthery side of things, though there's no way to totally avoid it if you want it to be a great player.

[Axewielder]

Neckthroughs have a ton of advantages over bolties IMHO:

1) less susceptible to "rising hump" on the fretboard
2) better sustain
3) better access to high frets because of a slimmer heel
4) neck never misaligned on body
5) Cannot have bogus neckplate and S/N (ok so that doesn't really apply much in this case)
6) Can paint in a way that flows into the body
7) Usually don't develop neck pocket cracks in finish
8) No neck plate to interfere with strap button placement

[toejam]

Neckthroughs have a ton of advantages over bolties...
2) better sustain

Bullshit!

A bolt-on neck can have just as much sustain as a set neck or neck-thru.

[Axewielder]

Bullshit!

A bolt-on neck can have just as much sustain as a set neck or neck-thru.

OK sure, so bolties can have as much sustain as neck-throughs. I should have qualified that statement a bit. Give me 50 random neck-throughs and 50 random bolties, and the betting man says the top 50 guitars in the heap in terms of sustain are 80% nt's. Those bolts don't add strength like glue does, they usually only subtract.

[straycat]

Look I have neck thrus as well as set necks and lots of bolt ons and only 1(one) and only one guitar that vibrates so hard it hurts after about 30 minutes of hard playing and sustains like a MOFO and its my Charvel model 2 bullseye mutt with a ball bat strathead neck.So the sustain argument is a moot point because it smokes my SD soloist in the sustian dept.The soloist is a very smooth mellow guitar and the model 2 mutt is a raw dog to say the least.

[soc_monki]

sustain has a lot to do with the type of wood and quality. i have mostly bolt ons and one set neck, and they more or less all sustain equally well. even played a few neck-thrus and the sustain wasnt any better, and if it was i couldnt really notice.

[Axewielder]

Oh my, I may have kicked up a hornet's nest here. Flame on, you crazy bolt-on playing diamonds!!!

[zeegler]

I simply prefer neck thru guitars for the feel and my personal idea that neck thru is superior.

[Snoogans]

Always been a fan of thru-necks, but the most resonant, sustaining, and all-round harmonically "alive" guitar I've ever owned is my MusicMan Silhouette bolt-on. Don't feel as sexy as a thru-neck though....