Guitars: neck-thru vs bolt on?

[Ermz]

Hey guys,

Just here to gather some opinions before I commit to ordering a custom tracking guitar.

I've been fancying the idea of a neck-thru guitar for a while, as I really dig the feel and design of them. This is juxtaposed with an experience I had recently, tracking a guitar with very similar specs to the one I'm after - namely, maple neck-thru, ebony fretboard, mahogany wings. The problem is that it sounded really bad. Obviously, 'really bad' is not how I want to feel about a guitar I get custom made specifically for recording.

My question is: does a bolt-on design significantly improve upon the attack and low-midrange clarity of a guitar? I found that with the other one that just about anything played through it sounded really mushy and weak. Not the sort of awesome all-mahogany mush either, but just a total lack of power and definition... and really weird mids.

 

[metalfanat1c]

Short answer: yes, bolt on guitars are snappier and clearer.


Long answer: I don't have a long answer for you. I don't know the long version.

 

[Empathy]

I actually talked to Perry Ormsby about it via email a week or so back, he summed it up with this:

I can see zero merit in through neck guitars. They do not sustain more. They take more effort to build, and offer no better neck access (over a well designed set neck). The neck timber over-rides the tone, and the wings being glued to the neck actually hamper natural resonance.

Would likely explain the issues you had with that guitar. I've never been a huge fan of neck-thru designs at all for those reasons, though set-necks have always treated me better than any bolt-ons I've played. Truth be told, I've never played a bolt-on that's even worth mentioning.

 

[gabriel g.]

There are three options:
bolt on, neck thru and glued neck.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

really depends on the guitar, the main adbantage of a thru is the higher fret access.
if a bolt on is done properly the sustain is not inferior to a through neck.
There are great guitars with bolt on, thru and set necks....but not because of the neck joint, but because they're great guitars

 

[drew_drummer]

Bolt-on necks feel cheap, and the playability of a guitar is affected quite drastically in my experience. Maybe not the sustain, but just the feel of the damn thing. A glued neck is perfectly adequate for me though, doesn't need to be a neck through.

This does seem to be overkill imho.

 

[Ermz]

My custom is likely being made by Strictly 7, who don't offer set/glued necks, to my knowledge. Hence why the battle is between bolt-on and neck-thru.

Cheers so far guys. Keep the experiences/info coming!

 

[Lasse Lammert]

Bolt-on necks feel cheap,

only on cheap guitars...I bet you wouldn't say that after you played my custom shop ESP MII....best guitar ever....and it's bolt on

 

[Ermz]

The best sounding guitar I ever tracked, for the Vanishing Point album rhythms, was an Ibanez bolt-on. Fattest tone I ever heard in anything that passed through here in 6 years. If that's what a 'cheap' guitar gets you, then slap my ass and call me a hobo.

 

[exoslime]

i like bolt-ons better than neck through, because the attack / response feels better to me.
but its true, the better access on higher frets is a + for neck through.

but as lasse said, great guitar are great guitars no matter if bolt-on, set-neck or neck-through, and bolt-on doesnt feel cheap on them.
as side note, my embrace II guitar that frank hartung currently builds for me is a bolt-on too

 

[drew_drummer]

The best sounding guitar I ever tracked, for the Vanishing Point album rhythms, was an Ibanez bolt-on. Fattest tone I ever heard in anything that passed through here in 6 years. If that's what a 'cheap' guitar gets you, then slap my ass and call me a hobo.

Just get one of those then???

 

[drew_drummer]

only on cheap guitars...I bet you wouldn't say that after you played my custom shop ESP MII....best guitar ever....and it's bolt on

Ehhh, it's always the case though, that there are no rules. Just my experience has put me off bolt on necks. Hey, my Les Paul is my favourite guitar, and I don't like floyd roses either! Even though I'm sure some guitars get on perfectly adequately with them.

It's all ymmv, imho, etc.. etc...

 

[Headof75]

Another point to consider is the changeability of your environment and climate. If it is just going to be in your studio it might not be such an issue but neck thru guitars are notoriously susceptible to changes in climate and atmosphere and their stability will be compromised.
I remember reading an interview with Glenn Benton where he said he had switched from using neck thru to bolt on basses live because the neck thrus needed to be unpacked, acclimatised and reset before every show, whereas the bolt ons were just ready to go.

 

[neptunian]

As others have said, with a neck-through the neck wood comprises most of the tone. Maple neck-through might as well be a maple bodied guitar. That means a mid-bright sound with potentially annoying mids and upper mids. It has a focused driving sound, not a heavy chugalug sound. The rigidity of a plank of wood causes a much snappier, less blooming, less "sag" like dynamic. Think of a vehicle with low mass, it is nimble and agile but doesn't carry much momentum. For soloing it may help; but for rhythms I'd opt for a high end bolt-on or set-neck to allow the warmer body tone-wood to come through more.

That said, "fixing" a maple-neck-through could be as simple as a suitable pickup swap that removes some of that mid hump, boosts the low-mids, and adds some top end crisp. I'm currently experimenting with that. The Dimarzio Crunch lab has been good to me, but I want to try a Duncan Custom, Custom 5, or Custom 8 next.

 

[rispsira]

i am just gonna be repeating some of the opinions that have been said here; no rules you can achieve good results with both, personally i like bolt ons.

 

[amarshism]

Ibanez ftw

 

[decoy205]

I spoke with an experienced luthier about this topic as well. Basically what Lasse said is the case. If a guitar is built correctly where the tone woods match and are properly paired to resonate together the construction doesnt matter as much.

I usually prefer well done set neck guitars however I have bolt ons with tons of sustain so. It's a question of if that builder is known to make fantastic sounding instruments. Theres a reason some builders have great reputations!

 

[xFkx]

i don't care much about neck-through vs bolt-on, but I find it kind of funny that there is so much talk about sustain, when the current trend in riffing is making the notes have the duration o a few miliseconds

 

[Adrian Warren]

Keep in mind that with a neck-thru guitar the pickups will sit directly in the neck wood material. Therefore you might think twice about which wood you choose for the neck.

 

[Melb_shredder]

Hey guys,

Just here to gather some opinions before I commit to ordering a custom tracking guitar.

I've been fancying the idea of a neck-thru guitar for a while, as I really dig the feel and design of them. This is juxtaposed with an experience I had recently, tracking a guitar with very similar specs to the one I'm after - namely, maple neck-thru, ebony fretboard, mahogany wings. The problem is that it sounded really bad. Obviously, 'really bad' is not how I want to feel about a guitar I get custom made specifically for recording.

My question is: does a bolt-on design significantly improve upon the attack and low-midrange clarity of a guitar? I found that with the other one that just about anything played through it sounded really mushy and weak. Not the sort of awesome all-mahogany mush either, but just a total lack of power and definition... and really weird mids.

Pretty I've been corrected MANY times before that the SLS is actually a MAHOGANY neck not maple!