Squonk
I have been reading about this on plenty forums and still not convinced by all the different arguments.
There is this talk of better sustain on set necks vs a more percussive feel on the bolt on.
And obviously with a bolt on neck it's a lot easier to repair and replace...
But what have you in your experience found in a bolt On, set neck, and a neck through
I have only had experience on my Peavey T-60 which is a bolt on neck and it sounds pretty good to me ?
deefstes
Even though my strat is a far better guitar than my LP, the sustain is very noticeably better on the LP. I'd imagine the set in neck of the LP helps but I wouldn't be surprised though if the pivot bridge on the strat affects the sustain to a greater extent than the bolt on neck.
AlanRatcliffe
If you'd asked me a few years ago, I'd have gone with the mainstream, but It's actually impossible to quantify as you can't try all three on the same guitar. I now suspect the main tonal differences come more from other construction features: particularly scale length and wood types. Set neck guitars tend to be shorter scale length and fat, heavy mahogany bodies, which make for warmer tone and slower attack. Bolt ons tend to be longer scale, maple necked and ash or alder bodies, which are brighter and more percussive. Through necks tend to be longer scale lengths and laminated hardwoods like maple and walnut, plus the body wings have less influence on the tone - brighter and more percussive again. There is something to be said for the bridge on a through neck being mounted on the neck too.
Sustain is meaningless on an electric guitar anyway. Any electric guitar with a decent neck join, nut and bridge is capable of more than enough sustain - especially given a decent amount of amplification and gain. To affect sustain, a neck join would have to be really bad or be two different woods that really fight each other (which happens in both set-necks and bolt-ons).
In short, judge each guitar as an individual.
Gearhead
I beg to differ slightly when it comes to quality expectations. A set neck is harder to make and harder to duff up than a bolt on. I do agree that a well made bolt on (as in: neck and body made to fit each other) will not sound worse, but there's just not many of them. If you take off the strings and screws, do neck and body actually still sit snugly together? Can you still take the body out of the case lying flat, by the neck?
My point is: imho luthiers going through the trouble of building set necks or through necks are less likely to get it wrong.
Wizard
If you rout a body for an actual neck you can get an insanely tight fit.
But bolting on necks & bodies independently can lead to gaps and imperfect joins.
This can make a difference?
Arno-West
I've played all the various necks and I didn't sound any better or worse on any of them. IMO it's no big deal what neck the guitar have, it's what your fingers do up and down the neck that counts. Sustain is a reletave concept. With 2 drive pedals swithed on and the axe angled towards the speaker cab just right, any guitar will hold a note till next year February.
Shibbibilybob
I'm with Alan. Whilst each one has it's associated tonal region, I think there is way too much going on to be able to isolate the type of neck join as the cause.
My experience is that pickups, hardware and strings make your electric guitar tone. You can then colour it slightly with wood choices and different construction/design elements, but for the most part I find those to be about comfort more than tone.
I think the big difference is the scale length. set neck guitars tend to be about three quarters of an inch shorter in that department ( a full inch in the case of some of the newer PRS guitars) which would make a guitar sound a bit warmer than the exact same guitar with a 25.5" scale.
Squonk
Interesting stuff
Thanks for all the replies
What got me going on the whole neck thing, was going through the latest Cort, Vintage and Tanglewood catalog's(all stacked neatly along with Guitarist etc in the Toilet, where I get some serious reading done ?)
I did notice that a lot of the model ranges, especially in the high end, Always cater for a set neck version as well.
deefstes
Squonk wrote:all stacked neatly along with Guitarist etc in the Toilet, where I get some serious reading done ?
And get to practice your guitar face? ?
Sneaky-Pete
Basic logic would suggest that resonance transfer will always
be better in a single piece of wood, than two pieces screwed together...
Further, I can see the screws adding their own harmonics to the sound...
