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  • Thread starter Thread starter Fordman65
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I don’t think anyone who actually knows anything thinks neck thru actually means the guitar is superior to a bolt on or set neck or whatever. They’re all just different ways to build guitars.

I do remember when I was a kid there was a general idea among fellow young and dumb musicians that neckthrus had some mythical status and were ipso facto superior to anything else. I think it may have just come from the fact that the Jackson Soloist was the most expensive thing. :lol:
 
I love my bolt on Aviator. Totally changed my opinion on them. Ever since i got it I've noticed other bolt on guitars have similar snappy quality
 
Dammit, I thought the thread was about something entirely-different. :LOL:

EDIT:
In case it's not obvious, bolt-ons, yeah, that's easy, but I also took "NT" to stand for "natural", so the title meant "bolt-ons vs natural". :D
 
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Bolt-on's are less sophisticated, which makes them a better match for me. That's all I own. I can see a little advantage in the transition to higher frets, theoretically, on the neck-through, but I've never actually had an issue with bolt-ons.
 
Neck thru is a very cool look. I always heard they would sustain a lil better, I could never tell the difference
 
There are so many variables in the wood alone that can change these results. Just like folks always say you need to play a Les Paul to find a good resonate one.

I think Ola did one of the best modern unbiased tests you can do and he even recognizes the variables. I just wish he went more in depth with the sustain test. Do the sustain test 10+ times each guitar, average the results of out. I personally wouldn't buy neck thru guitars because some joints are big and chunky. Also if something catastrophic happens to your neck, your whole guitar is boned.
 
I think that a nice neck through like a Soloist can sound a little darker and thicker on average; but that doesn’t mean the bolt on can’t sound the same.
I had a great 1990 USA Soloist that had great tone; neck was a little too beefy compared to my Charvels. But it sounded killer.
 
I have always liked neck thrus because of easier access to the higher frets. Really nothing to do with tone for me. With that being said, my favorite guitar is an LSL bolt on. Many companies that traditionally have a larger heel have come up with contoured joints to take that out of the equation (examples being Gibson Axcess and Suhr modern). I think these more accessible joints really defeat the main arguments and aversions to these instruments that aren’t neck thru. It certainly made me check out stuff outside of my comfort zone that I really love.
 
Fun fact: Bolt-on actually has the best sustain out of all neck joints if it's done well! Ask Neal Moser if you don't believe me:



Bardagh said:
I think it may have just come from the fact that the Jackson Soloist was the most expensive thing. :LOL:
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LOL i had this exact same thought when i was a kid. Neck Thru USA Jacksons were the holy grail.
 
If the difference in sustain between bolt on and neck thru is an issue for you, your playing too fucking slow.
And too quiet too. Crank it up until it feeds back like a hostile ex-girlfriend.
We need more Doc Holidays here and less Annie Oakleys.
 
Bolt-ons have much more harmonic content to the notes (snap, shimmer, spank, pick your adjective)
Neck Thrus emphasize the fundamental content of the note (deeper resonance, thicker growlier punchier tone)
Set Neck is in between them

It has all to do with the mechanics of the neck joint (or lack thereof - there is no neck joint on a neck thru), meaning how much string energy is "lost" between the neck plank and body. Bolt-on's don't transfer low end frequencies as well, thus their emphasis on the harmonic end of the spectrum. However, the human ear and brain sort of "fills in" and extrapolates the missing low end similar to how the tiny speaker works on a telephone. You hear a male voice sound normal when listening but that tiny phone speaker is not really capable of reproducing the lower frequencies of that person. Hope you enjoyed today's nerd out session.
 
Comfort is my main goal and for that I prefer NT or set neck.

Cork sniffing has nothing to do with it nor IMO the tonal plusses or minuses of any option - from my point view, play what is the most comfortable to you as a player. The rest is secondary.
 
itsgoodnow said:
my favorite guitar is an LSL bolt on.
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Funny how LSL still seems to fly under the radar, what freaking fantastic guitars....I had a black paisley Tele named Gertrude or something that was killer...in the end I couldn’t do the paisley or the name, but damn that was a killer guitar. I would own another LSL in a heartbeat. Lets see a shot of yours!

In the end I love em both, but struggle with some of the prices of the bolt on’s.....I think the other consideration is scale length.....you don’t often see Fender scale NT / Les Paul style guitars, more likely to see short scale bolt ons, and there is a difference. Same as a humbucker in a Strat, that is an undeniable sound. I prefer my Tele over a Strat, but will take humbuckered Strat over its single coil version all day long, and will take my short scale wrap tail P90 loaded Hamer Special over all of those haha....lots of variables.
 
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