Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
Seems like a great way to get potential intonation issues and neck pocket cracking.
Seems like a great way to get potential intonation issues and neck pocket cracking.
Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
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6stringerguy
New member
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
I think a difference in the sound, the bolt on usually means there’s a little less low end and more snap to the guitar, they’re way more practical in terms of maintenance
I prefer set neck/neck thru as they’re more consistent in terms of quality and they generally have better playability.
Plus there’s some irrational psychological element for me that Set Neck/Neck Thru are better when I know that’s not always true.
I think a difference in the sound, the bolt on usually means there’s a little less low end and more snap to the guitar, they’re way more practical in terms of maintenance
I prefer set neck/neck thru as they’re more consistent in terms of quality and they generally have better playability.
Plus there’s some irrational psychological element for me that Set Neck/Neck Thru are better when I know that’s not always true.
RorySquier
Well-known member
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
Unless it's done correctly. I never tried it out but it seems like a good idea.
;>)/
Unless it's done correctly. I never tried it out but it seems like a good idea.
;>)/
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
Yep, 4 screws spaced the way they are for the typical bolt on are plenty enough to hold necks in place. A little oil on the thread when installing helps them not bind on the wood so you truly are cranking the neck against the body, not overly grinding against friction of the threads.
Yep, 4 screws spaced the way they are for the typical bolt on are plenty enough to hold necks in place. A little oil on the thread when installing helps them not bind on the wood so you truly are cranking the neck against the body, not overly grinding against friction of the threads.
Silence Kid
New member
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
I think it should be said there is no benefit from over-tightening; just possible harm.
I think it should be said there is no benefit from over-tightening; just possible harm.
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
^ Maybe it is to you. But (and its a bit like a broken record around forums TBH) we all need to look beyond our own narrow little slice of life and see that not everybody plays the same way. I do play clean to slightly over driven. So despite your overly belligerent opinion on sustain, it is important to me. And I'm sure there are plenty of others who play with similar setups and likes that feel the same.
Plus the amp only sustains as much as the guitar does. If you have a guitar that chokes out after 2 seconds due to poor setup.....guess what, so will the note coming out of your amp. So extend that to a guitar that just is a bit 'dead', you can see that no amp will counteract physics. You can push the amp into positive feedback of course, but that is a wholly different topic and completely irrelevant here.
^ Maybe it is to you. But (and its a bit like a broken record around forums TBH) we all need to look beyond our own narrow little slice of life and see that not everybody plays the same way. I do play clean to slightly over driven. So despite your overly belligerent opinion on sustain, it is important to me. And I'm sure there are plenty of others who play with similar setups and likes that feel the same.
Plus the amp only sustains as much as the guitar does. If you have a guitar that chokes out after 2 seconds due to poor setup.....guess what, so will the note coming out of your amp. So extend that to a guitar that just is a bit 'dead', you can see that no amp will counteract physics. You can push the amp into positive feedback of course, but that is a wholly different topic and completely irrelevant here.
Silence Kid
New member
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
So as far as the 'sustain decayed by resonance' thing, I think of it this way: If you have a bridge, nut, or other crappy part of the guitar that sucks up all the string's vibration on its own before it ever hits the body, you'll have an awful, plinky sounding guitar.
Better to have a guitar where the bridge can at least pass on the energy of the string to the body - Even though the body will ultimately vibrate that energy off anyway (which is unavoidable - and we know that bodies do resonate if supplied sufficient energy since the ****ing things vibrate.)
So body resonance is a necessary evil.
So as far as the 'sustain decayed by resonance' thing, I think of it this way: If you have a bridge, nut, or other crappy part of the guitar that sucks up all the string's vibration on its own before it ever hits the body, you'll have an awful, plinky sounding guitar.
Better to have a guitar where the bridge can at least pass on the energy of the string to the body - Even though the body will ultimately vibrate that energy off anyway (which is unavoidable - and we know that bodies do resonate if supplied sufficient energy since the ****ing things vibrate.)
So body resonance is a necessary evil.
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
Hey, all ok.....I just am a bit sensitive to absolutes;-)
Both fuzz and compressors actively boost a signal (as well as softening the initial attack), meaning that the note will sound just as loud as its about to die as when you first strike it. The amp will do to a degree too, distortion or overdrive is a compressive effect as well. But once the signal is no longer there it cannot conjure something from nothing.
Hey, all ok.....I just am a bit sensitive to absolutes;-)
Both fuzz and compressors actively boost a signal (as well as softening the initial attack), meaning that the note will sound just as loud as its about to die as when you first strike it. The amp will do to a degree too, distortion or overdrive is a compressive effect as well. But once the signal is no longer there it cannot conjure something from nothing.
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
Well, the body is actually a store of potential energy. It has to be as the strings can only be tensioned due to its strong structure. So there is actually a momentum based benefit, not just a greater loss to the mass of a body. If it were possible in some bizarre circumstance to tension strings with no support then they would not sustain very long at all. You can attach strings to very little support to test this out. Additionally, pluck a string and sit a guitar on a table. Now the guitar has a huge amount of extra mass as the table now vibrates too, which given your theory should immediately kill the note.....it barely does anything to the note duration.
So body resonance isn't a necessary evil, but a necessary benefit.
Well, the body is actually a store of potential energy. It has to be as the strings can only be tensioned due to its strong structure. So there is actually a momentum based benefit, not just a greater loss to the mass of a body. If it were possible in some bizarre circumstance to tension strings with no support then they would not sustain very long at all. You can attach strings to very little support to test this out. Additionally, pluck a string and sit a guitar on a table. Now the guitar has a huge amount of extra mass as the table now vibrates too, which given your theory should immediately kill the note.....it barely does anything to the note duration.
So body resonance isn't a necessary evil, but a necessary benefit.
Silence Kid
New member
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
Thanks for the thoughtful response - I think I was getting at: Whatever law of thermodynamics/friction I learned in college and subsequently forgot - is the true necessary evil, as it doesn't allow the string to vibrate indefinitely.
Thanks for the thoughtful response - I think I was getting at: Whatever law of thermodynamics/friction I learned in college and subsequently forgot - is the true necessary evil, as it doesn't allow the string to vibrate indefinitely.
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Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
Well, I do quite often.
But thats just my style. I'd love to be able to play The Supernatural or Night Prowler with just sustain from the guitar and vibrato.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoasUjXBkm8
Bloody hell, why can't I get the youtube feature to embed anymore:cussing:
Well, I do quite often.
But thats just my style. I'd love to be able to play The Supernatural or Night Prowler with just sustain from the guitar and vibrato.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoasUjXBkm8
Bloody hell, why can't I get the youtube feature to embed anymore:cussing:
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Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
Yeah.....you cannot have infinite energy with no losses. Be nice if you could of course. But there are 'sustainer' effects from mass that help. Of course like everything 'more doesn't continue to be better'. There is that bell curve of benefit that means that you get to the point where addition will lead to loss. Its all proportional to the the amount of energy stored in the system in the first place.
Yeah.....you cannot have infinite energy with no losses. Be nice if you could of course. But there are 'sustainer' effects from mass that help. Of course like everything 'more doesn't continue to be better'. There is that bell curve of benefit that means that you get to the point where addition will lead to loss. Its all proportional to the the amount of energy stored in the system in the first place.
Demanic
PenultimateTone Member
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
I have screw on neck, set neck and neck through. They all sound different. They all sound good. That being said, a screw on or glue joint neck done poorly won't sound great. Of course neither will a poorly done neck through, but that's less likely to happen. Although inexpensive set and screw on neck guitars have gotten much better QC wise in the last decade.
Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk
I have screw on neck, set neck and neck through. They all sound different. They all sound good. That being said, a screw on or glue joint neck done poorly won't sound great. Of course neither will a poorly done neck through, but that's less likely to happen. Although inexpensive set and screw on neck guitars have gotten much better QC wise in the last decade.
Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
As far as body vibration goes, when amplified that also becomes a two-way street. It isn't just a matter of bleeding energy away from the strings - the guitar also absorbs ambient sound energy and transfers it back to the strings. IMO this is why the guitars that resonate best when unplugged tend to be the ones that come alive easily at volume. And stiff or heavy guitars that might sustain the longest unplugged (by preserving energy in the strings vs communicating it to the neck & body) often require more stage volume before they really light up and start singing.
The idea of angled extra screws securing the end of a bolt-on neck to the body is one I hadn't seen before. Thanks for posting it, RorySquier. Pretty cool.
With bolt-ons I always use the trick of loosening the mounting screws slightly while the strings are under tension, to make sure the neck butts up as solidly against the pocket as possible. (And then retightening, of course) I've found this can sometimes improve both tone and sustain significantly. The angled-screw thing would take that a big step further. Not sure how much improvement would be gained or whether it would benefit every guitar, and not just those with poor contact surfaces or other problems. But it's certainly an intriguing idea.
As far as body vibration goes, when amplified that also becomes a two-way street. It isn't just a matter of bleeding energy away from the strings - the guitar also absorbs ambient sound energy and transfers it back to the strings. IMO this is why the guitars that resonate best when unplugged tend to be the ones that come alive easily at volume. And stiff or heavy guitars that might sustain the longest unplugged (by preserving energy in the strings vs communicating it to the neck & body) often require more stage volume before they really light up and start singing.
The idea of angled extra screws securing the end of a bolt-on neck to the body is one I hadn't seen before. Thanks for posting it, RorySquier. Pretty cool.
With bolt-ons I always use the trick of loosening the mounting screws slightly while the strings are under tension, to make sure the neck butts up as solidly against the pocket as possible. (And then retightening, of course) I've found this can sometimes improve both tone and sustain significantly. The angled-screw thing would take that a big step further. Not sure how much improvement would be gained or whether it would benefit every guitar, and not just those with poor contact surfaces or other problems. But it's certainly an intriguing idea.
treyhaislip
Well-known member
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
Advantages: Increased sustain (IMO)
Disadvanatges: Neck breakage
So I had a beautiful Jackson SL3 loaded with a JB and 2 Hotrails. The thing had the best sustain of any guitar I've owned. It played like a dream and was a tone monster. Until...a music pastor slammed into accidentally and broke the neck. Couldn't find someone nearby to fix it other than Guitar Center...didn't trust their work and they gave me a pretty good trade value for an acoustic I had wanted. Left me with a bad taste and was a step towards building/assembling my own (Warmoth and Musikraft.)
That being said...all of the neck thru guitars I've played (full disclosure, I've only owned one...played more but only owned one) had a very full rich tone with a lot of sustain. I've come to love my builds but won't rule out the idea of having a neck thru in the future.
Advantages: Increased sustain (IMO)
Disadvanatges: Neck breakage
So I had a beautiful Jackson SL3 loaded with a JB and 2 Hotrails. The thing had the best sustain of any guitar I've owned. It played like a dream and was a tone monster. Until...a music pastor slammed into accidentally and broke the neck. Couldn't find someone nearby to fix it other than Guitar Center...didn't trust their work and they gave me a pretty good trade value for an acoustic I had wanted. Left me with a bad taste and was a step towards building/assembling my own (Warmoth and Musikraft.)
That being said...all of the neck thru guitars I've played (full disclosure, I've only owned one...played more but only owned one) had a very full rich tone with a lot of sustain. I've come to love my builds but won't rule out the idea of having a neck thru in the future.
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
Youre advancing a misconception
True moral of the story: stay the hell away from priests, and all will be well
Youre advancing a misconception
True moral of the story: stay the hell away from priests, and all will be well
Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
Re: Advantages/ Disadvantages of a Neck-thru
*Yore.
Youre advancing a misconception
True moral of the story: stay the hell away from priests, and all will be well
*Yore.