Re: Bolt-On / Glued-On / Neck-Through
The problem is, nicely made bolt-ons with tight tolerances seem to be fairly rare for some reason.
Because of the loose tolerances specific to work done by hand. CNC-routed neck pockets and neck heels, as long as the tolerances in the dimensions between the two are as tight as possible, will fit together as if they were one piece, just like machined components should be. However, when clinging to the notion of "made by hand", you also cling to the notion that those hands will be attached to a master, and that master can eyeball a perfect heel and pocket every time, taking off just enough material to make a self-locking joint where the bolts are just for show.
Then you have the fact that wood expands and contracts on its own depending on the atmospheric conditions, so one day you might see a gap around a neck heel, and on others you might notice finish cracks around the pocket.
Neck and body joint type alone does not guarantee tonal result, whether it's snappy, poppy, dark, more-sustaining, less-sustainful, or fuller/thinner/richer/poorer. I'm sitting in a room right now surrounded by neckthroughs, bolt-ons, and set-necks, with Floyds, tuneomatics, string-through and stopbars, made in USA, Japan, Indonesia, and Mexico, and almost as many different pickup models - JB, Distortion, Custom, 59, etc.
I have a snappy, bright mahogany/mahogany/rosewood neckthrough and a dark-toned maple/ebony bolt-on.
The biggest difference between them is the material quality, both in the body and the hardware. Some have drastically different EQ curves from others, but on average, they all have the same amount of sustain for both open and fretted notes.
