Bolt-On -Or- Through-Neck?

[hsech]

I haven't noticed any difference in sound because of the neck. I have three bolt on basses, two neck through and one set neck. To me the pickups and body wood make the difference, not being bolt on or neck through.

Fender P - Bolt
Fender J - Bolt
G&L ASAT - Bolt
Gibson SG - Set
Ric 4003 - Neck Through
Carvin AC40F - Neck Through

 

[burns_isaac]

Has anyone ever actually had a NT go south on them? And when you mention maintenance, what kind of maintenance are you referring to? Truss adjustment and intonation? Those are the only types of maintenance I've ever performed on a bass. Anyway just wondering. Thanks

 

[Ian_Flash]

Yes pretty much that. I have seen, on occasion, NT's with busted Truss Rods, warps and Cracks but not as often as with Bolt-Ons.

 

[grendle]

Here's the $60,000 question. When you bolt on guys swap necks with different bodies, does the tone change with the body? Or with the neck? From my exp with NT basses the tone changes with the wood. You can alter or color the tone with pups, pre and bridge. But the fundamental tone of the bass stays the same and audible.

 

[grendle]

Has anyone ever actually had a NT go south on them? And when you mention maintenance, what kind of maintenance are you referring to? Truss adjustment and intonation? Those are the only types of maintenance I've ever performed on a bass. Anyway just wondering. Thanks

Nope. Never had an instrument go south on me at all honestly. IMO poor build quality/components or lack of proper care for the instrument does that.

 

[burns_isaac]

I also have never had a bass do any of those things and I live in Texas where the humidity and temperature change at the drop of a dime. I've maybe made two adjustments in 4 years of owning my Yamaha and its a bolt on. I've been strongly considering a neck thru which is why was asking. Thanks.

 

[burns_isaac]

Do people abuse their instruments? I don't understand how any neck could warp and bust the truss and crack the top as someone mentioned. I just don't understand.

 

[burns_isaac]

For purposes of clarity, I was referring to neck adjustment. Intonation is always maintained.

 

[Revolver]

After owning several of both I will stay away from neck through basses from now on. The problem is the truss rod does not extend all the way through the bass so eventually the neck will start to bow between the fingerboard and the neck pickup. This bowing actually cracked the top on my "hidden" neck through warwick thumb 5. This happens much faster in hot humid areas like i live in. The bonus of a bolt on is if something tragic happens you can replace a neck or a body. With a neck through you can have it repaired (sometimes) but I'd rather have new parts. The downside of bolt ons is when it comes to production basses they aren't always the same quality as the neck through versions. For example with warwick the ebony fingerboard and 3 band eq on my thumb 5 was light years better than the 2 band thumb bolt on I had before it.

As for sound and sustain. I really feel bridge design and string choice is way more important for sustain than construction type. Strings that have to much tension and bridges that cause strings to twist are big deals to me. The bridges on my warwicks and conklin are fantastic you can wind the string up on the tuner almost all the way untwist it and put it into place and tune up that little bit more. For tone...Pickups and pres are more of a big deal to me now than they use to be. I played bass for years using the electronics that came in the bass. These days I couldn't imagine getting a new bass and not replacing either the pickups or pre. For example my conklin groove tools gt7 has a aguilar pre in it and it sounds amazing for way way less than my warwicks with stock electronics.

It seems you've had some bad luck with your Warwick Thumb because I own 2, very old vintage thumbs (80's) and live in the tropics and I haven't had no problems whatsoever with the necks. In fact, they are the most stables necks I've ever had.

 

[Thomas Kievit]

Well I don't have experience about swapping necks to different bodies, but I assume you will hear difference as well. Thing is, no matter how you look at it, every small changes can and will change the sound : Electronics, strings, maybe a different fretboard... You won't hear it very clear, but I think you will notice something changed...

But, it's all about preference I like Bolt-on necks cause like you heard on the Fodera website : They have more open sound. Neck-through is great for it's sustain, but it tends to mute te sound.

I really really like the looks of the new Ibanez BTB 1405e and 1406e. The reason I don't buy one : It's Neck-through

Here's the $60,000 question. When you bolt on guys swap necks with different bodies, does the tone change with the body? Or with the neck? From my exp with NT basses the tone changes with the wood. You can alter or color the tone with pups, pre and bridge. But the fundamental tone of the bass stays the same and audible.

 

[KJung]

I would again highly recommend that, when shopping for a bass, you don't eliminate an entire class of bass (in this case, various neck designs) based on the very slight impact this has (as heard in the Fodera clips, and with my experience of playing quite a few Fodera's similarly spec'd with different neck design).

If you are one that spends a LOT of time above the 12th fret, there might be a reason for considering a neck through.

Other than that, listen to various basses with an open mind. I again would never use 'neck attachment design' as a primary purchase criterion.

Regarding Fodera, I always recommend a bolt-on or set-neck version. You basically then get a solid top for free, and save thousands on the cost, with, as far as I can hear, literally no downside. IMO and a lot of IME on that one.

I guess the only exception is if you are shopping at the very low end. I probably would not consider a very cheap bass with neck through design. This construction method, from what I understand, is a bit more complicated, and if you 'get it wrong', there is not much you can do (shimming, etc.).

 

[unclejane]

After owning several of both I will stay away from neck through basses from now on. The problem is the truss rod does not extend all the way through the bass so eventually the neck will start to bow between the fingerboard and the neck pickup.
...
Strings that have to much tension and bridges that cause strings to twist are big deals to me. The bridges on my warwicks and conklin are fantastic you can wind the string up on the tuner almost all the way untwist it and put it into place and tune up that little bit more.

I don't quite understand these two points.

Truss rods obviously stop at the heel on bolt-ons also. In fact, generally, the same type of truss rods are used on NT and BO models of a particular manufacturer, as far as I know. I've not heard of a truss rod extending into the body wood on a NT?

Also, I've never heard of or seen a bridge that causes strings to twist? You eliminate that when stringing up the instrument by pushing the ferrule out of the bridge before final tightening to relieve any twist that may have been induced while wrapping it around the post.... ?

LS

 

[Phalex]

Here's the $60,000 question. When you bolt on guys swap necks with different bodies, does the tone change with the body? Or with the neck? From my exp with NT basses the tone changes with the wood. You can alter or color the tone with pups, pre and bridge. But the fundamental tone of the bass stays the same and audible.

Funny you should bring that up! When I swapped out the neck on my P the tone was noticeably crisper. More treble, lots of snap.......

Then it occurred to me that it probably had more to do with the new strings I put on with the new neck, than the new neck it's self.

It did move the dead spot from the 6th fret to the 5th........

 

[Ken J]

I have not owned enough basses to say the tone is different but I have owned many musical instruments and see each one as a work of art. The neck thru bass is by far the sexiest bass of them all. I sometimes display in my shop my Dyna Unity from behind. I always get comments on how pretty she looks.

 

[tombowlus]

Bass Gear magazine had some of the world's best bass builders discuss bolt-on vs neck-thru as well as string-thru-body vs string-thru-bridge and brass-aliminium-steel bridges and their effect on sound. I suggest contacting Tom Bowlus and buying the magazine. I subscribed and bought all of the back issues and I'm very happy I did.

Glad you like 'em!

Here's a link to the Luthiers Round Table discussion of bolt-on versus neck-through construction:

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Here's a link to the subjective comparison of the bolt-on and neck-through Marleaux Consats we reviewed in BGM #10:

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Here's a link to part 1 of the technical comparison of the bolt-on and neck-through Marleaux Consats we reviewed in BGM #10:

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Here's a link to part 2 of the technical comparison of the bolt-on and neck-through Marleaux Consats we reviewed in BGM #11:

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[Nev375]

Bolt-on (screw-on?) is serviceable. Imagine having a car with no means of opening the hood to maintain/adjust/repair the engine... that's the nature of a neck-thru.

I like bolt-on to common fender neck-joint specs.

If you play out, accidents can happen and its easier to replace a custom neck than an entire instrument.

Also, your custom preferences may evolve down the road and maybe you'll want a body with a different finish color or pickup types, but you like the worn-in feel of your existing neck.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Has anyone ever actually had a NT go south on them? And when you mention maintenance, what kind of maintenance are you referring to? Truss adjustment and intonation? Those are the only types of maintenance I've ever performed on a bass. Anyway just wondering. Thanks

I did I posted the story a couple pages back

 

[cfsporn]

Has anyone ever actually had a NT go south on them? And when you mention maintenance, what kind of maintenance are you referring to? Truss adjustment and intonation? Those are the only types of maintenance I've ever performed on a bass. Anyway just wondering. Thanks

Nope, that doesn't stop my terror though!

 

[ProgRocker]

Do a search on this. You will get 100 posts about 'this neck has more punch', this type of neck joint has more sustain', etc., etc. I personally have never heard a difference in the rare case of having two basses closely spec'd except for the neck joint.

To directly answer your question... bolt on. Less expensive.... frets are all in the same place as the neck through

My Schecter Diamond Series Elite 5 string is neck-through, and only cost me $500. It takes some shopping around, but reasonably priced neck-through are out there.

with that said, I prefer neck-through construction, but also own bolt-on basses too. It's not a deal breaker to me if a bass is one or the other. Both have their pros and cons.

 

[Thomas Kievit]

And do not forget that bolt-on basses are cheaper than neck-through basses in general, since you need less wood for the neck

I like bolt-on to common fender neck-joint specs.

If you play out, accidents can happen and its easier to replace a custom neck than an entire instrument.

Also, your custom preferences may evolve down the road and maybe you'll want a body with a different finish color or pickup types, but you like the worn-in feel of your existing neck.