Is there a significant difference in tone between neck-through and bolt-on basses?

[Pops OB]

The plain fact is, there are so many factors in the equation, that it is impossible to arrive at any conclusion that is always valid. And there are a lot of factors which we need not discuss. But:

How can anybody actually determine (if there IS a significant tonal difference between the two) that the CAUSE of the difference is due to neck construction? Let's say there is a "significant difference in tone" between any two basses of differing construction? How EXACTLY does one attribute the tonal difference solely to neck construction? It can't be done!

I'm not disputing that some basses are built better than others, and that there MAY be a tonal difference between these two types, and I'm not even saying there aren't sustain differences, but where is the empirical data? To attribute a tonal difference or greater sustain SOLELY to one being a neck-through rather than a bolt-on doesn't take into account other factors which may be more responsible for causing tonal differences or differences in sustain, makes no sense without some sort of data to support the position. Anecdotes are nice, but certainly not true evidence.

Just about anybody can pick up a neck-through and bolt-on, compare the two, and reasonably determine which may have longer sustain, or if the tone differs between the two, but to claim that one can narrow the cause of the difference down to one issue, i.e., "it's a neck through," or "it's a bolt-on," just by playing and comparing them, well... that's just fantasy.

 

[Mediocrity Man]

No difference to any great degree. I've owned a few of both and had no preference.

The neck through design does looks cooler especially when it shows the lamination.

 

[winegamd]

I think for most players that play different instruments all the time, it would be hard to tell. Even if you played 100 different Fenders in a lifetime, you may never be able to tell. However, a builder who has been doing it for decades, who has a sound profile, might. Not every bass constructed with certain materials will sound a like, but similar enough they will exude a particular characteristic. Like ash body maple board, or alder body rosewood board, after a while you can tell and be able to predict what the changes will do. That, I think, is possible. Does it translate over a recording, maybe or maybe not. Can you tell when you are playing, possibly. The same goes for tubes and solid state. The science says that if built to react the same, they should sound the same. But 1,000,000's of players will tell you tubes feel different. I think this is similar. Is it psychological, could be, but I, and many others think there is definitely something tangible, too.

 

[MordBass]

....uuuuuh..... yeah. "Super baked" is something I have absolutely no interest in.

Thats pretty awesome, glad you shared.

 

[Frampton]

I don’t think there’s a uniformly good answer. I’ve seen, heard, and played a lot of basses. The worst of them tended to be bolt on. The best were inconclusive as to neck style, ie, some of each were great. My first good bass was a 1983 Spector. I tortured myself over whether to get neck through or bolt on. I chose the bolt on because I just prefered the way it played and sounded. It was also half the price, although that was not the defining factor. So, what have I added to this discussion? Absolutely nothing. Go with the one that feels right.

 

[4001]

25 basses later.....and I still have never had a broken neck.
What are you guys doing to get necks broken?

I never broke a guitar or a neck... period.
Just sayin' that if a neck-through were to be broken, the repair would be costly if it can be done at all.

Other than your amp falling directly on the neck or someone running over it with their car, I highly doubt that anyone will be breaking necks anytime soon...

...then there's that issue of over-tightening the truss rod..... then you can pop the fingerboard off... another costly repair..

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

Is it worth $20 more?, yes,
$2k more, absolutely no way

+1000.
IMO there isn't a significant difference in tone, judging from the neck-throughs vs the bolt-ons that I own, and I personally wouldn't pay $2000 extra for a bass only because it's a neck-through model.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

The plain fact is, there are so many factors in the equation, that it is impossible to arrive at any conclusion that is always valid. And there are a lot of factors which we need not discuss. But:

How can anybody actually determine (if there IS a significant tonal difference between the two) that the CAUSE of the difference is due to neck construction? Let's say there is a "significant difference in tone" between any two basses of differing construction? How EXACTLY does one attribute the tonal difference solely to neck construction? It can't be done!

Whilst it's only one example, and it would be good to have more, the example of a single neck being transformed from neck through, via bolt-on, and finally set neck, it suggests there is little difference, and the difference is contrary to 'received wisdom'. I am happy to wait for the science.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Please don't take it personal. I was not implying that YOU were in denial.
With regard to the indisputable evidence, you don't need to wait. Go play a few high quality neck-through instruments and hear for yourself. Other than that, if you think that a board that is cut in half and then screwed together with four screws conducts sound waves the same way a solid board conducts sound waves there isn't really much that anyone could say to help you understand what the neck-through thing is all about. You really need to experience it. And please, ten minutes on a neck-trough at Guitar Center ain't gonna do it.
Peace.

The issue is not what people think, but what is actually true. Actual experiments suggest the difference is minimal.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Better instruments are more resonant. I like wood and I think it is an important part of tone.

Resonance is what creates dead spots. Dead spots occur at the resonant frequency of the system. More resonance is probably not what you want.

it is what keeps it vibrating.

No. Not with physics as we know it in this universe. (I have a degree in physics). Most of the energy that goes into a solid block of wood (which is fairly amorphous) from a string is going to become heat. The energy is of sufficiently low quality I cannot see it returning in any significant amplitude and coherence to keep a string vibrating. If any energy did return then its phase relationships would be confused and not in phase with the string, and so likely to reduce sustain.

 

[MordBass]

Please don't take it personal. I was not implying that YOU were in denial.
With regard to the indisputable evidence, you don't need to wait. Go play a few high quality neck-through instruments and hear for yourself. Other than that, if you think that a board that is cut in half and then screwed together with four screws conducts sound waves the same way a solid board conducts sound waves there isn't really much that anyone could say to help you understand what the neck-through thing is all about. You really need to experience it. And please, ten minutes on a neck-trough at Guitar Center ain't gonna do it.
Peace.

So what about the fact that with neck-thru they have to cut the body in half and then put it back together with glue?
I mean, I know its not the exact same type but isnt glue known to dampen and decouple when it comes to audio?
So I guess this brings some questions....
If the interruption to the body is irrelevant... does that mean that body woods are irrelevant?
How does a Steinberger fit into this?

 

[Two-Spirit]

S

Resonance is what creates dead spots. Dead spots occur at the resonant frequency of the system. More resonance is probably not what you want.



No. Not with physics as we know it in this universe. (I have a degree in physics). Most of the energy that goes into a solid block of wood (which is fairly amorphous) from a string is going to become heat. The energy is of sufficiently low quality I cannot see it returning in any significant amplitude and coherence to keep a string vibrating. If any energy did return then its phase relationships would be confused and not in phase with the string, and so likely to reduce sustain.

So why does a Les Paul sound dark and woody and a guitar with different woods doesn't? I mean the wood does affect the tone. Otherwise you should mount burstbuckers on a $300 guitar instead of buying Gibson Custom shop. I've owned an Epiphone Les Paul and the $300 alder maple neck guitar I put epibuckers in was anything but woody.
My understanding of Algebra ends with the order of operations. So, when I say wood is resonant, I'm mean it doesn't sound dead like a cheap guitar. On guitar, I really like mahogany for my clean and dirty sound. High gain it doesn't matter.

 

[Eddie LeBlanc]

+1000.
IMO there isn't a significant difference in tone, judging from the neck-throughs vs the bolt-ons that I own, and I personally wouldn't pay $2000 extra for a bass only because it's a neck-through model.

That is in the case of all things being equal, maybe not. But if it comes to different woods, PUPs, construction of the neck, quality of the workmanship, hardware selections, inlay work, and etc. maybe so.

The amount I'll pay for a bass depends a lot on a multitude of factors. And that includes how the bass plays and feels. That is why I have some nice Spector basses in my stable. And usually only play my USA NS4s. They are neck throughs and quite a bit more costly than many other Spector models. And maybe even as much as $2k more than a bolt on model. But compared to the other Spector models, like others made in Europe or Korea, they are quite a bit more costly. Especially since I have custom ordered from the shop in Woodstock.

And by the way, my band mates and others have heard a difference in my basses and have readily commented on that. So I don't agreee with the comment that it sounds better for the psychological reason of paying high dollar for a different bass. Becasue many times fans and others have no clue of the differences in my basses, much less the cost of any.

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

I own 3 neck-through basses and 6 bolt-on basses, and 1 set-neck bass. Each sounds different, which is why I bought them, but I don't notice that my neck-throughs have greater sustain, or sound markedly different. Well, my Alembic has it's own thing going on, but I believe that's attributed to it's electronics. The only difference I notice is my neck-throughs have better upper fret access than my Fenders, but a few of my bolt-ons have sculpted neck heels, so upper fret access on them is very easy.

 

[Passinwind]

So what about the fact that with neck-thru they have to cut the body in half and then put it back together with glue?

Not necessarily.

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

That is in the case of all things being equal, maybe not. But if it comes to different woods, PUPs, construction of the neck, quality of the workmanship, hardware selections, inlay work, and etc. maybe so.

The amount I'll pay for a bass depends a lot on a multitude of factors. And that includes how the bass plays and feels. That is why I have some nice Spector basses in my stable. And usually only play my USA NS4s. They are neck throughs and quite a bit more costly than many other Spector models. And maybe even as much as $2k more than a bolt on model. But compared to the other Spector models, like others made in Europe or Korea.

And by the way, my band mates and others have heard a difference in my basses and have readily commented on that. So I don't agreee with the comment that it sounds better for the psychological reason of paying high dollar for a different bass. Becasue many times fans and others have no clue of the differences in my basses, much less the cost of any.

I haven't had the pleasure of playing a US Neck-through Spector, but I've compared a US Bolt-On to the NS4CRFM that I own. The bolt-on had 2 EMG J-style pickups into an Aguilar 2 band eq, whereas the NS4CRFM has an EMG P/J setup into an EMG BTS 2 band. So of course they sounded different, I chose the NS4CRFM for it's fatter sound and much better balanced when strapped on.

Best regards.

 

[Jeff Scott]

So what about the fact that with neck-thru they have to cut the body in half and then put it back together with glue?

Where do people come up with these things?

 

[Killed_by_Death]

The reinforcements to the neck & extra work probably costs the MFR less than $200, so they have a 1,000% mark-up on the added feature.

If you play high up the neck a lot, maybe it's worth it to you.

For a guitar, having a neck-through or set neck design is a pretty good bonus for a lead player that does solos high up the neck.
I suck at lead, but still own a set neck guitar. Actually, LTD's got their own thing called set-thru, where the neck goes down pretty far into the body, but doesn't quite qualify as neck-through.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

S


So why does a Les Paul sound dark and woody and a guitar with different woods doesn't?

Les Pauls also have different pickups to, say, a Telecaster.

Otherwise you should mount burstbuckers on a $300 guitar instead of buying Gibson Custom shop.

Maybe that would work!

So, when I say wood is resonant, I'm mean it doesn't sound dead like a cheap guitar.

If the wood was particularly resonant you wouldn't hear much as the wood would vibrate, turn those vibrations into heat, and the vibrations of the string would be robbed out. For an acoustic instrument you want enough resonance to project the sound, as you want the wood to vibrate, but there you are talking flat plates, not a solid block. It's why a DB has shorter sustain - energy from the strings vibrates the flat plates of wood to create the sound.

Since cheap and expensive guitars are made out of the same sorts of wood (e.g. ash, alder) and wood densities and structures vary between samples, then unless for a $1000 guitar manufacturers individually select particular pieces of wood over a $300 guitar, the wood between the two guitars is not likely to be a consistent factor.


On guitar, I really like mahogany for my clean and dirty sound. High gain it doesn't matter.[/QUOTE]

 

[capnsandwich]

OK, here's the lowdown. I just finished up here at Sweetwater. I played the SC neck-through. It sounded very buttery and warm. I could've told them to wrap it up and ship it to my place right there. Then, I asked him to go get a Standard for me to try just because they had a 6 string there too. I played it too. Then I went back to the SC and A/B'd them. I really felt that the Standard spoke to me more. It was punchier, brighter and I felt very at-home with it more so than with the SC custom. And guess what? It's a bolt-on. It wasn't heavy at all either. I'd say the 6'er was lighter than the 5'er. I think I've made my decision and my decision is almost $6k cheaper! Win win for me!