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

#22
Hounddog409 said:
I don't know about tone, but in my experience the neck through is more stable.

I have a '94 Carvin and a '16 4003 s. both neck though and I do not remember ever touching the truss rod on either. If a gun was held to my head, I couldn't even be sure if either had them.

My Fender Jazz and Ibby SR650 are both bolt on and I have had to adjust the truss rod a few times on each.

The Carvin and RIC also seem to hold tune better as well. I have to tweek the bolt on's every time I play them. The neck through seem to be once a week unless I bump a tuner.

Of course I can be full of crap too, this is just my experience
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So there may be some qualities to a nt that helps in stability. Hmmmm.....food for thought. Thank you!
 
#24
Snaxster said:
They are not essentially connected. You choose to connect them. Even then there can be an order of precedence between them in only one direction. That's what I tried to describe.

But never mind all that. TalkBass, indeed the interwebs, is no place for rigorous logical discourse. So just go for it! :D
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I hear ya. Yeah, my whole purpose was to get an answer to a compounded question.
 
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#25
capnsandwich said:
I'm currently looking at 2 basses, both from the same builder. One is a bolt-on body style and the other a neck-through. The neck-through, however, is roughly $2k more than the bolt-on. Both are gorgeous basses and have similar wood combinations.

My question is this; is it worth it in tonal aspects to fork over $2k more for a neck-through? BTW, I'm checking them both out come this Sunday so that answers that but still want to know the opinions of some of you all.
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Ive owned a few Ken Smith’s, neck through’s & bolt on’s.. Status graphite “neck thru’s” & bolt on’s.. my conclusion- i do hear differences.. it seems bolt on’s are a bit “ snappier” & resonant, neck thru’s have a smoother attack.. I prefer bolt on’s personally, they seem to have bit more punch... I remember a long time ago Billy Sheehan said in an interview in Bp mag, he preferred the “bolt on” sound.. and you can change the necks out if need be.. Ymmv...
 
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#26
In Rickenbacker land...;)... most all of us will tell you that there Is.


I love my 3 bolt ons. 2 of them are ‘economy’ models... (read: I got Great deals from EBay)!
...a Fender, a Squier, and an $80 Ibanez I will Never part with.

Play the pair for a couple of hours on Sunday.
Damn! $2,000 is A Lot of money.
Do you know how many Quality beers you can buy for 2K?!?
 
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#27
Coolhandjjl said:
Ok, ok. If I gotta come up with something, I’d say I have found that bolt-on basses have a better or more defined attack.
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Yeah, I know, I know, but is sorta true. Basically I (and others) tend find that bolt-on tends to have a more "punchy" sound. I other words a more defined attack. And I do notice a small but real difference in my basses, but let me note that generally speaking all my neck-through are 24 frets (usually 6 string) and most of my bolt-ons (usually 5 string) have fewer Fenderish number of frets. That of course, immediately makes slap sound different which probably has nothing at all to do with the bolt-on, neck-through thing. IMHO 24 frets don't sound as good for slap. I think it has to do with where the last fret hits the strings. There are urban legends about neck-through having fab sustain and so on, but I've never noticed any difference except for the punchy/attack thing.
 
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#29
Neck through designs can be very beautiful; and they do seem to me to have a more pure fundamental.

But, bolt on lutherie has come a long ways; and there are some very practical advantages to bolt on necks.

For example, when something goes wrong with a truss rod in a neck through build, there needs to be a way for the builder to service the inner workings. Alembic actually has a sacrificial peel layer between the fingerboard and the neck for just this purpose. Even so, I can say from experience, that is a VERY hairy repair project. A bolt on neck, OTOH, can simply be replaced if something goes wrong.

I play either design. Bolt on seems more practical, which matters more as I get older and the gigs pile up. Neck through can be beautiful; but, be aware that a properly designed neck through from a service standpoint will come at premium price, with some subtle tonal variation.
 
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#30
What about the third option? The set-neck? Gibson has used this gluing method for decades on thousands and thousands of guitars and basses. No love?


(Yeah, throwing a monkey wrench in. I have both bolt on's and neck through, and both have advantages. My last one was a bolt on.)
 
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#31
To an engineer (and I'm a retired engineer) the answer always has to be - yes, there's a difference. Is there a significant difference? I'd have to say it depends on whether or not you want it to be so, and your definition of "significant". I can tell you that a $2K price difference certainly qualifies in my world. But, what difference neck-thru vs. bolt on makes to the sound, I couldn't really say. There are so many other variables that, IMO, I don't think you really can say, one way or the other. Out of 24 basses I own, 10 have bolt on necks; 7 are neck-thrus, and 7 are set necks. But, I didn't buy any of them because of the type of neck. I bought them because of what they were. Gibson Thunderbirds and Rickenbackers are neck-thrus. Period. P-Basses and their clones, with very few exceptions, are bolt necks. Period. They simply are what they are...
Some people say bolt necks have a sharper/more defined attack. IMO, my set neck Alembic Epic and my neck-thru Kramer Forum III will give any bolt neck a run for their money in that category. Personally, I think other variables are more significant in this category, though..
Some people say that a neck-thru has better sustain. My Ricks are certainly very good at this; The Forum III and my Carvin LB-20 are no slouches; but, my T-Birds actually don't do well, sustain-wise. But, my bolt-on Aluminum-necked Kramer 450B will sustain well into the next century... it's just ridiculous. And, personally, I think all basses have too much sustain, anyway...
So, I'd say it really boils down to which bass you really want. If it were me? I don't really care how the neck is put on, as long as it doesn't try to wiggle around - or come off. I do care about having 2 Grand to spend on something else, though...:thumbsup:
 
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#32
ezstep said:
What about the third option? The set-neck? Gibson has used this gluing method for decades on thousands and thousands of guitars and basses. No love?


(Yeah, throwing a monkey wrench in. I have both bolt on's and neck through, and both have advantages. My last one was a bolt on.)
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If one of these basses I'm currently looking at had that option, I'd ask about that too. All info is welcomed here. My mind is a sponge in this thread.
 
#37
Does anyone have darts, and a dartboard we can use for the answer?
LX50hqD.gif
 
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#39
gumbynotpokey said:
Like the dreaded tonewood topic, I love this reply: "Through headphones, studio setup, or practice amp in your bedroom, perhaps, BUT on stage during a show at concert volumes - no." :) Have a nice day.
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Well, I plan on using this bass in the studio, not just gigs, so I know any nuance of tone will b e picked up. It's also important to me, personally, to like my tone. I feel more confident on stage when I've got it just how I like it.
 
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