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

[soflbass]

A few articles:
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[Sixgunn]

The back of my CB. You can't get sexy like this from a bolt on!

 

[capnsandwich]

The back of my CB. You can't get sexy like this from a bolt on!

View attachment 2823963

WORD!

That's gorgeous!

 

[groooooove]

i really do think (key word, think) there is something nice about the pickups being mounted onto the exact same piece of wood that the neck is made from. something about the resonance, sustain, i dont know, there seems to be a little something to it. i own many basses and lots of my favorites are indeed bolt ons, and i can't put my finger on a thing they do better. but, i really enjoy my carvin neck thrus and i feel like it being a neck thru gives it a little something that bolt ons dont have.

it being more expensive 100% goes to it being harder to build, not to it being "better."

 

[Gaolee]

Here is something else that is utterly irrelevant: I had a Coral Wasp that I got for free. It was dead sounding. Non adjustable bolt on neck. I found that the neck was shimmed with matchbooks. Reshimmed with pennies, it sounded pretty good in a trashy Dano kind of way. Moral? Don't use matchbooks to shim a neck. That's probably not an issue with a bolt on Fodera.

 

[JebDude]

Not trying to start a flame war but TB 's search function is a bit hard to navigate when looking for this topic.

The search function on this board has always been difficult for me. Too many rules, too many re-wordings required to get to the info you want. That is probably why there are so many duplicate thread topics. Someone tries to find info and gives up and starts a new thread.

Strictly my opinion based on my experience.

JB

 

[capnsandwich]

The search function on this board has always been difficult for me. Too many rules, too many re-wordings required to get to the info you want. That is probably why there are so many duplicate thread topics. Someone tries to find info and gives up and starts a new thread.

Strictly my opinion based on my experience.

JB

Same here. I look up something like this thread and I get several hundred different links to literally everything except what I'm looking for.

 

[pasi]

Not really. A properly executed boot-on neck pocket isn’t easy to do by hand even if CAD and modern CNC machinery has made it a pretty exact process for those shops that can afford to implement it.

From my admittedly limited experience with woodworking, doing things right is seldom fast or easy. No matter what you’re doing.

Neck pocket made by cnc machine is easy.anybody can push abutton and it’s done.you just can’t do that nt bass

 

[cnltb]

Is there a significant difference in tone between neck-through and bolt-on basses?
yesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesno...you get the idea. No?

 

[capnsandwich]

Is there a significant difference in tone between neck-through and bolt-on basses?
yesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesno...you get the idea. No?

Seems legit. lol

 

[pasi]

Is there a significant difference in tone between neck-through and bolt-on basses?
yesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesno...you get the idea.
Yes there is. Go and read or listen different

 

[cnltb]

Seems legit. lol

 

[40Hz]

Neck pocket made by cnc machine is easy.anybody can push abutton and it’s done.you just can’t do that nt bass

Yes you can. Once you have the machine. But only after it’s programmed and set up.

However, the body blanks still need to be selected, inspected, adjusted to the correct humidity, rechecked and properly milled as blanks before being loaded into the milling machine that will cut the neck pocket.

So there’s far more to it than just loading a hunk of wood and pushing a button. Garbage in is garbage out. There’s more elaborate materials preparation with machinery than there is for a master luthier at a bench with hand tools who can make adjustments to the workpiece on the fly

There’s also the cost of buying and maintaining the equipment. And that’s not pocket change.

So computer-aided manufacturing isn’t a magic wand where you just buy a machine and push a button.

 

[40Hz]

and ye

Yes there is. Go and read or listen different

Repetition of an opinion about something does not make it true.

(Unless you’re a politician. )

 

[Geri O]

They're both connected though. Is it worth $2k more for a nt in tone difference? That's the point to this thread.

Probably won’t read the whole thread, but wanted to point out that the price difference between MM bolt-on Stingrays and neck-through Stingrays isn’t near $2000.

FWIW, naturally...

 

[40Hz]

Is there a significant difference in tone between neck-through and bolt-on basses?
yesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesnoyesno...you get the idea. No?

Let’s break it down:

Q: Is there a significant difference in tone between virtually any two basses?

A: It’s very likely bordering on absolutely.

Q: Is the difference directly and exclusively attributable to the attachment method of the neck.

A: Unproven. Considering the tonal differences heard between any two basses and/or players, it is impossible to clearly isolate the neck attachment method as a significant factor in and of itself to the overall tone.

This doesn’t mean it might not be. But there’s really no way to determine if it’s true. So you’re best off just playing, listening to, and buying what sounds good to you.

Try not get bogged down in asserting some unproven argument or magic pixie dust formula is the key to always getting a great bass sound. Just find your perfect bass and rock it for all it’s worth.

 

[spiritbass]

I haven't played enough neck-through basses to form an opinion. I did love the one neck-through bass that I owned and played for a few years in the early-mid seventies, a '63 series II (single pickup) Gibson Thunderbird. I do hope that you can eventually finance the Fodera of your dreams, Cap'n. (Life is short!)

 

[Geri O]

Another FWIW...

I’ve played Fenders and Music Man bolt-on basses pretty much exclusively. No complaints about sustain.

I bought a Mike Lull Jazz-style bass a few months ago. It’s a bolt-on. And out-sustains any Fender or Music Man (bolt-on) bass I’ve ever played. And by a considerable amount. I mean folks used to my playing turning around and saying “is that bass ever gonna stop sustaining??”

 

[MrLenny1]

I say no. I own both types and the over all sound
is the same. NT have a bit more sustain, bolt ons have a more open sound
but I switch between the 2 types on gigs and there is no big difference.
The $2k is mostly for the woods, electronics and labor IMHO.

 

[Two-Spirit]

Obviously bolt ons are usually alder and maple neck and neck through is Maple and stringers. My Cirrus is Mahogany with Maple stringers.