Through-Neck vs Bolt On

[MikeyFingers]

I'm going to be looking for a new bass in the near future. I've narrowed my search down to A Schecter Stiletto Elite 4....and I'm not really sure what the other option is yet because I love Schecters so much, but I'm still shopping around.
Anyway, the Schecter I was looking at has a through-body neck. So far all the basses I've owned in the past have had bolt-ons and I've only played this new one the store. Far as I can tell, it doesn't really change anything as far as playability or sound; although I've heard rumors about sustain and some other stuff, but that's not the point here.
My question is how do they hold up over time? Assuming this is a well-made bass (and I'm pretty confident in Schecter's ability to produce quality basses), can I expect the neck to stay straight longer? Will it need more or less adjustments as time goes on? Are through-bodies any more or less sensitive to weather, stress, humidity, etc?

 

[xxfaux_punkxx]

blind leading the blind here but one thing I've heard of is that with NT if something happens to the neck you can't replace (then again that's just common sense so idk).

 

[vinxbass]

I own both bolt on and neck thru, I like my bolt ons better. If something does go wrong with the neck Thru which is very unlikely, you'll have a heck of a mess on your hands.

 

[Gibenbackerbass]

Neck-though all the way.

There's a reason why Gibson Thunderbirds and Rickenbacker 4003s are built that way!

 

[RickC]

I don't think there is anything inherently more stable in the long term about either neck-thru or bolt-on.

But consider this: neck-thru's are often multi-lam hippie-sandwich type construction, and there *is* something inherently stronger and more stable about that over one-piece necks, which tend to be more common with bolt-ons. From what I can tell, the Schecter that you are looking at has a multi-lam neck.

/rick

 

[mongo2]

There's a reason why Gibson Thunderbirds and Rickenbacker 4003s are built that way!

And why is that?

 

[m_bisson]

The sound comes from the strings, no?

 

[rickdog]

The sound comes from the strings, no?

Yes... and also from everything else between your brain and the air in front of the speaker cones

Having owned both bolt-on (Fender) and neck-through (Rickenbacker) for a long time, I'd like to say there are advantages to both. My Fender Jazz started with a fretted neck. Now it has a fretless Precision neck, all it took was removing and installing four big wood screws.

The Rickenbacker... ahh, there's something I can only describe as magical about it. Definitely part of its sound is body resonance - I can put my ear down on the body and play, and it sounds unmistakeably like a Rick. I have no proof, but I think the neck-through construction is part of this.

Because of this, when I finally buy my 5-string, it's very likely to be a neck-through.

 

[tZer]

I'm no expert, but regarding the idea of "something going wrong with the neck" - unless you're planning to imitate Pete T, what exactly do you think is going to go that catastrophically wrong? I've been playing for well over a quarter century and never had anything go wrong on that level with any instrument I've owned.

I've had my share of wiring and other miscellaneous and bothersome issues - all of which were easily resolved. But unless you're planning on throwing the thing around I don't think 'How I'll replace the neck should something go wrong' should factor into the decision making process.