Through the body neck versus bolt on.

[Tim Schnautz]

Is there any advantage to using a through the body bass neck as opposed to bolt on ? Asking for opinions. Thank you!

Honestly, I can’t see much difference between the two. I have several of both and I can’t tell if one helps my playing inability over the other. If you have a set neck or through body, and the neck warps or distorts then you have a problem. Usually a REAL problem. Especially on a thru body because the neck is an integral be part of the instruments construction.
Concerning tone and sustain, I don’t think it matters either way. Especially if you like to play metal or have a giant rig and 50 pedals.

 

[Ellery]

If you really want to hear a difference, you'll want horn-through.View attachment 7264089

Rad! Is that a Wishbass?

 

[Bassinthemudd]

Rad! Is that a Wishbass?

Yes. The model is a Monster. As of a few years ago, about 6 had been made, including one for Brian Ritchie of the Violent Femmes.

 

[Watchootognbout]

I have three bolt ons.
And one neck through.

If I had my druthers,they would all be neck through.
But they aren't.
There's something about the lines and stringers of a neck through.

 

[Deleted member 394181]

I have both, no problems

 

[VeryTallBassist]

I own a lot of Spectors, both neck thru and bolt on so I feel like I can compare oranges to oranges here. The neck thru's have a deeper fundamental, slightly better sustain, a more blooming attack, and weigh substantially more (most of the time). The neck thru's have a brighter fundamental tone, slightly less sustain, a faster attack, and are generally lighter. The neck heel argument depends more on the specific design than neck thru vs bolt-on construction. My USA Spectors (bolt on and neck thru) have better access to the upper frets than my Euros, which have better access than my Korean models. Play what you like and what feels good and leave the pedantry to the interwebs.

 

[Bassinthemudd]

The neck thru's have a deeper fundamental... The neck thru's have a brighter fundamental...

Little slip up. Which is which?

 

[turf3]

...The neck thru's have a deeper fundamental...The neck thru's have a brighter fundamental...

You can't have a deeper or brighter fundamental - it's one frequency. You can have a setup that gives MORE or LESS fundamental versus overtones, but the fundamental frequency is the fundamental frequency - as determined by string length, string tension, and string mass.

 

[VeryTallBassist]

You can't have a deeper or brighter fundamental - it's one frequency. You can have a setup that gives MORE or LESS fundamental versus overtones, but the fundamental frequency is the fundamental frequency - as determined by string length, string tension, and string mass.

And this is why I shouldn't post from my phone. The neck through has a stronger fundamental (sounds deeper). The bolt-on has a weaker fundamental (sounds brighter). Hope that makes more sense.

My last sentence saying to leave the pedantry to the interwebs stands undefeated, however.

 

[Aussie Player]

My findings:
I own all 3 types, mortice glued, bolt on and neck through.
Full scale sustains longer than short scale.
Short scale has thicker notes.
Wings glued to a neck through don"t make any difference once the pickups are imbedded into the neck profile.
The stiffer the neck the longer and cleaner the clear note sustains.
The weaker bolt on varies a tremendous amount with some generating thick notes and great sustain and others shorter sustain and thinner notes.
There is internet advice from luthiers who suggest that bolt on sustain can be improved by opening the screw holes on the body joint to allow the screws to pull the neck hard into the pocket.
I tried that on a couple of FSO's but found the pickups for each made more difference after swapping them in each body.

 

[brianrost]

I’ve owned a few neck-thoughs and on some of them there is essentially no heel at all. Great for access to the highest notes. Some neck throughs have heels, similar to what you get with set neck basses but still better access than bolt-ons allow. To me, that’s the most noticeable thing. The claims about more fundamental with neck through and more punch with bolt-ons I'm not in total argeement about. I’ve had both a Steinberger L2 (neck through) and M2 (bolt-on) and I didn't notice a major difference.

These are in order of smallest heel to largest. All but the T-Bird and Ric have 24 fret fingerboards.

B.C. Rich Eagle

Warwick Thumb

Alembic Series I

Pedulla Buzz

Ric 4001

Thunderbird

Steinberger L2