Set Neck Vs. Bolt on Neck

  • Thread starter Thread starter capnkid
  • Start date Start date
capnkid

capnkid

Optimus Prime
I want to build a guitar from warmoth, but they only offer bolt on necks, i mean I can get somthing built with all the other options I want. Would a bolt on neck really suck the sustain out of a guitar?
 
A well designed guitar with a bolt on neck will have enough sustain. I don't know of any manufacturer like warmoth, mighty mite, chandler, etc... that will make a set neck or neck-thru 'kit'. If you are building it yourself, it will be bolt-on.
 
other factors are more important than bolt or set neck when it comes to sustain. in my experience the parker nitefly has as much or more sustain as any guitar I've ever seen and it is has a bolt-on neck. in my opinion, however, it does alter the tone...not better or worse but just different.

ymmv
 
If a bolt on neck is mounted and seated properly it can increase sustain but sustain is more a matter of natural resonance in the wood of the body of the giutar. Certain woods simply have more sustain than others. Laminated bodies sometimes have less sustain due to the glue used, glue is not designed to transfer resonance (I've heard the point of glue not transfering resonance debated in bolt on VS set in necks as well.) Other things to consider are body shape and thickness, type of bridge and tailpiece, and the physics involved to locate the proper placement of hardware, many things affect sustain and all have to be taken into consideration.
 
Dani Pace said:
If a bolt on neck is mounted and seated properly it can increase sustain but sustain is more a matter of natural resonance in the wood of the body of the giutar. Certain woods simply have more sustain than others. Laminated bodies sometimes have less sustain due to the glue used, glue is not designed to transfer resonance (I've heard the point of glue not transfering resonance debated in bolt on VS set in necks as well.) Other things to consider are body shape and thickness, type of bridge and tailpiece, and the physics involved to locate the proper placement of hardware, many things affect sustain and all have to be taken into consideration.
Click to expand...

Bad science. The guitar which gives you the most sustain will be the one whose body (and neck) does not resonate at all, i.e., where the vibration of the strings are not transferred to the body (and neck). A resonating body acts as a sink for the energy of the vibrating strings.
 
AGCurry said:
Bad science. The guitar which gives you the most sustain will be the one whose body (and neck) does not resonate at all, i.e., where the vibration of the strings are not transferred to the body (and neck). A resonating body acts as a sink for the energy of the vibrating strings.
Click to expand...


It is a bit mroe complex than that, but that is not too far off.

What you need, more than anything, is an efficent transfer of energy BACK to the strings, which means you need the body to be quite stiff.

But all of this ignores a huge other factor. What the neck joint an the body REALLY effect, more than anything, is the guitars evelope, or what synth guys call the ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release). Now, on a guitar the realease is not really something we can do much with. YOu take your fingers off the strings, and the guitar stops making noise. Or it feeds back, if you are playing loud enough. And the attack itself is more determined by the players technique, i.e. weither they use a pick, how heavy it is, etc...

The other two, the decay and the sustain, we can have a BIG effect on. A bolt on neck will fairly quickly suck a lot of the energy out of the strings, which means you have a fast decay. Somewhat like using a compressor with a slow attack on a snare drum, this fast decay can make a guitar sound like it has a stronger attack, which explains a lot about the sound of a Strat or a Tele. The type of wood can also have an effect on this, though wood selection SEEMS to have more of a frequency effect than an evelope effect.

Of course, a fast decay means for a shorter sustain, but that should not make you think that you won't get ANY sustain. First of all, if you are playing loud distorted music, the amps gain and your technique will get you plenty of sustain. Just listen to SRV hold a note for a chorus or two some time (OK, maybe a bad example. He didn't really hold notes that long, but their are guys who do).

The neck joints are different. But that does not mean that any of them are bad. You will not, for example, get a Strat to sound like a Strat with out a bolt on neck. The bolt on neck is a essential part of the Strat sound, and it is a classic sound. So give it a try, and see what you think. That's the only way you'll ever know.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Light said:
It is a bit mroe complex than that, but that is not too far off.

What you need, more than anything, is an efficent transfer of energy BACK to the strings, which means you need the body to be quite stiff.

But all of this ignores a huge other factor. What the neck joint an the body REALLY effect, more than anything, is the guitars evelope, or what synth guys call the ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release). Now, on a guitar the realease is not really something we can do much with. YOu take your fingers off the strings, and the guitar stops making noise. Or it feeds back, if you are playing loud enough. And the attack itself is more determined by the players technique, i.e. weither they use a pick, how heavy it is, etc...

The other two, the decay and the sustain, we can have a BIG effect on. A bolt on neck will fairly quickly suck a lot of the energy out of the strings, which means you have a fast decay. Somewhat like using a compressor with a slow attack on a snare drum, this fast decay can make a guitar sound like it has a stronger attack, which explains a lot about the sound of a Strat or a Tele. The type of wood can also have an effect on this, though wood selection SEEMS to have more of a frequency effect than an evelope effect.

Of course, a fast decay means for a shorter sustain, but that should not make you think that you won't get ANY sustain. First of all, if you are playing loud distorted music, the amps gain and your technique will get you plenty of sustain. Just listen to SRV hold a note for a chorus or two some time (OK, maybe a bad example. He didn't really hold notes that long, but their are guys who do).

The neck joints are different. But that does not mean that any of them are bad. You will not, for example, get a Strat to sound like a Strat with out a bolt on neck. The bolt on neck is a essential part of the Strat sound, and it is a classic sound. So give it a try, and see what you think. That's the only way you'll ever know.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Click to expand...


These are all fine theories but actually. Just Kidding :D

I have heard that the Wolfgang has lots of sustain, and it is a bolt on with a maple cap on basswood and a floyd rose :eek:

I have a Fender Tex mex strat, and I have 11-52's and thier set high and to me it has a hollow/bright sound, and i guess it doesn't have good "sustain". But a les paul with a maple cap sounds solid/muddy and this is good "sustain"?
 
Carvin ( www.carvin.com ) sells neck thru necks and body blanks(no cuts just blanks) but if your serious about wanting that singing sustain nothing like a stop bar/tunamatic or string thru thats mounted directly on the body/neck blank
I dont know of any set neck kits or parts for the home luthier
 
I am not as well versed in the actual scientific reasoning as others, but as a practical matter I see little difference.

I have many guitars, both set neck and bolt-on, and there is not any discernable difference in most cases.

If you are talking about a cheap guitar with a lousy fitting neck pocket you may have more of an issue with the difference, but a well built bolt-on guitar with a good pocket and neck attachment will probably work out fine for most players.

By the way, I actually think that some bolt on guitars have more snap and response than set necks.
 
MrWinky said:
I am not as well versed in the actual scientific reasoning as others, but as a practical matter I see little difference.

I have many guitars, both set neck and bolt-on, and there is not any discernable difference in most cases.

If you are talking about a cheap guitar with a lousy fitting neck pocket you may have more of an issue with the difference, but a well built bolt-on guitar with a good pocket and neck attachment will probably work out fine for most players.

By the way, I actually think that some bolt on guitars have more snap and response than set necks.
Click to expand...

This is another one of those things that I have heard for years, but I have no idea if it is actually true. People will swear up and down that it makes a diff, and give all sorts of reasons for it, but I have played many guitars of all three neck types and I can't really say that I saw, heard, or felt a whole lot of difference.

It seems to me that if the screws of a bolt on neck are tight and the pocket fits well, the two pieces of wood should be sufficiently coupled so that both sides of the seam will vibrate together in the same mode.
 
I don't see much difference in sustain, which will usually be changed so much with the volume and gain of the amp that its hard to tell how much is from the guitar. There is a huge difference in sound, there will be a different "snap" as someone called it. The attack is very different, I don't know how someone couldn't tell the difference, but if you can't then it really doesnt matter to you anyways.
 
ibanezrocks said:
I don't see much difference in sustain, which will usually be changed so much with the volume and gain of the amp that its hard to tell how much is from the guitar. There is a huge difference in sound, there will be a different "snap" as someone called it. The attack is very different, I don't know how someone couldn't tell the difference, but if you can't then it really doesnt matter to you anyways.
Click to expand...

I agree, the attack or snap is really obvious if you A/B similar guitars with differing neck attachment methods.
 
ibanezrocks said:
I don't see much difference in sustain, which will usually be changed so much with the volume and gain of the amp that its hard to tell how much is from the guitar. There is a huge difference in sound, there will be a different "snap" as someone called it. The attack is very different, I don't know how someone couldn't tell the difference, but if you can't then it really doesnt matter to you anyways.
Click to expand...

And conversely, if you think you hear a difference, then you should go with what works for you whether or not it is real.
 
second

damn, the message you have entered is too short. please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.
 
I think it's Robert Godin who swears that by using glue you're reducing sustain, and only uses bolt-ons in his rather pricey instruments.
 
noisedude said:
I think it's Robert Godin who swears that by using glue you're reducing sustain, and only uses bolt-ons in his rather pricey instruments.
Click to expand...

Well, I can certainly say that my Godin LG Signature sustains as well as any of my set neck guitars.
 
The theory goes that it's not wood-on-wood, that you're putting something in between, and that that is worse than driving bolts into it. I can't pretend it bothers me all that much either way!!!! :eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top