what are the advantage if any of neck-thru

  • Thread starter Thread starter dragonworks
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Buy good quality and the neck won't warp.

Don't drop it and the neck won't break.

Pretty simple, really.
 
headstocks break all the time.......they just get glued back on....so that's not a problem.

but if the neck were to snap in half, that would be a problem......i don't know how that would happen.......but if it did.....and you you had a neck through body......then you would be screwed.

with a set neck, it wouldn't be a problem. you can get a new neck, but i imagine the cost of the repair would be about the same as a new guitar.

but if you take care of your guitar and have it set up properly, it shouldn't be a problem. guitars get dropped all the time an headstocks break......that's not something warranty would cover... but if you had a gibson or some other high quality guitar witha good warranty and the neck were just to warp for no apparent reason, i'm sure it would be covered by warranty.

actually i think headstock breaks are sometimes covered under warranty. a friend of mine had an epiphone and his headstock broke. it was still under warranty and it got sent back and they sent him a new one.........it had a different headstock that the one he originally had......he didn't like it, so they glued the headstock back on his old guitar and sent it back to him. it was all covered under warranty. i don't know how the headstock broke though.
 
Sound.

Easy to convert from fretted to fretless and back.

Easier to change neck pitch.

Black Elvis.
 
donkeystyle said:
headstocks break all the time.......they just get glued back on....so that's not a problem.

but if the neck were to snap in half, that would be a problem......i don't know how that would happen.......but if it did.....and you you had a neck through body......then you would be screwed.
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Headstocks do break fairly often, but I would not agree that it is not a problem. Even with a long grain break, which are fairly easy to repair if they are done quickly (you do not want to give the wood time to oxidize, or the glue will not hold properly), you are always going to have to be more careful with the guitar. Not about dropping it, the glue is stronger than the wood in a properly glued up joint/repair. The problem is heat. The inside of your car on a summer day, sitting in the sun, can get to 120 degrees fairenheight in less than fifteen minutes. Tightbond (yellow wood glue, which is the most common glue for this type of repair) will start to creep at about 110 degrees. If you leave your guitar strung up in your car, glue joints will start to fail, and this is particularly true with a neck break joint.

If the neck breaks across the grain (an end grain break) than there is more involved to the repair, as end grain does not glue up with any real structural strength. There are a number of methods of repairing it, all of which involve replacing some of the wood in the area with new wood, and giving yourself a better glue joint. They also, of course, involve extensive finish touch up which is a least as expensive as the woodworking involved.

We can fix anything, the only question is if the guitar is worth it the money involved (which is not always a question of the guitars Blue Book value, but is sometimes an issue of emotional significance).


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M.K. Gandhi
 
advantages to a neck thru: sustain. and depending on the wood..... tone.

Advantages to bolt on: adjustments are easy if the intonation goes wack.

As far as what if it breaks? Most Neck-thru guitars are pretty well made. AKA in a solid price range. So other than dumb luck they wont break thru normal abuse.
 
I have been building a number of neck-thru guitars, and I have a number of reasons for it. First of all, I like the feel of the transition from the neck to the body. It is impossible to get that feel, even with a set neck. Second of all is the sustain, which is much improved, to my mind.

I also have to say, that for all of the added work of shaping the heel with the neck in place, and the major pain in the ass of finishing, and the difficulty of finding straight mahogany of sufficient length for the neck through blank, I actually find all of that easier than designing a neck joint which looks good, and setting a neck into it cleanly.

There is also just an inherent feel of quality to a neck-through guitar that is well designed and well made.

With a well made neck it is unlikely to twist in a way which is problematic. Most builders do something to stiffen the neck (I laminate them with three eighth inch thick pieces of contrasting wood, others use carbon fiber rods, or even steel rods). This makes them much more stable (as well as making them sound better, to my mind). A little twist is not actually a problem, and of course a truss rod is there to fix a bowed neck, which is the most likely issue with a neck. If it does warp or twist beyond what is acceptable, there are things we can try, but to be honest, there comes a point when it is time to get a new guitar. This is extremely unlikely with a well built guitar, but wood is wood, and is not a material which can be completely controlled. We have a sign at the shop which puts it perfectly:
It has been extensively proven that, under the most stringently controlled situations, wood will do pretty much as it damn well pleases.
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Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
bolt on

Advantages to a bolt on is that theyre usually cheaper. ANd theyre not bad, just depends on the guitar

Matt
 
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