A guitar’s neck joint is one of the most critical components in the transfer of vibrations—but it’s
not always just about tone. One option is the glued-in, set-neck joint, which is a direct descendant
from the violin-making craft.In my November 2012 installment of
Esoterica Electrica [“Adventures in Tone
Travel”], I hovered in the vicinity of explaining
how important the transfer of vibrations is to a
guitar’s sound. At one point, I made reference
to the intersection where the neck and body
meet as a sort of “sonic crossroads.” It’s a vital
part of the sound-traffic pattern within your
instrument where treble, bass, midrange, fundamentals,
and all forms of harmonics decide
to pass or take the off-ramp. Depending on
the type of neck/body connection, the net
result of this physics-driven filtering system has
a lot to do with your guitar’s tone.
The “Big Three” of neck joints are bolt-on,
set-neck, and neck-through. That’s also
the order in which I’d rank them from less
to more in terms of transfer-friendliness
for vibrations. Most guitars fall into one
of these general categories, but there are a
myriad of variations of each. While realizing
there could be a trade-off, different builders
may choose their construction methods for
reasons other than just tone.
Let’s start with the set-neck. This is typically
a mortise and tenon, or dovetail joint
where the tongue of the neck is glued into the
groove of the body. Before Leo Fender came
along, this is the way most guitars were built.
A continuation of the violin-making craft, the
set-neck is the most traditional of joints and
is typical of instruments such as the Les Paul
and Martin acoustics. By using tight tolerances
and a bonding agent to glue the neck and
body together into one assembly, it follows
that the tighter the joint, the easier it is for
vibrations to make the leap from part to part.
Some builders maintain that the more contact
area there is, the better the transfer, and I can
understand that theory to a point.
Neck-through construction is where the
neck continues all the way through the body
to the butt end of the guitar. “It is a little
more complicated to make logistically,” says
Grover Jackson, who is probably the best-known
advocate of this design. By attaching
the entire bridge-string-nut-tuner system on
the same wooden part, one might certainly
expect the most complete vibration transfer
of all. But as we find so often, there are
trade-offs here. The process of extending the
neck essentially results in splitting the body’s
soundboard capabilities in half. While the
neck-through design has its gain with the
neck connecting to the bridge, it has to
drive two smaller body surfaces. It’s similar
to the difference between driving two 8"
speakers compared to a single 12" speaker,
and could be why this design is great for
cutting through with an immediate and
aggressive attack. It’s no surprise that neck-through
construction often finds its way
into guitars designed for metal or situations
where a lot of processing effects are used.
The third type of neck joint, the bolt-on
style, is the most prevalent. Made famous
through the designs of Leo Fender, the bolt-on
(screwed-on would actually be more accurate)
neck provides advantages that the others
cannot offer. The ability to easily replace a
neck is the most obvious benefit, but that’s
not necessarily the sole reason the breed was
created. While we’ve been focusing on tone
and vibration, it’s easy to see how the bolt-on
method trumps the others from a manufacturing
point of view. Because a mechanical
bond with screws between neck and body
does not require the precision needed when
fitting a dovetail with glue or other bonding
agents, tolerances aren’t nearly as critical.
While a bolt-on neck may lag behind its
glued-in cousins on the vibration side of the
equation, it does offer a tonality that could
be considered its sonic signature. The inherent
lack of transfer of certain frequencies
actually helps to create the “spanky” timbre
and attack that is forever associated with
guitars of this kind. Builder Dennis Fano
recognizes that a bolt-on neck “tends to have
more snap and a more immediate attack.”
And he should know since he utilizes both
bolt-on and set-necks in his designs. “Gun
to my head, I would say the set-neck is typically
slightly warmer and rounder,” continues
Fano when asked for his take on the difference
between the two. But he also recognizes
that material selection plays a major role
since most bolt-on necks are made from
maple. This is because maple is a harder and
brighter wood that is better suited for holding
screws than the softer woods sometimes
associated with set-neck designs.
Joe Knaggs of Knaggs Guitars feels that
his choice of neck joint is sometimes about
stability and ergonomics, rather than purely
for tone. For his Severn model, its set-neck
is moved deeper into the body by using a
blended joint that allows the body to be
longer. This has the effect of shortening
the unsupported portion of the neck. “The
shorter the neck, the more stable it is,”
says Knaggs. The science is on his side: A
shorter lever provides less force as you pull
on the neck with your fretting hand, and a
shorter drive to the body. Once again, we
see how a different spin on the traditional
can yield different results.
In today’s aftermarket modification world,
we sometimes lose sight that the physics at
play in a guitar’s basic design can provide an
extremely high hurdle for simple hardware or
electronic tweaks to surmount. Take a look
at your collection of instruments and see
which side of this conversation you fall on.
Maybe you’ve never really thought about it
from a sound standpoint—until now.
Jol Dantzig is a
noted designer, builder,
and player who co-founded
Hamer Guitars,
one of the first boutique
guitar brands, in 1973.
Today, as the director of
Dantzig Guitar Design, he continues to
help define the art of custom guitar. To
learn more, visit
guitardesigner.com.