BOLT ON VS. NECK THROUGH
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- Опубликовано: 30 июн 2024
- Trying out two identically constructed Solar guitars, except for the fact that one is bolt on, and one is neck through. Is there a difference?
0:00 Intro
2:37 Neck Through Acoustic
3:00 Bolt On Acoustic
3:40 Neck Through Clean Sound
4:04 Bolt On Clean Sound
4:55 Neck Through Metal Tone
5:18 Bolt On Metal Tone
5:40 Neck Through Metal Tone Chug
5:48 Bolt On Metal Tone Chug
6:12 Neck Through Lead Tone
6:30 Bolt On Lead Tone
6:46 Sustain Test
7:43 Other Variables
7:52 Conclusion
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I'm Ola Englund and welcome to my channel. A channel dedicated to guitar related gear with a focus on metal. I also play in the metal bands The Haunted & Feared and run a guitar company www.solar-guitars.com
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Edited by OrionVP
#metalguitar #guitar #metal #bolton #neckthru 
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Neck Through vs. Bolt on! Lets compare the two...
Neck through lover 🖤
The only discernable difference was when they weren't plugged in. Ergo: irrelevant.
Kinda dug the bolt on more. It’s subtle differences, but the bolt on seemed to “sing” a bit more, especially in the mids, where the neck was a bit thicker in the low mids.
Hey Ola, are the any retailers for Solar Guitars near Gothenburg? Homepage just says "under construction" for Dealers..
GOOD REVIEW!!!!! First time I have seen this topic covered!
This was a good comparison between dot inlays and no dot inlays. I was surprised by how much of a difference having dot inlays made. I personally prefer blocks as there is more inlay and therefor much more tone.
OH SHIT 😳AWWW NOOOOOOOOOO IT'S ALL RUINED NOW!!!!!!! 😬😬😬😓😓😓😓😥😢😰😨
Somebody had to do it! 🤣🤣🤣
legend
that's why they call them tone blocks.
I hate how luminlays sound, I much prefer mother of pearl for that vintage tone
Man. I've been waiting on a true comparison like this for...forever. Took a metalhead who also owns a guitar brand to finally make it happen! Thanks Ola!
Main thing for me between the two is the neck joint, I do not like the jump between the neck and the body that most bolts have. I personally enjoy the feel of a neck through's transtion.
Could agree more! I loved my Jaguar, but the neck joint was rough
The acoustic test was drastically different. Neck through sounded fuller. Didn't notice anything significantly different when plugged in though.
I found my comment. 🤝
Acoustic test for electric guitar is absolutely meaningless.
I thought the same
I agree though I would say acoustic was "noticeably different", which is amazing given compression over the internet, laptop speakers, etc. I generally think tone demos are bogus on YT.. gotta be in the room
Lol
Hey Ola, unfortunately the neck through guitar had more inlays than the bolt on guitar, which renders your test completely invalid. Naturally the extra plastic will dramatically decrease the astral projection of the tonewood's chakra, which will then resonate at a different karmic frequency, thus inhibiting sustain.
Nice try though
I wonder what if he tuned guitars to 432 hz.
😆
@@gonza.shreds Can't help you there, but I tune exclusively to 428 Hz. and it sounds great! \m/
Everything about this comment made me angry, so job well done Sir or Madame :D
@@gonza.shreds I once beat the shit out of a hippi in Maui for trying to tune my guitar to 432 bullshit. The idiot actually came up to me and asked what was wrong with my guitar he could not retune it. He thought it was possessed. He didn't know what a locking nut was... "GIVE ME THAT" [SMASH!!] "don't touch other peoples instruments without permission asshole."
My thoughts on the sounds:
Acoustically: hard to deny there's a significant difference with bolt in having more high end/less bass
Clean amp: audible difference in the same regard, but not enough to matter too much imo
High gain: no noticeable difference
Disclaimer: I listened on phone speakers, so that could have an effect on this.
let's be honest, the majority of people are listening to music through tiny speakers lol
@@alexosborne3642 lel yeah
@@alexosborne3642 many such cases! Sad!
@@alexosborne3642 big shame
@@alexosborne3642 let's be honest, the majority of people are listening with their eyes and preconceived bias.
One thing we can agree they have in common is that they're both visually phenomenal!!!! 🤩🤤
I am glad to see someone finally do a comparison with guitars that are identical except the neck joint. I have seen several videos like this before where they use 3 different brands (usually Fender for bolt on, Gibson for set neck, and usually B.C. Rich or ESP for neck thru), and that can't really be used as a comparison of the neck joints as much as the companies. It was also good to see that the bolt on sustained longer than the neck thru. A proper bolt on design will sustain longer as the bolts/screws will pull the neck into the pocket tighter than glue or the natural wood binds to itself. This was something I first heard from Neal Moser, and at first I wanted to call BS. When he explained it, it made sense. I actually took the only bolt on guitar I had at the time apart at the next string change, I noticed the bolts were gripping into the holes in the body and neck, instead of just the neck. I then drilled out the holes in the body to let the bolts slide through. I restrung the guitar with the bolts only gripping into the neck wood and not the body, and HOLY CRAP! It was a huge improvement in the sustain having the neck pulled tighter into the neck pocket. I have since checked to make sure on each of my bolt on neck guitars that the screws can slide through the body instead of biting into the body wood. I am having a hard time wanting to go back to neck thru guitars anymore.
Sorry but that is nonsense.. I own 30+ guitars and been playing guitar for decades. While what you said is true, that if the bolts grip the body (which they should never do anyway) it affects the body/neck joint, there is no way that a proper bolt on will sustain longer than the other by design.
Thanks. I'm not a guitar player but I always wondered about the differences.
Incredible comparison, both guitars sound phenomenal. Thanks for providing the information.
Wasn't expecting THAT difference... really impressive! Thank you so much for this
The sustain part makes sense to me. If more vibration is allowed to travel into the body in a neck-thru, that will draw more energy away from the strings and decrease sustain. As a bass player I'm familiar with how high-mass bridges increase sustain by PREVENTING the transfer of string energy to the body.
I allways tought neck thru made more sustain. My schecter has neck thru with really good sustain and my stratocasteren sustain sucks, all the vibration gets lost in the little semi floating bridge bridge
That's not exactly how it works...
@@veinsbandofficial6221 Neck-through decreases sustain. High-mass bridge increases sustain. Explain why.
Is great to find someone that notices this important physics phenomenon, has to be bass players 🍻, is also more noticeable on bass due to stronger vibrations, is kot about which one is the best, is how work on the particular instrument construction
Nonsense. A high-mass bridge will actually transfer more energy to the body than a low mass one. What determines sustain is how the components work together and whether or not one or more will dampen the response in that frequency range. Every material has a different frequency response.
As I've also watched Jim Lill's videos recently, this is about what I expected. Side note for the sustain test 6:46 - notice how the amplitude of the bolt on is slightly bigger at the start, but the decay of both guitars is very similar. So If you had picked with the same force, they would be much closer in sustain.
Good video! If I didn't build my own guitars, I'd get a Solar 😂
Yeah ignoring that amplitude difference is pretty misleading imho, albeit I doubt it was on purpose
+1. Noticed the same thing right off the bat. It'd be interesting to see how much of a difference there'd be if the levels were normalized somehow.
I noticed this too. Could be picking, could also be tolerances in pickups. I don't think they're going to be exactly identical..
Honestly don't know if it's just me and with what I am saying all variables are in play but I find my bolt on neck guitars sound louder than my neck throughs. But everything is variable in this opinion which is why I have never put any validity to the statement. But maybe just maybe there is something here. If only Ola could do the test with something that picks exactly the same every time.
@@Rolli6669 You raise a valid point.
VERY well done comparison!!!! Always had curiosity and now it´s clear
Ola, I forgot to thank you for making this video. When I was (a lot) younger, I sometimes thought about the differences between the various neck joints and what they meant to their guitars. I considered what it would take to do the very sort of comparison you did. I thank you for letting us see your version of that comparison!🤘
Hands down the best comparison between neck through and bolt on guitars! Thanks a TON for this video! :)
Ola you always stay so positive in these sh*tty times ..whenever i feel down i just watch your videos and you lift my spirit up . you are awesome !
Why are these times shitty?
@@Communism.is.a.cancer Joe Biden
@@fim1344 😂 you're right on that one.
Very nice job, Ola! Thanks.
Amazing. Never thought there would be such a difference. Well done👍😁
I feel I have a unique "go to" tone that I will try to dial in no matter the guitar. So I would say it does not matter if it is bolted or through, it depends on what one likes.
I was surprised that the bolt on neck sustained longer. The neck thru had more depth. Both are sick guitars! Thanks Ola!
Tbf it looked like the bolt-on one was hit harder so not sure how accurate that is.
@@kryten88 you are right. If you compare those amplitudes (by overlaying) you'll see that the signal of the neck-thru is about 20% lower than the one of the bolt on. this may be due to different input/output levels (for whatever reason) or the different strength when hitting the string...or different zoom level of the tracks
@@kryten88 Yes. It's also probable that both guitars weren't set up exactly the same. If one of them has a slightly higher action, or the pickup is slightly lower or higher, that'll influence the whole experiment.
Yes i did notice that his attack was a bit different at times, also the 2nd chug a chug on the bolt on was a slower temp. At least it seemed to be. But hey that what these comparisons are for to get people discussing them.
There have been many studies between bolt on vs set vs neck through, and it’s hard to deny that the results on sustain are always the same. Bolt on wins in that department.
Wow, thanks for shooting out this video, it was a myth buster for me. Now I don't feel so bad about having only bolt on guitars LoL 🤘🤘🤘
Great job Ola! Thanx!
There is a nice germen phd thesis about the physics of the electronic guitar, which shows, where the sound comes from:
1. Strings
2. Pickups
3. String height over Pickup
4. Electronics (incl. cable in case of passive PUs)
5. Bridge and saddle need to work fine
And everything else, if there are no general mistakes, is not really worth mentioning. Tonewood, shape, ... forget it! Buy what has best playability for you.
Thus if you want to adjust the sound:
1. Change the string height
2. Introduce capacitors in electronic (passive)
3. Change strings
4. Only if all of the above does not help, change the pickups
Now feel free to kill me... :D
I agree. “Tone wood” has very little to no impact on the overall sound of an electric guitar.
Picks have a massive effect on tone.
@@alexisjordan3303 yep, especially their distance from the strings (always try this before replacing them). And if they have adjustable pole pieces, their setting has a big impact as well
Can you show where I can find this german whatever…
Things are simple, you don’t need a PhD, only elementary school physics to understand, but there may not be different for tone deaf people, as there people with absolute ear,there people who don’t discern nuances like dynamics, then: the bridge and the nut are attached to a body that absorb and resonate with the vibration of the strings according to the density of the wood, could be same wood species but with different density, so it will have an effect on the sound as this “standing waves” or the energy that moves the body came back to the strings and interact, the attack of the note is the most notable, hence people mention the “snap”, that the attack, then the sustain could be spected to be actually less ( as shown in the video) on a neck through cuz there way more absorption of the body, while many people just “think” it will be more, is the opposite.
I’m an audio engineer, electronic developer (audio processors) and a musician with profesional degrees on this fields, but I notice the difference since I start to play electric instruments.
@@ignacioibanez6138 "Physik der Elektrogitarre" [Manfred Zollner, 2016]... hope you understand german? It is full of theoretics as well as experiments and fun to read! It is really not so hard to understand (well I studied physics, so maybe not for all people). You can even download sound samples with different materials and body sizes.
If you really think the body is important, you can check for a video, where at the end the guy removed the body completely... and still the sound doesn't seem to change. The reason behind is, that in contrast to an acoustic guitar, the full body electronic guitar does NOT resonate an therefore also not absorb much (just very little). You can use metall or plastics or ...
The interesting thing is, that the people working with guitars for the longest time, trust a lot of myths the most. Seems like repetition does cause trust...
Absolute ear means by the way, that someone can hear the absolute frequency of one tone, not just the intervall between two tones. That doesn't help here at all. 😉
I prefer neck-thru for cleans, bolt-on for distortion, and I like both for solos ;-) ! However, there are much more difference between different pickups than between two neck constructions for a same guitar, so...
Funny that. I'm the exact opposite! 😀 To reach his own, I guess...
My ESP neck through puts all my other guitars to shame in the sustain/resonance dept.
Very useful comparison, Ola...thank you.
Great video Ola!
The neckthrough tone sounded like what I imagine the bolt on would be with the pickup closer to the neck. Comparing them with the neck pickup instead of the bridge pickup would be interesting!
I was the same neck-thru elitist for almost my whole life, until a year ago when I picked up a used bolt-on Kiesel Aries. That thing was just plain fun to play. It had something special going on. That was amplified when I received my new neck-thru Aries and found that it was missing something that the bolt-on had. Very surprising. But still... I sold the bolt-on and kept the neck-thru, so take that for what it's worth.
Awesome Video OLa. Thanks a lot !!!
Cheers from Montréal, Canada
Very cool comparison! Another cool video!! Bang 'em out!!!
It's interesting the difference between the basic sounds however like ola says at the end.. You'll probably tweak your amp settings to adjust out most of the tonal difference anyway.
For me it was really surprising that the bolt on neck has more output and sustain! Great comparison! But as you said, it depends on the taste of the guitarists what you choose and why. Both guitars have their own character.
This is a great video, thanks, Ola.
I miss this kind of stuff from you! love it! greetings from México!
I think the Floyd plays a big role here in sustain. It would be interesting to see a sustain test on string-through body guitars. Maybe the neck-through can push sustain a bit more? In my opinion, if parts are well built together or glued together, the differences would be a minor concern, especially with high output pickups.
It might be very interesting to do the same comparison with evertune equipped guitars though 😋
Not really. The sustain is more about string pull from pickups and steady picking, not bridges.
Wow, I was surprised how much of a difference there was. I agree with most, bolt-on is snappier, tighter. Neck through is thick, maybe more balanced tonally... Preferred the chug on the neck-through, god that shit was phat. The biggest thing is that it seems clear that the acoustic characteristics make it through the pickups and out the amp intact to some degree. That is huge! Well done Ola!
Also I agree with that other guy, probably was the TONE INLAYS lol /s
All my thoughts answered. Perfect review 👍
Great video and comparison. Those solar guitars are sick. Love the natural finish.
Based exclusively on the unplugged test, I think it makes sense to have neck-thru basses and bolt-on guitars in studio.
My favorite was the bolt on as far as tone. I’m going to get a solar next year. I have it picked out already.
wow thats a really cool video, never mentioned anyone else doing this, its hell of a difference, i need a neck thru..
Right on. Excellent comparison video.
This is perfectly in line with my personal experience....it really doesnt matter enough to be a significant factor.
That's the big point about all these tiny differences people fantasise about and buy for ridiculous prices from smarter salesmen.
I haven't used a bolt-on since my first squire strat almost 20 years ago; I've been neck-thru ever since.
For me, it's more about the feeling of the neck than it is the tone. Maybe I've only ever played lower quality bolt-ons, but I've always felt more restricted on accessing the higher frets than on any neck-thru I've ever tried. Tonally, I've never noticed much of a difference that could be attributed to that particular feature of a given guitar.
I watched this on my phone and will need to watch it again on my computer later on for a more accurate audio experience, but I didn't notice too much of a difference between the two on this particular viewing. Maybe a tiny bit more brightness or treble on behalf of the bolt-on, but likely something that would be rolled off during mixing anyway.
To me, neck-thru VS bolt-on is more a matter of comfort and whether you want to be able to replace the neck easily or not. I've got a Schecter with what they call "ultra access" set-neck, basically, they managed to shave the wood so the access is very similar to a neck-thru, in fact, you could mistake it for a neck-thru at first glance with the way they finished it
Good comparison. This helped me decide what type of guitar construction to order. Now to decide materials and pickups
Thanks again
Damn. I wasn't expecting to hear an actual difference in the guitars when plugged in... Awesome video!
I like a bolt on for that spank in the riffs but love the sustain in the neck thru for leads.. My main guitar is a neck thru though.
The difference in tone and sustain between these two guitars is well within the amount of variation you can hear between two completely identical guitars from the same factory made on the same day.
True, the slight variation in tone could as well be due to a difference in density from one lump of wood to the next
Do more comparisons like these, please! I'd like to see a comparison between two similar guitars except different types of pickups for example. Thanks!
I was gonna say that acoustically the bolt-on sounded brighter but then it actually may be just lacking the 'fullness' that the neck-thru has.
An interesting comparison! :D
oo ya..that makes sense..ive owned a good amount of guitars and the jeff loomis signature rang SO hard for me..and ive had others upon others..id say neck thru truly sounds better but idk..havent had too many bolt ons..
I was surprised at how much difference I could hear between the two when really concentrating on the sound. I think I preferred the neck through tones, especially for clean. Felt like it had more body to the sound.
Did you not see the guy who mimicked scale length and electronics and used no neck or body, wood means nothing, I am not sure that it matters what unplugged electric sounds like!
I thought exactly the same. Neck thru rules!
Ironically it has less body and more neck :D
@@H82BUagain You're wrong dude. Gibsons SG and Les Paul have the same scale length, same pickups, same bridge, nut and tuners, and they sound completely different....
@@H82BUagain I saw the video. I could still hear the differences in this video between the two guitars. Less so on high gain, but there was still a definite change in sound here.
These are gorgeous! I love the look so much.
Amazing comparison!
I’ve noticed the feel in hand is the biggest difference between the set neck, neckthru and Bolton designs more than the sound. I prefer Bolton since you can swap the necks (repair, replace or even upgrades)
I like this construction method because it uses less fine lumber. It’s better for trees
*Michael Bolton noises*
@@klap00 sometimes you gotta let autocorrect do its thing
Agree, not to mention I have had lots less problems with weather/humidity affecting the neck with bolt on than neck thru or set neck guitars. Sold all my set neck guitars because of that.
The only reason to go to Bolton is to use the park and ride services into Manchester
The bolt on consistently has less "thumpy" low end than the neck through. Very slightly different pick attack also. But on the whole not a huge difference, and for the metal chug I actually preferred the less low-end for the bolt on.
I agree, but I also feel like it’s easier to dial in more highs on my amp than it is to get the lower end dialed in, so for me on my EVH 5150 iii, I can honk the neck-thru is better. Once you start cranking up the lows on the amp, you tend to get more muddy imo. Highs and miss dial in much easier for me at least… So dialing in the chug is simple, while getting a good rich one with crisp clean “tonely” (🤣) bass is a little tougher. Subjective obviously though
Pick attack is in the hands of the player, not the guitar.
@@PrisonerInGlass While the initial sound of the "pick attack" is of course caused by the players hand, how the guitar translates that sound is dependent on how the guitar resonates. So yes the guitar does (in at least a small way) affect the sound.
The material of the guitar or how the wood is attatched makes no differnece to the electric sound. Everything electrical influences the sound of an electric guitar. Nothing else. The body is for show.
@@klap00 Did you not watch the video and hear the difference in the sound?
Ps. Thank you for keeping it real appreciate the videos of you and your awesome family and your dog . 👍👍👍
Thanks Ola for the comparison between the two I hear the the difference your guitar’s are awesome and sound really, really good 👍 🤘hopefully I can Be fortunate to own one your guitar’s are right on quality and appreciate the videos your putting on . 👍👍
I liked the fuller sound of the neck through on clean. Otherwise it's a wash. But your test also confirms what I read about the sustain being greater with a bolt-on which is surprising! It is what it is.
To be fair, the difference is pretty minimal, this test would have to be performed with several guitars to prove whether it's the neck joint or lack thereof that affects the sustain, or just the general construction of each individual guitar, there's too many variables to decide with just one tests, especially with such a small difference. But in the end, pick-ups, pedals and amps are probably the bigger variable.
@@mauriciogago4465 you would also have to pick a good amount of times to minimize the impact of a different pick strength in a single comparison
@@OzzyInYourEars Thats what it looked like to me. The bolt on looked like it had a higher pick attack based on the waveform.
The bolt-on seems a little thinner and quicker in all regards.. even acoustically. I prefer the neck-thru.
Same
I like the thin sound. I run an 80 gauge string tuned to drop f/drop e. I avoid bolt ONS and mohagony bodies for these tunings. Thin sounding tonewood on a guitar means jack didly shit when you use bridge cables for strings like a real man.
I also prefer a thinner and more treble focused wood choice for guitars for playing live as well. You'll never cut through the mix using a mohagony on mohagony body neck setup scooping your mids but fuck people just love to do that. Idk why.
I felt the same fullness on the neck thru but I also think that all that extra fullness will be cut in a mix/master process in favour to a less muddy sound, at least in a heavy mix
@@preston2636 LMFAOOOOOOOOOOO
Finally, a serious kind of comparison. Thank you Ola!
Great vid. Gorgeous guitars.
I think neck thru guitars have a different transient for each fretted note, compared to a bolt on.
It's like neck thru has a full warm tone that just decays evenly, while a bolt on has a more fast attack, fast decay but the resonances keep staying for a bit more time
they both sounded good but there was a difference. the neck through seemed to have more bottom end and the bolt on seemed more mid-ranged but more fine tuned clarity.
Thumps up for the reducing variables approach 👍
Great comparison because I always wanted to hear an accurate comparison between bolt-on and neck thru. You truly can hear the difference with the bolt-on being snappy with a higher treble tone and the neck thru being a bit more bass and better resonance.
A fully floating Floyd Rose adds its own over arching effect on a guitars sound. I feel that it might have been more revealing if you had used hard tail guitars for this test. Perhaps you could do a similar shootout with a hard tail and a Floyd guitar that are otherwise identical?
Neck Through all the way! That’s why I ordered the S 1.7 APP - because of the fishmans, evertune and neck through. Should arrive tomorrow finally! 🤘🏻🔥 The bolt on may be a little better in the chug but not much, and acoustically and cleanly the neck- through is way better sounding imo. Def subjective though. I’m shocked about the sustain honestly
Agreed. Clean and acoustic : neck-thru easily. Otherwise, bolt-on is as good if not slightly better when distorted, depending on taste.
If Ola did 10 tests and took the average sustain for both, the result might be different. The sound wave from the neck-thru looks to me a bit smaller than the one from the bolt-on, even right on the attack, which would imply that Ola hit the string slightly harder on the bolt-on, which might explain the sustain difference. Personally I still think that neck-thrus have better sustain.
Beautiful guitars Ola.
Straight Forward A/B! Thank you!
In my opinion, neck construction doesn't really matter one way or the other in the grand scheme of things.
Sonical difference is there, sure, I can hear something, but it's negligible, I think, comfort of use and aesthethics are more important here, it's purely preferential.
I personally prefer neck-through or deep set neck at least, and built for speed in general, it's the most comfortable option and looks the best in my opinion.
Yeah. Outside of the pickups and your tone circuit, any tonal difference (outside of incredibly clean jazz stuff) on an amplified electric guitar can be dialed in with tiny tweaks to your EQ.
When they where unplugged, i did prefer the neck through guitar, it sounded better acoustically, but the moment you plugged them in, i immediately noticed how tight the bolt on sounded, and it's now my favorite.
Thanks for this comparison video. I definitely noticed a difference between the two guitars when played acoustically and clean. However, I didn’t notice much of a difference with distortion.
good now I feel good having bolt on guitars. thank you Ola
Clean there is a noticeable difference in tone but distorted there is no significant difference. Sure, maybe an ever so slight boost in the low end with the neck through but in a full mix that’d be cut out either way
In a full studio mix, yes, in a live situation, no. I think I'd go neck thru for live, because you can't always dial in more bass on an amp without hitting mud, but you can always dial in a but more treble and cut on the high end. I think the overall clarity of the neck thru would provide more benefit live than the extra pick attack, but I think it also depends on your amp and playing style.
I think in a studio environment you can use whatever you want, provided you have the ability to dial in what you're using.
Neck-through actually sounds quite a bit fuller even distorted. But it's more of a matter of taste since you have bass and treble knobs on your amps anyway
A good, rational comparison with as much being equal between the two guitars as is practical. Nice to see it. I'm a luthier myself and I appreciate what you have done here. I prefer long tenon set necks and don't care much for bolt-on necks but it's just a preference.
Awesome comparison…Love the Bolt On!!!!
Feels like that neck thru gives the small tone bonus when playing clean.. But amped up I think the bolt on is more of a "tool for the job", going to be cheaper to buy and easier to repair if needed. And the difference in sound isn't noticeable. Especially live.
Yup, there's just a bunch of elitists out there who love a moot argument lol. The real difference between the two? Neck through is sexier, bolt on is more practical. But even that is still subjective.
I think tone and feel is always going to come down to preference. For me, in this test, I thought the bolt on was too brittle and I preferred the sound of the neck through. But as you said, you can always adjust your sound to accommodate the guitar. It's just another chapter in the long list of never-ending arguments among guitar players.
Already after 5 minutes, I gotta say, thx for the effort, man! There's a definite difference and I thought always, there wouldn't be... Really interesting, you are grading up to a sience channel 🤘
Gr8 video. I love this kind of scientific videos. Maybe some different modifications? Different bridge type etc.
Honestly for me it's never been a matter of tone, there are so many factors to tone that the construction of it is negligible in most cases. It's entirely a feel thing, I enjoy having the completely unrestricted access of a neck thru. Bolt ons are fine especially good ones like you said, but having absolutely no wood there at the joint just feels (and looks) so nice
Interestingly, this is the third test I have seen where bolt-on wins for sustain. I was always told the opposite was true.
The test is now good. There is a level difference that nullifies it. That said, there are factors other than just "neck trough" and "bolt on" that may affect it (wood density and variability, string height, pickup magnet strength etc.).
I was impressed with the comparison. Great taste in guitars. The prestige factor can't be overlooked. Studio quality sound and acoustics was important. Plus even technique in the test comparison. Really great tone in the acoustic test, the upper register tone really sing through clear.
A golden standard comparison. Thanks m8. This reinforces my anecdotes where i noticed a certain “character” in my bolt ons that was missing in the neck-thru guitars of similar build. I prefer the neck thru for metal riffing and bolt ons for leads. But as said, you can adjust amp settings and signal patches to compensate. Rock on
I could use either really. For me personally, I like neck thru guitars.
In my opinion it's just a taste/look choice. I've always prefer bolton incase of an accident, or if I need to remove it for travel reasons. Tone... no difference honestly, barely any and there's no way anybody would be able to tell the difference
I like roasted necks, so basically only bolt on for me. Edit: I live in a high humidity area.
The tone difference is there, even if it is really small, that's a fact showed in this video. Think that nowadays while software emulates amps at 99%, some people still prefer the "organic" response of valvulars. Feeling and response is important for the musician's performance and comfort, and I think that's the actual importance of comparing at this level, but it's a comparison that someone has to do with his hands, not watching a video.
@@gonza.shreds It's not a fact, because his strumming isn't consistent just to name one of many contributing differences. In theory the weight-difference alone might change the outcome. He is using a mahogany body with maple neck, so the neck through will be lighter probably. What if somebody used a heavy wood like wenge for the neck and swampash for the body? That would lead to different results surely. You would have to test all these options in a repeatable manner (say with a servo controlled strumming hand). Also, maybe he has played on one more already so the strings are more used. There are too many factors even though he tried to have as much overlap between these guitars as possible
@@athmaid well if wood weight can affect as you say, surely construction method will do so too. Almost every detail matters. My point is that they sounded different, blame either construction or wood weight.
@@gonza.shreds I mean sure they sounded different, but at the same time it's because we're kinda listening to it closely. I'm sure you could play 2 audio that are actually the same to someone and ask him to tell what the difference is between the two, guarantee most people would find something, even if theres not. In the end I've never heard someone play and thought 'I know this guy is playing a bolt on I can hear it'.
Wood tone, string, cable and all the jazz is just one big lie, the only things that really has an impact on your tone when playing in front of people is your pickup, amp and pedal (and the way you play )Maybe pick and strings, but the difference is so small it has barely an impact in my opinion. In your bedroom through headset probably a bigger impact tho
Great informative video Ola, but the guitars definitely stole the show. They are both so damn beautiful.
Ola- Please do a Mythbusters series that tackles forum debates like this. Can't think of anyone more equipped to do these kind of videos! Great work!
How tight you screw the bolts also affects the tonality and sustain. I have experimented on this with several bolt-on guitars of mine and am really sure about this.
Need torque specs lol
Did you use tone-bolts(TM)?
But only if it's american made bolts. Not the cheap chinese ones. Also philips head ones have a brighter sound. Obviously.
@@PJBonoVox Ha, I was going to make this comment earlier but decided to wait. I need some titanium neck screws now. lol
Honestly, any electrified differences could easily be chalked up by tolerances in the pickups. The only way to change that would be by switching the same pickup set between the two, to remove that tolerance difference.
This is amazing!! thanks 🙏
Wow, there’s quite a bit of difference! Great comparison.
Bolt on all the way. I make my own guitars and for my neck/body junction I use thread inserts instead of bolt directly on wood. You get better sustain, what people call "thinner" might just cut better in the mix and if you have a big problem with your neck, the repair is way easier.
In one of Leo Lospennato guitar building books, he mentions a study proving that bolton has more sustain than set neck (does not mention neck through afair)
I build as well I agree. What I think people refer to as snappier is a better handling of the transients. I think that the bolt on is giving you the full spectrum of the not, but the neck through muffles the higher overtones. The reason I prefer that is because you can dampen the high end with the tone knob or the settings.. but you adding the top end usually sounds brittle and noisy. In other words, its better to cut frequencies than it is to add them
Here's my take: The bolt-on had a little of that slightly nasal, tomcat snarly, Eddie Van Halen/George Lynch snotty lead tone and the neck-through didn't. Not that there was that big of a difference, though.
If I owned both, I'd use the bolt on for leads and the neck-through for rhythms when recording. Live I don't think it would make much difference.
Cool review/comparison/experiment.
Great video! You should do the
same comparison with these 2 guitars +
chambered body versions of them. Idk if
you even offer chambered versions but it
would be a fascinating video. I recently got a neck-through with a chambered body, and there's so much resonance and
overtones it's almost too much! I've never
used any wraps or deadening accessories before but now I've become interested.
Easily among the best videos on RUclips.
I actually think I prefer the bolt on. I thought it consistently sounded brighter and slightly more clear across all tests, but especially in the distorted riffing and soloing. The sustain test honestly surprised me, I've always been convinced that neck through was the king for sustain. Great comparison, honestly a very informative video.