Neck-through

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Neck-thru)

Neck-through or neck-thru (or in full form neck through body) is a method of electric guitar or bass guitar construction that involves extending the piece (or pieces, in a laminate construction) of wood used for the neck through the entire length of the body. The strings, fretboard, pickups and bridge are all mounted on this piece. So-called "ears" or "wings" (i.e. side parts of the body) are glued or laminated to the central "stick". The "wings" may be bookmatched in order to give a symmetrical appearance, and are often cut from one piece of wood.

"The Log" (built by Les Paul) can be considered as a forerunner of neck-thru, as he built it by using a 2x4 piece of pine as the neck and body core, and mounted the disassembled part of an archtop onto it.

[edit] Advantages and disadvantages

Neck-through construction is significantly harder to mass-produce than bolt-on or set neck constructions and is primarily found on high-end guitars. It is somewhat more common in basses than in guitars. Neck-thru construction allows easier access to upper frets, because there is no need for a heel – the thickened area where a neck would "bolt-on" (although technically, 3-4 large screws are used) to the body. Many musicians assert that neck-through construction provides greater sustain. There is little formal research on this topic, but what exists does not support this assertion.^[1] Neck-through instruments supposedly stay in tune longer.

This structure is used by many companies, including Ibanez, Jackson Guitars, Alembic, Carvin, ESP Guitars, Paul Reed Smith, Schecter Guitar Research, BC Rich, and Rickenbacker, which was one of the first guitar manufactures to use this technique. The Gibson Firebird and Thunderbird also use this technique, along with various models from Schecter. This method of neck-to-body affixation is also popular with independent guitar builders.