Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Neck-through-body construction
Neck-through-body (commonly neck-thru or neck-through) is a method of electric guitar construction that combines the instrument's neck and core of its body into a single unit. This may be made of a solid piece of wood, or two or more laminated together. The strings, nut, fretboard, pickups and bridge are all mounted on this central core. Additional body side components (if any) that fill-out its shape are glued or mechanically attached to this central core. These are referred to as "wings". The construction technique is also used on electric bass guitars.
Neck-through-body construction is considerably more expensive than the traditional glued set-in neck and bolt-on neck style construction methods. However, it's less costly than the very rare and difficult "one-piece" fabrication of an entire instrument from a single piece of material.
The first electric bass guitar, the solid-body "Audiovox 736" created by Paul Tutmarc circa 1937, had a neck-through construction.
"The Log", a prototype solid-body guitar built by Les Paul in 1941, can be considered as a forerunner of neck-through designed instrument. Les Paul built the model using a recycled 4x4 fence post as the neck and body core, and mounted the disassembled parts of an Epiphone and Gibson archtop guitar onto it.
The 1952-57 Harmony H44 had this construction feature.
In 1956 Rickenbacker was one of the first guitar manufacturers to use the modern variant of this technique, although this was originally restricted exclusively to semi-hollowbody guitars.
The most important benefit for the player of a neck-thru guitar is the reduction of heel mass. The heel is the term used to describe the thickened area at the body-neck junction. Body-neck connection area thickening is required for structural integrity. In the violin family of instruments this area's called the "button", "saddle" or "nose".
The area where the neck attaches to the body is naturally a weak zone. There's a lot of pressure exerted on the instrument due to the combined tension of all the strings pulling on the instrument between the tuners and the bridge. The neck-body connection area is weaker if you have to join a separate neck to a body. The screws (bolt-on) or glue (set-neck) used to connect the neck to the body requires significant area to be able to provide sound structural integrity to act against the string's tension and bond body to neck totally stably to ensure tuning stability of the instrument. Heel mass then becomes an obstacle when attempting to reach higher registers of the fretboard.
Hub AI
Neck-through-body construction AI simulator
(@Neck-through-body construction_simulator)
Neck-through-body construction
Neck-through-body (commonly neck-thru or neck-through) is a method of electric guitar construction that combines the instrument's neck and core of its body into a single unit. This may be made of a solid piece of wood, or two or more laminated together. The strings, nut, fretboard, pickups and bridge are all mounted on this central core. Additional body side components (if any) that fill-out its shape are glued or mechanically attached to this central core. These are referred to as "wings". The construction technique is also used on electric bass guitars.
Neck-through-body construction is considerably more expensive than the traditional glued set-in neck and bolt-on neck style construction methods. However, it's less costly than the very rare and difficult "one-piece" fabrication of an entire instrument from a single piece of material.
The first electric bass guitar, the solid-body "Audiovox 736" created by Paul Tutmarc circa 1937, had a neck-through construction.
"The Log", a prototype solid-body guitar built by Les Paul in 1941, can be considered as a forerunner of neck-through designed instrument. Les Paul built the model using a recycled 4x4 fence post as the neck and body core, and mounted the disassembled parts of an Epiphone and Gibson archtop guitar onto it.
The 1952-57 Harmony H44 had this construction feature.
In 1956 Rickenbacker was one of the first guitar manufacturers to use the modern variant of this technique, although this was originally restricted exclusively to semi-hollowbody guitars.
The most important benefit for the player of a neck-thru guitar is the reduction of heel mass. The heel is the term used to describe the thickened area at the body-neck junction. Body-neck connection area thickening is required for structural integrity. In the violin family of instruments this area's called the "button", "saddle" or "nose".
The area where the neck attaches to the body is naturally a weak zone. There's a lot of pressure exerted on the instrument due to the combined tension of all the strings pulling on the instrument between the tuners and the bridge. The neck-body connection area is weaker if you have to join a separate neck to a body. The screws (bolt-on) or glue (set-neck) used to connect the neck to the body requires significant area to be able to provide sound structural integrity to act against the string's tension and bond body to neck totally stably to ensure tuning stability of the instrument. Heel mass then becomes an obstacle when attempting to reach higher registers of the fretboard.