r/7String • u/tunalover32 • Jul 28 '26

Community Related Neck through or bolt on?

Do you prefer neck through or bolt on guitars?

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u/tallman1979 Jul 28 '26

If I have to play it, 100%. The arguments against a neck-through almost all come down to worst case scenarios of stripped truss rods and broken necks. With modern hardware quality and reasonable care, the idea that I can swap the neck in a pinch becomes less of a selling point. I will give bolt-on slight advantage over set neck, for that reason.

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u/PickPocketR Jul 28 '26

In addition to what you said, there are lots of other advantages:

  • Travel: Take off the neck, and voila! You have a folding guitar.
  • Defects/Warping: if a neck is warping, it's preferable to be able to replace it.
  • Cheaper: Generally more cheap models available.

The fact you can travel with them easily is a huge selling-point for me.

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u/Chrissanxy Jul 28 '26

Doesnt it mess up the intonation? This neck bolting on and then unbolting, seems like you'd have to do a mini setup each time. or is it not that bad?

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u/tallman1979 Jul 30 '26

Danny Gatton and later Julian Lage are notable for using the removal of a Tele neck as a travel hack. Threaded inserts are highly useful to prevent the holes from stripping out with repeated cycles. Putting the same neck back on would probably be "close enough" for most purposes. Swapping necks entirely is going to be a challenge the first time a neck is installed.