mroulier
Wholenote
Chemo'd and Radiated!
Posts: 155
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Post by mroulier on Jan 20, 2022 12:34:51 GMT -5
I guess I'll find out soon! I just bought a 1989-ish Charvel 850XL that has neck-thru build and active electronics. I have an '87 Charvel 575 (bolt-on) but passive pickups, so I'm not even sure if it will be a valid comparison... I was looking at either Charvels or Carvins as those seem to be the most price-conscious options for neck-thru. What say y'all? Is it a BIG difference, or hardly? Or do the pickups matter more?
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Post by Laker on Jan 20, 2022 20:41:34 GMT -5
The only neck-thru bass I owned was an original Gibson Thunderbird II and I found it a really hideous instrument after playing Fender Jazz and Precision basses. I honestly could not hear any tonal difference between the two with the big difference being the price you pay for that neck-thru design.
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Post by ninworks on Jan 21, 2022 6:20:44 GMT -5
I have an old Rick 4001 that is neck-through. I don't know if it makes any difference or not being that bass sounds so much different than a Fender anyway.
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Post by Leftee on Jan 21, 2022 8:38:39 GMT -5
You’d really have to do an “all other things equal” comparison. And I don’t know how you’d get there.
A great instrument is the one you love to play.
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jeffscott
Wholenote
Rickenbacker Guru..............
Posts: 138
Age: GOF
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Post by jeffscott on Jan 22, 2022 2:25:42 GMT -5
The only neck-thru bass I owned was an original Gibson Thunderbird II and I found it a really hideous instrument after playing Fender Jazz and Precision basses. I honestly could not hear any tonal difference between the two with the big difference being the price you pay for that neck-thru design. I have been playing both neck-through and bolt-on basses for over 50 years. Neck-through does not necessarily mean it costs more. I have two bolt-on basses that both cost more than my two neck-through basses. As to sustain, most of it is dependent on the materials used and the build quality. Both my neck-through basses and the bolt-on basses have similar amounts of sustain (lots of it with both designs). Tone is a totally different thing altogether, and how the neck, itself, is attached has very little bearing on it, IME. There are many other far more important aspects of a bass that contribute to tone than the neck attachment method. Hope this helps. |
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Post by morrow on Jan 22, 2022 8:16:49 GMT -5
I play a weekly jam , and don’t mind letting other players use my gear . I‘ve sometimes heard four or five different players , using exactly the same amp and instrument , same settings on the amp , all sound completely different .
I have bolt on , set neck , and neck through instruments , and despite their differences I seem to make most of them sound somewhat similar .
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Post by HeavyDuty on Feb 3, 2022 6:16:35 GMT -5
I have a few neck through basses. I don’t notice tonal differences, but they definitely have more sustain.
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twangmeister
Wholenote
Posts: 349
Formerly Known As: Twangmeister
Age: 72 and fading fast.....
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Post by twangmeister on Feb 3, 2022 15:17:12 GMT -5
All my solidbody basses sustained about the same--except for an aluminum-necked Kramer B200. It might have been the solidly bolted aluminum neck.
Or maybe it was the tuning fork-shaped headstock
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Feb 3, 2022 22:14:49 GMT -5
It affects tone, but not quite as advertised.
As usual, musicians will hear a difference in something, and then give the wrong reasons why they're hearing what they're hearing.
I haven't given it much thought, but the reasons why it sounds different might include: body composition changes and has more maple (usually) in it, fewer woods involved means fewer sets of resonances working against each other, lending a bit cleaner of a tone, differing neck profiles (neck-thrus are very often carved with higher fret access), and so on.
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jw55
Quarternote
Posts: 9
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Post by jw55 on Apr 20, 2022 8:29:48 GMT -5
Over the years I've had set (glued in) neck Gibsons, screw neck Fender shaped objects, and various neck through instruments.
Most any decently built bass will sustain (given proper bridge and nut slots and a proper neck relief and gaged pickup heights), especially on a loud stage. I never really felt or heard any practical, real-world difference in the length of sustain from any of them.
But:
IF you have a carefully built bass and good ears, neck through basses tend to carry more of the first several harmonics through the pickups to the amp. Play a low C or D or open E on a good neck through, you can hear a very subtle grind or beat at the bottom of the note I've never heard in the other constructions. 'Separate neck' instruments are still punchy in the low end, but in a different way.
The real life difference in a neck through usually is that they're most often 24 frets, and with no neck heel and a cutaway up to HERE, playing way up the neck is way easier than the typical 20, 21 fret screw neck with that big footer to mount the neck. This also leaves less real estate to spread out the pickups because the 24 frets obviously have to reach further into the body.
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