ElRay Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 I know from a purely logical perspective, for a first build, a bolt-on is best because it will allow for neck shimming, the ability to rebuild the neck or the body if one is messed-up, etc. So, the plan is/was to use non-pretty "left overs" from other furniture, etc. projects. One of these left-overs is a can of DupliColor MetalCast Red Chrome. The idea was to go with the red chrome finish and black hardware and I've already bought the hardware. The conundrum comes in because I love natural finish guitars and it looks like I'll have left-over cherry that's wide enough for the body, but only if I do a neck-through. And the black hardware will still work with a natural cherry guitar. Is a bolt-on that much "safer" for a first build? I've done enough wood-working that I'm not too worried about the mechanics of milling the wood to size, glueing, routing, template building, etc., but I'm still concerned about the unexpected "gotchas", because I've never built a guitar before. Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob123 Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Id say spend 5$ and buy another piece of cherry, and figure out what you WANT to do, not what youre FORCED to do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 If you are confident in your wood working skills, a neck through should not present any undue problems for you. Provided you've made an honest assesment of your skills. It sounds like most of your worries stem from the mechanics of getting the angles and alignment correct when your frets and nut are one one piece of work and the pups and bridge are on another. On a neck through, all those parts are on the same piece wood, so a lot of those issues go away. You still have to get all the placements right, but you are not going to screw them all up with your neck join. Just make sure it's all correct before gluing the wings on. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 make your neck blank extra long cut a off and use it in the center of your body then you can make a bolt on neck and you will have the impression of a neck through with a bolt on neck. i dont knwo if that makes any sence at all 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripthorn Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 (edited) I have done a few neck throughs now and the most difficult thing is to do the steps in the right order (or the easiest order). For example, cutting the body wings before gluing to the neck (and doing as much shaping as possible), routing pickup cavities before the fretboard is glued on, etc. You just have to think through the next several steps at any one time to make sure you won't be making your life any more difficult than it has to be. Edited November 20, 2012 by Ripthorn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElRay Posted November 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 To me, a neck-through seems much less problematic than a bolt-on or a set-neck. This is new territory for me, so I'm likely leaning on "conventional wisdom" more than I need to. Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted November 22, 2012 Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 neck angle geometry is the trickiest bit - draw it all out and if you are confident you can cut it then go for it. also dont forget things like wiring channels, as ripthorn said - you have to get the order of operations right. I did a through neck as my second build and it went well. well enough that i also did it a lot after that 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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