Neck Joint - Set In Neck

Set-in neck is a method of guitar (or similar stringed instrument) construction that involves joining guitar neck and body, pressing it tightly together using some sort of adhesive. It is a common belief that this yields a stronger body to neck connection than a bolt-on neck, although most luthiers agree that a well-executed bolt-on neck joint is equally as strong, and will have similar levels of sustain and neck to body contact. However, neither of these joints are as strong as a neck-thru body joint, which is a labor and material intensive undertaking and is usually only seen on high end offerings.

This method is most popular on acoustic guitars. Almost all major acoustic guitar manufacturers use set-in necks, with only notable exception being Taylor Guitars. In the electric guitar market, Gibson traditionally produces almost all of it's electric offerings as set-in neck models, as opposed to rival Fender, which traditionally builds it's electric instruments (most notably, the Stratocaster, Telecaster and various Electric Basses) with bolt-on necks.

Wooden musical instrument construction relies on four widely used types of glues:

• Hide glue
  
• PVA (both "white glue" and "yellow glue")
• Epoxy and Cyanoacrylate are sometimes also used for neck joints, but generally such use is rare. Structure of these glues makes it difficult to disassemble joint later if repair or servicing is required

Typically cited advantages of set-in neck include:

• Warmer tone
• More sustain, although this is not supported by formal research
• Usually better access to top frets in comparsion to bolt-on necks utilizing a metal plate (as seen on Fender guitars)

Disadvantages

• Slightly harder to mass manufacture than bolt-on necks, much harder to repair / service than a bolt-on neck
• The player has no control over the neck-to-body angle; changing it requires disassembling the instrument and re-glueing the neck by an experienced luthier

source : Wikipedia

Neck Joint - Neck Through

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, essentially making it the core 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.

Neck-through construction is significantly harder to mass-produce than bolt-on or set-in 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 and stay in tune longer. There is little formal research on this topic, but what exists does not support this assertion.

Repairs to the neck are usually expensive and tedious. In many cases, it is usually easier to remove the old neck completely, either by taking the wings off and putting an entirely new core in, or by converting the guitar to a bolt-on or set neck by creating a heel and affixing the new neck to the core already in place, rather than to try and repair the neck itself. However, thanks to excellent stability and reaction to string tension and pressure, neck through guitars are often much more sturdy than many other guitars on the market.

source : Wikipedia

Neck Joint - Bolt On Neck

This neck joint usually found in common electric guitar. This method is used frequently on solid body electric guitar and on acoustic flattop guitars. In the typical electric guitar bolt-on neck joint, the body and neck cross in horizontal plane, the neck is inserted in a pre-routed "pocket" in the body, and they are joined using 4 (rarely 6) screws. As screw heads damage the wood and could put extra stress on it, typically a rectangular metal plate or a pair of metal plates are used to secure the joint and re-distribute the screw pressure evenly.


Such a plate is usually criticized for making playing on top frets uncomfortable, so, manufacturers sometimes employ some kind of more intricate method to hide a metal plate, smooth the angles and make access to top frets easier. However, a visible metal plate is usually considered as a part of "vintage" style and they are a popular place to emboss manufacturer's logos, stamp out serial numbers and put other artwork. Fender is the manufacture that used this neck joint in nearly all of the product. While Taylor used this joint for their acoustic guitar

Typically cited advantages of bolt-on neck include:

• Easier and cheaper to mass production and repair if damaged. Necks that allow Fender "standard" 4-screw joint are frequently interchangeable provided they are intended for the same style of guitar (e.g. Stratocaster or Telecaster): for example, one can order custom neck (with personal profile or radius) and change one by just removing one neck and attaching the other. A Stratocaster neck can also be fitted to a Telecaster body, although the reverse is untrue unless some minor modifications are made. Less traditional versions exist, such as 3-screw plate (with easier micro-tilt adjustment) or even 6-screw plate bolt-on joint, but they may differ widely in the shapes, sizes and position of screws. Which one is better is debatable, but budget guitar manufacturers often choose 3-screw joints for its minimal cost, notwithstanding the quality.
• Easy to control: sometimes bolt-on neck includes some sort of adjustment screw that can control neck-to-body angle.
• More resonance due to wood-to-wood contact in high quality bolt-ons, no glue allows better coupling.
• More attack and "snap", slightly brighter tone, but this advantage is frequently debated

And the disadvantages of bolt-on neck include:

• For solid body electric guitars, harder access to top frets, especially if screw plate is used and visible. Slick heel with hidden plate (such as depicted one) makes playing the top frets more comfortable and special neck joint techniques, such as the Ibanez AANJ, MusicMan Silhouette and Stephen's Extended Cutaway mitigate this problem.
• Less sustain, due to the bridge and nut being on two different pieces of wood, but this disadvantage is subjective, frequently debated, and not supported by formal research.
• Bolt-on necks are less structurally sound than neck-thrus, making them easier to break (also easier to fix), and more susceptible to going out of tune.
• Sloppy construction or assembly of a bolt-on guitar exacerbates any of its inherent disadvantages

Luthiers and guitar players cite both advantages and disadvantages of bolt-on neck construction. Note that most of these views are highly subjective and relative. It is not easy to measure most of the claims objectively or even compare objective factors, as guitars differ considerably.

Source : Wikipedia

Some Guitar Buying Guide

Guitars are one of the best musical instruments man has ever created. In fact, almost 65% of Americans know how to play the guitar. This is because learning how to play the guitar is as easy as 1-2-3. It just needs some "dogged" determination, interest, and love for music, and anybody can easily learn how to manipulate a few strings.

Many experts contend that learning how to play the guitar is almost proportional to the kind of guitar being used. They suggest that in order to learn how to play the guitar in as little time possible, it is advantageous to use a good guitar.

Since many people would like to believe that all guitars are the same because they have similar attributes, it is really not possible to assume to assume it to so. This is because guitars are not created equal. Each kind has its own distinctions and differences.

For those who are not yet familiar with the way to choose the right guitar, here is a list of some tips that you can use:

1. Determine your budget first

Guitars are not made of second-hand class materials so you can expect that most of the guitars are relatively expensive.
Determine your budget first so that you will know how much you can afford before you decide what kind of a guitar to buy. Settling for a cheaper guitar is generally not a good option, especially those that are priced below $200 so you had better set a budget for it.

2. Know your style

Knowing the kind of music that you like will help determine the kind of style of music you will play. For instance if you are interested in acoustic music, then it is best to buy an acoustic guitar; if you are into jazz, it would better to buy an "archtop' guitar, etc.

3. Know your level of expertise

If you think you are still a beginner but would like to personally own a guitar, it is best to buy an electric guitar because it provides easier manipulation of the strings.

4. Know the store

Do not buy just anywhere; it would be better to buy your guitar from a quality shop or store. This will assure you of the quality of the guitar plus service in case you need some repairs or additional services.

......the last but not least,
don't forget to try playing your guitar at the shop where you will buy it

Buying a guitar is not as easy as playing it. Just keep in mind that when you buy a guitar, do not just think of it as a good investment for your money but consider it a good investment for you skill. As they say, a good guitar renders good music.

Happy shopping....

Guitar Short History

Guitar, a word that maybe the most popular in music world ever. From the mellow acoustic guitar sound to distorted rock sound, everything have a place in the heart of human kind. What about the story of the guitar itself ...?

Before the development of the electric guitar and the use of synthetic materials, a guitar was defined as instrument having "a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, ribs, and a flat back, most often with incurved sides". Instruments similar to the guitar can be found for least 5,000 years ago known in ancient India and Central Asia as the Sitara. The oldest known iconographic representation of an instrument displaying all the essential features of a guitar being played is a 3300 year old stone carving of a Hittite bard.

The modern guitar is descended from the Roman cithara brought by the Romans to Hispania around 40 AD, and further adapted and developed with the arrival of the four-string oud, brought by the Moors after their invasion of the Iberian peninsula during the 8th century AD. Elsewhere in Europe, the indigenous six-string Scandinavian lut (lute), had gained in popularity in areas of Viking incursions across the continent. Often depicted in carvings c.800 AD, the Norse hero Gunther (also known as Gunnar), played a lute with his toes as he lay dying in a snake-pit, in the legend of Siegfried. By 1200 AD, the four string "guitar" had evolved into two
types: the guitarra morisca (Moorish guitar) which had a rounded back, wide fingerboard and several soundholes, and the guitarra latina (Latin guitar) which resembled the modern guitar with one soundhole and a narrower neck.

The Spanish vihuela or "viola da mano", a guitar-like instrument of the 16th century, appears to be an aberration in the transition from the renaissance instrument to the modern guitar. It had lute-style tuning and a guitar-like body. Its construction had as much in common with the modern guitar as with its contemporary four-course renaissance guitar. The vihuela enjoyed only a short period of popularity; the last surviving publication of music for the instrument appeared in 1576. It is not clear whether it represented a transitional form or was simply a design that combined features of the Arabic oud and the European lute. In favor of the latter view, the reshaping of the vihuela into a guitar-like form can be seen as a strategy of differentiating the European lute visually from the Moorish oud.

The Vinaccia family of luthiers is known for developing the mandolin, and may have built the earliest extant six string guitar. Gaetano Vinaccia (1759 - after 1831) has his signature on the label of a guitar built in Naples, Italy for six strings with the date of 1779. This guitar has been examined and does not show tall-tale
signs of modifications from a double-course guitar although fakes are known to exist of guitars and identifying labels from that period.

The modern word, guitar, was adopted into English from Spanish guitarra, derived from the Latin word cithara, which in turn was derived from the earlier Greek word kithara, which perhaps derives from Persian sihtar. Sihtar itself is related to the Indian instrument, the sitar.Modern dimensions of the classical instrument were established by Antonio Torres Jurado (1817-1892), working in Seville in the 1850s. Torres and Louis Panormo of London (active 1820s-1840s) were both responsible for demonstrating the superiority of fan strutting over transverse table bracing.

The electric guitar was patented by George Beauchamp in 1936. Beauchamp co-founded Rickenbacher which used the horseshoe-magnet pickup. However, it was Danelectro that first produced electric guitars for the wider public.

source : www.wikipedia.com with some part edited