Neck-through or neck-thru (or in full form neck through body) is a method of electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

 or bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 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

Bookmatched

Bookmatching is the practice of matching two wood surfaces, so that two adjoining surfaces mirror each other in appearance, thus giving the impression of an opened book...

 in order to give a symmetrical appearance, and are often cut from one piece of wood.

History

"The Log", a prototype solid-body guitar built by Les Paul

Les Paul

Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...

 in 1940, can be considered as a forerunner of neck-through, as he built it by using a 2x4 piece of pine as the neck and body core, and mounted the disassembled part of an archtop onto it.

Rickenbacker

Rickenbacker

Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...

 was the first guitar manufactured to use the modern variant of this technique, although this was restricted exclusively to semi-hollowbody guitars.

Advantages and disadvantages

Neck-through construction is significantly harder to mass-produce than bolt-on or set-in neck

Set-in neck

Set-in neck is a method of guitar construction that involves joining guitar neck and body with a tightly fitted mortise-and-tenon or dovetail joint, secured using some sort of adhesive...

 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 allows the instrument to stay in tune longer.

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 to 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.

Usage

This structure is used by many companies, including Parker Guitars

Parker Guitars

Parker Guitars is an American manufacturer of electric guitars and basses, started by luthier Ken Parker in the early 90s. Parker is most famous for making the Parker Fly....

, BC Rich, Yamaha, Ibanez

Ibanez

is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass produce...

 (primarily on basses), Jackson

Jackson Guitars

__FORCETOC__Jackson is a renowned brand of electric guitar that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson.-Early years:Grover Jackson obtained ownership in Charvel's Guitar Repair of Glendora, California in the 1970s with a promise to bolster Charvel's business...

, Alembic

Alembic Inc

Alembic was founded in 1969 and is a manufacturer of high-end electric basses, guitars and preamps.-History:Ron and Susan Wickersham founded Alembic, Inc. in 1969...

, Schecter

Schecter Guitar Research

Schecter Guitar Research, commonly known as simply as Schecter, is a US guitar manufacturer. The company was founded in 1976 by David Schecter and originally produced only replacement parts for existing guitars from manufacturers such as Fender and Gibson...

, Carvin

Carvin A&I

Carvin Corporation is an American guitar, musical instrument and equipment manufacturer located in San Diego, California. Carvin was founded in 1946 by Lowell Kiesel, and originally manufactured guitar pickups.-History:...

, ESP Guitars

ESP Guitars

, located in North Hollywood, California, is an American-based, Japanese-owned manufacturer of electric guitars and basses.- History :In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products in Tokyo. It provided custom replacement parts for guitars. In 1976, ESP gained a reputation...

, and Rickenbacker

Rickenbacker

Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...

. The Gibson Firebird

Gibson Firebird

The Gibson Firebird is a solid-body electric guitar manufactured by Gibson from 1963 to the present.-History:The Gibson Guitar Corporation released several new styles during the 1950s to compete with Fender's instruments, such as the Telecaster and Stratocaster. After success with the Les Paul in...

 and Thunderbird

Gibson Thunderbird

The Gibson Thunderbird is an electric bass guitar made by Gibson.-Background and introduction:The Gibson Thunderbird was introduced in 1963. At the time, Fender had been the leader in the electric bass market since their introduction of the Precision Bass twelve years earlier.The Thunderbird was...

, which have had intermittent production, also use this technique. This method of neck-to-body affixation is also popular with independent guitar builders, who can typically devote more time to such a labor-intensive neck joint than a mass-producing company could.