Bolt on necks

[Brad Little]

This is from the Gearpage Forum. I'm curious, as I didn't think Guild used bolt on necks, maybe in the GAD series?
>I want to stick with American made, solid back and sides, and preferably dovetail neck joints, instead of bolt on, which on fortunately are what most the guilds I like use.<
Brad

 

[Dr. Spivey]

The discontinued Contemporary series are the only American made Guild acoustics to use a bolt on neck.

I have no idea how the GAD necks are attached.

 

[devellis]

When done well, bolt-on necks are in no sense inferior to dovetail necks. Some of the best builders (e.g., James Goodall and Dana Bourgeois) use bolt-on's on guitars costing $6,000 and up. The advantage of a bolt-on is that when the neck needs work, it's a much simpler process. Dovetails, of course, are also very good neck joints when done well. They're also traditional, which appeals to many.

I've heard that the Contemporary Series had more than their share of neck block problems, although I don't remember (or perhaps never knew) the details. So, there may be issues with this particular implementation of the bolt-on neck. But it isn't a fundamental problem with the bolt-on technology.

 

[jazzmang]

GADs are all dovetail neck joints.

 

[Ridgemont]

GADs are all dovetail neck joints.

You are correct sir. GADs are all dovetail. To add to everything else said, the new DV series out of Mexico are bolt-on necks. I do not know what that means, but I would assume they corrected the contemporary series problems and passed the improved method to the DV series.

 

[6L6]

We should add Collings and Fender to the list of companies making fine guitars with bolt on necks.

6

 

[J45dale]

As well as a very good Virginia company "Huss Dalton".
Dale.

 

[wildbill]

I have a custon built Green Mountain slope shoulder, with fanned frets. It has a bolt on neck. When done right, you will not notice any diffrence in the tone or projection. Plus if it ever comes time for a reset, it can be done very easy.


Bill

 

[fronobulax]

As well as a very good Virginia company "Huss Dalton".
Dale.

<veer>I'd never heard of Huss & Dalton. An acquaintance was trying to impress a group of folks and pulled out a guitar. It was a Huss & Dalton but all that got was a bunch of blank stares from us Philistines (who incidentally had a material culture much more sophisticated than their traditional enemies, the Israelites, admitted although that is a veer from a veer). Then he told the story that Paul Simon (the musician, not the former Treasury secretary) had special ordered a guitar. The company made four to Simon's specs and Simon had his pick. The instrument being shown was one of the three Simon didn't pick. The acquaintance was not amused when we pointed out the fancy, expensive guitar was someone's reject or a factory second. It was a nice guitar regardless and I have now made it a point to appear suitably impressed when Huss & Dalton are mentioned. </veer>

 

[Telenator]

Taylor guitars also use "bolt-on" necks.

After the nightmare I had removing my Guild neck, my next acoustic build is going to be a bolt-on type.

No more 14th fret hump.

No more concerns over neck angle or fall away on the higher frets.

No more concerns over re-fretting or any other service work for that matter.

 

[devellis]

Huss & Dalton makes extremely nice guitars. I visited their shop a couple of years ago. About 6 guys build them, with a great deal of personal attention. I'd put them in the top tier of small-shop guitars with Bourgeios and Goodall. Collings has similar quality but builds considerably more instruments than the others. In all these cases, tops are individually voiced -- sanded to a thickness determined not by dimensional measurement but by the degree of deflection under a specified weight. All braces are hand shaped to optimize that particular top. Goodall does things a bit differently, graduating his tops so that they're thinner at the edges and can move more freely, kind of like a speaker cone. Of these so-called boutique brands, H&D may be the best values, as they seem to be priced just a bit below the others when comparably equipped. I suspect that's changing, though; prices will likely climb as they're starting to get a reputation for quality -- and well deserved. They do some of the nicest sunbursts I've ever seen (as do Bourgeois and Collings, actually).

And yes, bolt-on necks.

 

[capnjuan]

... the new DV series out of Mexico are bolt-on necks. I do not know what that means, but I would assume they corrected the contemporary series problems and passed the improved method to the DV series.

Hi Ridgemont; this is LTG's Guild Neck-block Funeral Thread which points out that, although Guild applied for a patent, apparently it never received one. From public records, it looks like Guild just stopped pursuing the matter. It's also a reasonable inference that the decision to dump all those COs/CVs on the market in '80 and '09, no matter how humiliating, was financially less painful than Guild having an open-ended liability dangling on the warranty hook for neck-block, Contemporary-series guitars.

So .... I'd be surprised if Guild uses anything based on the old neck-block; if they were, they'd have modified or re-submitted the design for a patent for one thing and they'd be talking it up as the best thing since sliced bread for another. J