Through neck or bolt on- is there a noticeable difference? Obviousy through neck basses look amazing, but once your over that initial 
is there a noticeable difference between the two? I’ve got my eye on one of two basses as my “forever” bass (stop laughing) and the cheaper of the two (£175 inc shipping) has a bolt on neck, whilst my (dream) forever bass has a through neck and is simply gorgeous for £289 inc shipping. I should be able to afford the former come the end of September and the latter by Christmas but am torn over which one to save for. Both have rave reviews on YouTube and if I’m honest I want them both, but I have to be realistic!
What is the hive mind consensous on the two types of neck?
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Neck through basses tend to sound more mellow and ‘softer’ to me. If I remember correctly they have tons of sustain when compared to the bolt on necks. I’ve never bought one but I’ve played a few owned by others. I always thought if something goes wrong with my neck, I could always replace it with another bolt on. I’d love to know what the hive mind thinks too! 
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Through neck instruments are generally heavier than bolt-on versions. That is something to consider. Some players don’t mind; others do.
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A more intriguing question is: What are these two dream/forever basses you’re lusting after considering?
You might get more informative advice from the hive mind if the collective we know what they are.
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There is no best, it’s an it depends.
Boh, a bassist who plays boutique basses and can play anything he wants prefers bolt on. His reason is he can swap the neck out if there’s a need for repair which you cannot do with neck through.
That being said this is a very subjective area to be honest. I’ve had both and set necks too, I’m happy with bolt on
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I just clicked on the hyperlink (orange text) within the body of his text and it took me to the website.
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+1. I tend to prefer bolt-on due to this.
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Sorry, missed that.
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This isn’t my deciding factor because I have an upper weight for Bass which I will not exceed, and if I found a bass under that weight which was neck through, I would be totally fine with it.
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Yep, there are definitely some lighter through necks out there, and some heavier bolt-ons. But, generally speaking, through neck versions from the same manufacturer tend to be heavier than their bolt-ons.
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The same is true for me, but in reality few if any neck-throughs compete in the range I like instruments to be in (~3.5-3.75kg). They exist but are not common.
This is true too that neck-through will take many out of my weight ceiling. But I wouldn’t buy a bass or not because of neck through.
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Sure. There’s nothing game-breaking wrong with it (or really set-neck either for that matter). I still prefer bolt-on to both of those. It’s not a black and white thing, but in the end bolt-on will generally be lighter and also (as Boh said) resilient to swapping out the neck. Not that neck swaps are common.
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I do love the lines of a seamless heel and the contrasting woods on a well-designed through neck, though. Just damn beautiful sculpture.
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I think your answer is right there.
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Weight wise I guess it depends on the design. Same design of the same bass the neck through would be heavier.
The thing with neck through is the extra labor it requires to get the bass to feel right that’s why the starting price of these bad boys are at the mid tier level. I toyed around with the aliexpress one the neck was not done right and it has some relief issue. While sub $300 neckthrough is an amazing deal, I’m just not sure if you’d ended up getting exactly what you paid for.
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It’s no accident a good through neck bass costs more than a comparably made bolt-on. A lot more work goes into making them right.
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Neck-thru should offer better sustain and resonance. I prefer bolt-ons just for the idea that I could swap out the neck.
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But how often has anyone actually needed to change a neck?
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You might if you are in a punk band and gig often 
But I would say it is very uncommon. Altho I have seen quite a few vids about repairing Gibson guitars with neck damage or broken headstocks (all neck-thru).
To be honest I couldn’t care less as long if I fancy the bass that I want. It’s just a small preference for me personally. If you play a lot of high notes it’s actually way more comfortable.
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