So I've been noticing a lot of hubbub about the Bastin necks lately, and I've been curious about the sonic differences between a bolt-on aluminum neck versus the EGC neck-through design, but I don't want to clutter up the EGC thread with something this specific. What do you notice about the aluminum bolt-on neck that makes it better than a wooden one? I was never super into the Kramer-style bolt-ons, but I wonder if that might also have more to do with the wooden inserts in the neck as well.Would also love to hear info from folks that have any of the EGC bolt-ons as well!

Aluminum Neckbeard

I think there would be a huge market for bolt-on baritone or bass VI conversion necks. Having an aluminum neck that doesn't need truss rod adjustments would be more beneficial to longer necks.As far as bolt-on vs neck-through, I was always under the belief that part of the extra sound and sustain came from the pickups mounted directly to the neck. Apparently I am wrong. People with EGCs that have body or pick guard mounted pickups do not seem to have a lack of sustain compared to their other EGCs with pickups mounted to the neck.

I'm interested in those necks as well, but I'm unsure if Bastin will make a Gibson scale neck. I want that for my Sonex 180. As for EGC, Kevin stopped making those bolt-on necks, which is a shame. They looked amazing.

I have a fretless EGC bolt on neck it probably not the best example because the lack of frets kills the sustain. Aluminum is very well suited for a fretless instrument. It still has some of the treble content or klang of a neck through aluminum guitar. Certainly more than when it had a wooden neck. It's also insanely thin it's the thing EGC profile but minus the frets so even thinner I like it a ton. I'm sure some others would not. I have 2 neck through EGCs and there is a special something going on with the high frequencys on those guitars, weird overtones and crazy sustain that I don't hear with the bolt on.

skoz wrote:I have a fretless EGC bolt on neck it probably not the best example because the lack of frets kills the sustain. Aluminum is very well suited for a fretless instrument. It still has some of the treble content or klang of a neck through aluminum guitar. Certainly more than when it had a wooden neck. It's also insanely thin it's the thing EGC profile but minus the frets so even thinner I like it a ton. I'm sure some others would not. I have 2 neck through EGCs and there is a special something going on with the high frequencys on those guitars, weird overtones and crazy sustain that I don't hear with the bolt on.Do you have recordings of the fretless?

codetocontra wrote:I think there would be a huge market for bolt-on baritone or bass VI conversion necks. Having an aluminum neck that doesn't need truss rod adjustments would be more beneficial to longer necks.As far as bolt-on vs neck-through, I was always under the belief that part of the extra sound and sustain came from the pickups mounted directly to the neck. Apparently I am wrong. People with EGCs that have body or pick guard mounted pickups do not seem to have a lack of sustain compared to their other EGCs with pickups mounted to the neck.1. Yes!2. Fuck, yes!3. It shouldn't be too difficult/expensive to have a machine shop cut a piece of aluminium extending from the neck pocket to the bridge for faux neck-through; this guy did exactly that:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSKnihfAcnAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XumunLKaJuE

biscuitdough wrote:skoz wrote:I have a fretless EGC bolt on neck it probably not the best example because the lack of frets kills the sustain. Aluminum is very well suited for a fretless instrument. It still has some of the treble content or klang of a neck through aluminum guitar. Certainly more than when it had a wooden neck. It's also insanely thin it's the thing EGC profile but minus the frets so even thinner I like it a ton. I'm sure some others would not. I have 2 neck through EGCs and there is a special something going on with the high frequencys on those guitars, weird overtones and crazy sustain that I don't hear with the bolt on.Do you have recordings of the fretless?Nothing online I'll see what I can dig up.

I own 2 bolt on aluminum neck guitars. I bought FM Trey's Tele. it's a MIM Tele body with a Bailey Custom Guitars neck with a (rosewood?) fretboard. later I bought FM Scott's EGC neck and put together a Jaguar with Warmoth parts.both guitars sound amazing. great action and sustain, both have that "metallic" and clear sound that you would expect from an Aluminum guitar.

thelonelymastodronus wrote: I'd say one of the biggest differences between it and a real EGC is the weight; it's fucking heavy, but that has more to do with the Peavey T-60 body. The neck plays really nicely though.That's definitely a function of the t-60 body. My bolt on is significantly lighter than my EGC's.