Thoughts on "modern advancements"

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by Alan Carruth

Innovation is neither always good or always bad, but it's always needed if you expect to make progress. All you can do is reason it out, and give it a try; time will tell if a given innovation is an improvement.

I think this is right on point. You have to take each thing at face value until you see if it works or not. Pushing the envelope is good for progress, but like medicine, while one drop can cure two drops can kill. I think we're seeing some "advancements" in guitar building today where they've administered the "2nd drop".

As for the OP's specific question about bolt-on necks, I think they've been around long enough to recognize that there are no disadvantages to a properly manufactured and fitted bolt-on neck. There are a few advantages as well, the biggest advantage being that after time if you need a neck reset it takes only a few minutes, while a glued-in neck can take weeks, if not months and hundreds of dollars at the luthier.

[gfirob]

Oh, it is all about the individual guitar. You can find a dovetail nitro Martin that sucks and you can find them that are stellar. Same with Taylors or the rest of them. You have to choose them one at a time and pay attention to the individual instrument. As an aside, my 15 year old Martin will need a neck set in a year or two for sure. At $300 that would be $20 a year. I accept that as what happens with dovetail necks. If it tormented me, I might look into bolt on necks, but I think we take the bitter with the sweet in life. I bought this individual guitar because it was a great one. If I found a bolt-on Taylor that sounded this good I might have purchased that, who knows? I have even played Harmonys that sounded pretty darn good. You never know...