Neck joints

[whvick]

An article about D-18 said it was a mortise and tenon neck, but I know it is dovetail.
Q1: That started me thinking... what percentage of acoustic necks are dovetail vs mortise tenon vs bolt on?
Any ideas?
Q2: do bolt-on necks make Taylor sound more bright and dovetail make Martins more mellow?
I think I have heard the brands described as such by some of you guys.

[Alan Carruth]

A dovetail is a type of mortise and tenon. Sometimes the folks writing copy aren't as attuned to the nuances as we tend to be....

[Malcolm Kindnes]

In my experience it makes no difference to the sound whatsoever how the neck is attached.

[Earl49]

Alan hit the nail right on the head, as usual. Likely a copywriter error or a lack of understanding. The Martin Standard Series is all about traditional double dovetails, for better or worse.

Q1: There is no way to answer the percentage of bolt-on versus dovetail necks. Do you go by number of models, which maker uses which joint, or the total sales volume? My gut feeling is that there are many more models produced with bolted necks, especially at the lower end of price, but I have no data to back that up. For example, Taylor builds about 160,000 guitars a year, all bot-on. Martin builds about 120,000 annually and most are bolted necks made in Mexico.

Q2: It is doubtful that the neck joint type has any significant effect on the guitar tone, which is 90% (or more) determined by the top wood and the top bracing. It must be a solid connection to conduct vibration, and after that everything else is debatable. The "characteristic" tone of a brand comes from bracing details, top thicknessing, and other manufacturing techniques.

[Riverwolf]

I would bet that not a single member could tell the difference in a bling test.

[gr81dorn]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

I would bet that not a single member could tell the difference in a bling test.

I assume a "bling" test is where someone plays a D28 and a D45 side by side, and you can see how much bling impacts the sound of a guitar ;-)

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

I would bet that not a single member could tell the difference in a bling test.

It's been proven they they can't tell the difference between a recorded D-28 or a D-18.

[WordMan]

The neck joint is everything on a guitar, to me. I can’t imagine a more important factor in an acoustic’s tone other than the top’s material & bracing. It is at least as important as the back and side wood.

[printer2]

I think it is the most important joint on the guitar. Get it wrong and you have a poor playing guitar. Has nothing about the type of joint though.

[jayhawk]

Originally Posted by whvick

Q2: do bolt-on necks make Taylor sound more bright and dovetail make Martins more mellow?

My Mossman has a bolt on neck and it is not bright. So, know that is not the difference.

Jack

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

It's been proven they they can't tell the difference between a recorded D-28 or a D-18.

Not sniping, but genuinely interested if you have an article on that comparison. Please link if possible. I love putting method to madness!