Bolt-on Neck - Bolt-in Neck

Bolt-in Neck

Some sources differentiate bolt-on and bolt-in neck construction.

The difference is that a bolt-on neck involves constructing a protruding flange that fits inside a routed pocket in the guitar body. Then the neck is secured inside this pocket using screws that run perpendicular (at right angles) to the surface of the guitar. In contrast, a bolt-in neck doesn't need to have such a flange inside the guitar body, and screws or bolts run parallel to the surface of guitar, entering the back of the heel.

Usually (but not always), in bolt-in variant, a neck pickup is mounted directly on the extended neck wood underneath it, not on the guitar body. This has been referred to as "direct coupling", because the pickup is mounted on the neck and not the body, in other words, directly coupled to the neck, and is considered superior by some in terms of tone.

Bolt-in neck is used in electric guitars on a regular basis, but on acoustic guitars it is somewhat rare, and harder to produce. However it is considered superior by some in terms of sound and playability. However, given a relative uncommonness of bolt-in necks in electric guitars, most luthiers call both neck joints "bolt-on".