Quicksilver Neck Thru & Set Neck Guitars

Quicksilver Guitars Come In A Variety Of Construction Methods

Bolt In Neck Set Neck   Neck Thru Body Deep Set Neck Tenon

A Quicksilver Guitar with a Neck-Through Body is an Abstract.

A Quicksilver Guitar with a Deep Set Neck is a Centurion.

Centurion Guitar With Quicksilver Body Shape
Built For Erich Caparas
PRIDE IS A SIN UNLESS YOU ARE A CRAFTSMAN


 


These photos like 90% of all the photos we take does not truly represent the beauty of this guitar
This photo is a bit washed out and the Spalted maple looks a little weak !!
Many of our customers get pleasantly surprised when they first open their case.




Many of our customers are requesting the Macassar Ebony Necks on this model
This one was built for Kevin Pauli, It has a Maximus style headstock on it !!!!
We can build you any headstock you like !!!!


  Set Neck Not Recommended Except When Using Soapbar Pickups


 

The back of this guitar is stained White Korina with a Macassar Ebony Neck

Important To Know

96% of the Quicksilvers are built using a bolt in method. We have found the bolt in method to be the most versatile and also have a great deal of stability as long as the job is done correctly.
Bolt On & Bolt in necks have a bad rap because most of the time they are simply not done correctly.

 

It had to happen, As most of my readers are aware  I am definitely not a fan of set neck designs.  There are a couple of exceptions, but for the most part set necks kill a lot of tone and tend to be less stable than bolt on's or neck through body guitars. The Quicksilver guitar has been the leader in natural sustain for all the guitars that I build here. The Quicksilver has also been the tone king,  Due to the highly stable super tight neck joint and Black/Back pickups.

The neck through body model was first discussed & conceived back in 2002, We decided that the bolt in neck model was extremely versatile and why fix something if it isn't broke. We were able to get plenty of stability with our trademarked torqued in neck. In fact over the years we succeeded in designing a neck joint that was super stable due to the way it was bolted together, coupled with our trademark pickup bolted right into the neck design.

The only fly in the ointment was when a customer required a Floyd Rose or any type of tremolo, the existing direct coupling system would be incomplete. The younger guitarists have traditionally been put off by bolt on model guitars because they have played many a cheaper imported model which sadly are not done right. Many people are not aware that a bolt on neck is actually harder and more expensive to do than a set neck.

Bolt On & Bolt In Necks have gotten an unfair bad rap !! Simply because, many large companies cannot seem to do it right. If a neck joint is even slightly loose all the tone is lost in that gap. Slide a thin pick or a thin piece of paper between the neck & the body. You should not be able to do that. If you can please do not buy that guitar.

Throughout my website I will always denigrate set necks, with only a couple of notable exceptions. I am a firm believer that set necks are tone suckers. The glue in the neck joint prevents the tone from transferring even worse than a loose bolted on neck.

We decided that most of the tremolo  problem could be rectified by making a neck through body model. This would bring back that maximum stability which is crucial to good tone & sustain.

The pictures included here are to illustrate the grace of design on the neck through models.   We are quite proud of this design, we incorporated it on several other brands of guitars over the years. If you have seen it on other guitars be assured we are not copying it. It was ours in the first place

See Abstract, For Other Neck Thru Models

Ed Roman Recommends this model for the player who wants a Brown Sound with not as much brilliance on the high end. The original Quicksilver is still tonally more versatile as far as different tone capabilities. This neck through body model is designed to slay a Les Paul, SG, Hamer, Dean Hardtail,  PRS Custom  or any set neck traditional old school guitar.

Also see Abstract Guitars

The  neck thru models work well with a Floyd Rose

After The Body Is Oiled & Polished

Smooth As A Baby's Butt
Reach The 24th Fret Effortlessly


Set Neck No Extra Charge
Competitors charge as much as $450.00 more for set necks

Set necks are available for no extra charge !!!!!
 


 

 

5 Piece Neck Through Body

 

Neck Mounting Myths #1

Bolt on Necks Have Gotten a Bad Rap

By Ed Roman

This has been printed repeatedly on various pages around my site !!!!
I think this is an important thing for a guitarist to realize !!!!
I believe it is the most important thing you can learn on this site

 

Many players assume that to build a good guitar it should have a glued on neck. I for one definitely do not believe that. Just because most companies charge extra for that option I think people just assume that it’s better because it usually costs more.

I am going to attempt to dispel that myth. In fact I personally think that a normal set neck is the absolute worst way to construct an electric guitar!

It actually costs less to glue in a neck than to bolt one in correctly. Gluing up a neck is pretty basic. You apply glue inside the neck joint, slide the neck in and clamp it down.

A bolt in neck requires a lot more work, there is no room for a sloppy fit like on a glue in neck. The cost of stainless bolts and press fittings are far higher than the cost of a little glue. The labor factor requires 4 holes drilled and countersunk. The tolerances are extremely tight on a good bolt on neck where the tolerances are far less important with the application of glue. If you make a mistake and drill incorrectly it’s time to throw away the body on a glued up neck there are no holes to drill and less chances of a mistake.

I know, I know it’s been done that way for 60 or 70 years! why change now? Why not keep our heads buried in the sand and continue thinking like we did in the 50’s & 60’s ?

Any luthier will tell you that the neck breakage occurs more on set neck guitars than all other guitars combined. The fact is I have repaired less than 15 bolt on necks in 40 years. I have repaired well over 2000 set necks and at any given time there are probably at least 6 of them broken in my shop.

First of all there is absolutely nothing wrong with a bolt on or bolt in neck as long as it’s done right. I must stress the part about it being done right !!!!!

The glue between the neck & body of a guitar will prevent 60% to 70% of high end tone transference. For example, try to get a funky nasal ducktone twang on a glued in neck guitar. It won’t happen.

 

NECK THRU THE BODY
Great For Sustain & Low End Fat Tone, But You Lose Some Versatility

 

Bolt on necks got their bad reputation during the 70’s when companies were making them with ill fitting or loose neck joints. A loose neck joint causes instability and detracts horribly from tone quality. A loose neck joint will also cause tremendous loss of sustain. Some companies in the 70’s were mass producing guitars as fast as they could and were simply not paying attention to the neck joint! The necks were not fitted correctly and in many cases the strings were actually hanging off the edge of the neck.

A lot of criticism is leveled at the 3 screw neck mounting plates of the era. Personally I like the concept of the tilting neck which of course is only available with a three bolt neckplate.

Thanks to modern machinery and woodworking techniques neck joints are a lot better & tighter today. We now know much more about guitar construction than we used to. Guitars in general are a lot better today, even the Mexican ones are better than some of those USA guitars from the 90’s. A tight neck joint equals a good guitar !!!

The neck-joint is the heart of the guitar, If the neck-joint is set up properly the guitar WILL always sound better.

In my shop we make it a rule to mount each neck so tightly that it’s almost a force fit. The technician should be able to physically pick up the guitar by the neck so that the body is suspended and the fit alone should be enough to hold the body to the neck.

My sure fire test is to take a thin guitar pick and try to slide it between the neck and the body. If I can get the pick into the crack then I know the guitar will be lacking in tone & sustain.


Synopsis

Bolt On Vs. Bolt In

Both ways work very well as long as you get a tight neck fit. The bolt in like the Quicksilver is superior because there is no protruding flange to bolt the neck onto. The neck actually bolts in through the back of the guitar. Consequently you get better stability, even more tone & sustain and as an added bonus you can reach higher up the neck. More notes, more better sounding notes !!!!

The Quicksilver goes one better, The Quicksilver actually incorporates the rhythm or neck pickup right into the neck joint. To my knowledge no other company affixes one pickup directly to the tongue of the neck and the other one directly to the body. We have been doing this modification to PRS guitars for more than 15 years. It really works well on a PRS the difference is noticeable even for a novice player. The modification is completely invisible and you cannot tell it has been done except by listening to it. We do it to set neck models and to Bolt In models. Personally I think it works best on a Bolt In Model but even a novice can easily hear the difference on a set neck version of a PRS.

 

Quicksilver Neck Thru Body Construction

 


 

Lace Wood Back On A Bolt In Version
The Bolt On Version Is Less Costly & Has Much More Versatility Of Tones
However Many People Want Neck Thru Guitars
Ed Roman Offers The Worlds Largest Selection Of Neck Thru Body Guitars