Neck-through-body construction

Neck-through-body (commonly neck-thru or neck-through) is a method of electric guitar construction that combines the instrument's neck and core of its body into a single unit.

However, it's less costly than the very rare and difficult "one-piece" fabrication of an entire instrument made from a single piece of material.

The first electric bass guitar, the solid-body "Audiovox 736" created by Paul Tutmarc circa 1937, had a neck-through construction.

"The Log", a prototype solid-body guitar built by Les Paul in 1941, can be considered as a forerunner of neck-through designed instrument.

Les Paul built the model using a recycled 4x4 fence post as the neck and body core, and mounted the disassembled parts of an Epiphone and Gibson archtop guitar onto it.

[citation needed] However, thanks to excellent stability and reaction to string tension and pressure, neck-through guitars tend to be more sturdy.

The construction method is also popular with independent guitar builders, who can typically devote more time to such a labour-intensive neck joint than a mass-producing company could.

This JJ Hucke Antarctica model has neck-thru construction with no discernible heel. This greatly facilitates high fret access. The neck is flamed Maple & Purpleheart while the "wings" are Poplar .
Two headless .strandberg* Boden Plini model guitars with differing construction methods. On the left is neck-through construction with a quartersawn Roasted Maple neck and Swamp Ash wings. On the right is chamfered bolt-on quartersawn Mahogany neck and Mahogany body. Both necks have carbon reinforcement strips.
Neck-through construction on an early Ibanez Studio guitar. Despite its neck-thru construction, it has a bulky heel with little or no chamfering . This greatly negates the benefits of this more costly construction method.
Front & back of an Ibanez RG model with a central neck-through laminate of Maple / Purpleheart /Maple running the length of the instrument. The glued-on wings are made from Swamp Ash . The top has a stained AAA grade flame Maple cap. The heel of this instrument has been significantly chamfered to improve high-register access.