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.