Set-in neck

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Set-in neck is a method of guitar (or similar stringed instrument) construction that involves joining guitar neck and body, pressing it tightly together using some sort of adhesive. This yields a stronger connection than a bolt-on neck, though not as strong as a neck-thru body joint.

This method is most popular on acoustic guitars. Almost all major acoustic guitar manufacturers use set-in necks, with only notable exception being Taylor Guitars. In the electric guitar market, Gibson is the company that leads the trend for set-in necks with the Gibson Les Paul series, opposing Fender that traditionally builds guitars with bolt-on necks.

1 Glues used
2 Advantages
3 Disadvantages
4 References

[edit] Glues used

Not any kind of glue can be used on wooden musical instruments. Basically, there are four widely used types of glues:

Hide glue
PVA (both "white glue" and "yellow glue")
Epoxy and Cyanoacrylate are sometimes also used for neck joints, but generally such use is rare. Structure of these glues makes it impossible to disassemble joint later if repair or servicing is required.

[edit] Advantages

Typically cited advantages of set-in neck include:

Warmer tone
More sustain
Usually better access to top frets in comparsion to bolt-on necks utilizing a metal plate (as seen on Fender guitars)

[edit] Disadvantages

Slightly harder to mass manufacture, much harder to repair / service than a bolt-on neck
The player has no control over the neck-to-body angle; changing it requires disassembling the instrument and re-glueing the neck by an experienced luthier