..as was hinted at earlier, there are differences in sound between guitars with bolt-on necks (Strats); guitars with set necks (Les Pauls); and guitars with neck-thru-body construction (some Rickenbacker models).

One way to become familiar with the differences in guitars is to take note of what the guitar heroes are playing, and listen to their recordings. Hendrix did more to popularize Strats (often by destroying them) than any ad campaign Fender could've come up with.

Take for example, a well known guitarist: Eric Clapton. During his stint with Cream, for the most part he played that psychedelic Gibson SG (that was recently auctioned off), so you can hear what a set neck design is capable of (disregarding the mahogany body and the P-90 pickups that also had a lot to do with that mellow, almost violin-like sound he got). "Crossroads" typifies the sound he was known for back then.

Then, Clapton switched to the Strat (when he went with Blind Faith?...certainly during his Delaney and Bonnie stint and his Derek and the Dominoes "Layla" period), which gave him the sound (and the guitar) he is most noted for today.

Comparing these two should give some idea of the "sound" associated with each. The set neck is better for sustain and a mellower sound; the bolt-on neck has more "bite"...more "attack," perhaps (like Robert Cray on "Some Rainy Morning," or Hendrix on "Hey Joe" ...more "bright" sounding).

Santana played an SG (set neck) for a long time: the mahogany body and set neck gave him lots of sustain.

Jimmy Page played a Les Paul (set neck)with Led Zep, as did Leslie West (he now plays a Steinberg, one of those headstock-less guitars).

Angus Young (AC/DC) plays an SG. His brother, the rhythm guy, plays one of those big-bodied Gibsons (don't know which model).

BB King plays a big-bodied Gibson. He gets a smooth, mellow tone.

Keith Richards? Strat Man, I think.

Stevie Ray...common knowledge he was a Stratocaster player(and his brother Jimmy still is).

Joe Satriani and Steve Vai - Ibanez players - at least Ibanez has models which carry their signatures. Funny, that these two stellar guitar whizz-bangs supposedly play relatively cheap guitars: the top of the line Steve Vai model is about $800.

Zappa played Gibsons.

Gibsons and Epiphones are all set-necked guitars.

Fender and Squire are all bolt-ons. Other companies make models which may be set-neck in design, or bolt-on or neck-thru-body, depending on the model (Carvin, for example, makes an Alan Holdsworth bolt-on and other, neck-thru-body models).

Don't know of a company which makes all three neck-to-body designs.

Neck-thru-body is supposed to be the sustain king, but no readily recognizable guitarist noted for his "sound" comes easily to mind. ESP and Jackson also employ neck-thru-body design on their higher quality (and more expensive) models.

Opinion: the "copies" (as in Epiphone's copy of the Gibson SG ...Epiphone is owned by Gibson) use the same blank (body) and neck as the higher priced guitars they're modeled after. Where the manufacturers fudge to save money (and sell cheaper) is in the electronics (pickups, wiring, volume knobs and potentiometers [the electronic devices that provide a smoothly gradual increase in sound]); tuners (the tuning pegs); the "nut" material (plastic, or some other comparably cheaper material, as opposed to graphite, for example). That makes these copies very playable for less money, but you won't get the signature sound associated with the "real thing," and you spend more time retuning.

If you go for a Strat, stay away from Fender's subsidiary, Squire. They're crap, opinionated-ly speaking. Don't know what they're doing wrong, but the Squire Stratocaster feels like playing an oak board from an old barn barn with a two-by-four bolted on for the neck. Rough as a cob. Go with the Mexican made Strat instead. They're hundreds of dollars cheaper than the American made Strat, and a dealer told me there was no difference in electronics, materials, etc between the two. Whether he knew what he was talking about...??? Anybody's guess.

And then there are lots of other considerations: the wood used in the body contributes to different sound characteristics - mahogany giving a mellower, more sustained tone. Fender uses ash or alder for the Strat bodies.

Knowledge of the wood used in guitars borders on being a scientific discipline - there was a thread on this some time ago. So many woods, so many characteristics - it's mind boggling.

Big body versus smaller body: bigger bodied guitars generally give deeper tone. A lot of jazz players play a big bodied guitar for mellow sound.

Solid body versus hollow (or semi-hollow) bodies. Hollow bodies give a unique tone that guitarists with roots in rockabilly and old rock 'n' roll (like Brian Setzer and Chuck Berry) like.

Note: if you want neck-thru-body construction on a hollow bodied guitar, it'll have to be custom made and the price of your first born son will be required.

Necks, too, can be of different woods for its contribution to tone, the two most encountered: mahogany (again, for sustain) and maple.

The fret wire contributes to tone. A lot of times, there's a compromise between durability (Extra Jumbo [XJ] size being able to withstand lots of abuse [i.e., "bending" notes by pushing up or down on the srting against the fret], but the added contact the string has with the metal deadens the vibrations of the string more) and freedom of string vibration.

Can't comment much on pickups, except to say thay if someone tells you a pickup is "wound hot," for the most part it means it's very sensitive, and will distort easily, giving that shrill "metal" sound, and lots of feedback, like you might find with metal bands like Slayer or Pantera. "Single coil" pickups give a brighter tone, like the ones found on Strats, "humbuckers" (dual coil) give a mellower tone, like the ones on Les Pauls. You can tell the difference visually. Humbuckers are wider, and look like a smalll metal bar of soap; single coils are thinner - about the size of a lipstick. Strats usually come with an array of single coils, although if someone tells you he has a "fat" Strat, it means he's got a Strat outfitted with (one or more) humbuckers.

The position of the pickup in the body affects its tonal qualities. Those closest to the bridge will have more treble; those at the neck position, less. Lead players will kick their bridge pickup in during a solo, to cut through the mix. During the rhythm part, they will switch back to the neck pickup.

Currently playing an SG copy (Epiphone GS-400) outfitted with three humbuckers. It's a very playable guitar, but lacking soundwise in good tone, probably due to cheap pickups. The three humbuckers give it a very "fat," almost muddy, sound - not very versatile in that respect.

Anyone with a fundamental knowledge of electronics could outfit the guitar of their choice with whatever array of pickups desired, provided the pickup cavity could accomodate it. Even then, a wood worker could fill in or scoop out a cavity to acomodate a particular pickup.

It's not much of a job to upgrade tuners either.

For versatility in sound, a guitar outfitted with two humbuckers and a single coil, or two single coils and a humbucker, would probably be better. If I were looking to strictly play rhythm in a blues/soul/R&B band, I'd probably look at a big bodied Epi, solid, or semi hollow body, with a couple of humbuckers.