Intermediate Players: What's the difference between Neck-Thru and Set Neck?

Neck-Thru Vs. Set Neck seems to be a confusing subject for players. What is the difference between the two?

Looks
Visually, neck-thrus and set necks look exactly the same, but the they are made differently. A neck-thru is a guitar where the neck is part of the body. When being built, the neck is made longer and the body is made in two pieces. The three pieces are cured together with neck being at the middle. A set neck, however, is a normal neck, with a heel shaped to feel and look like a neck-thru, that is glued to the body and then painted over.

Tone and Sound
Neck-thrus have more sustain and allow notes to be held longer. Also, the tone is a lot better in neck-thrus due to the wood-on-wood contact, which is sacrificed in set necks. Interestingly enough, bolt-on guitars have better tone than set necks because they also have wood-on-wood contact between the neck and body. Set necks have high quality glue that gets in the way of that wood-on-wood contact, and that causes a lot of sustain and tone to be lost.

Feel
Both neck-thrus and set necks have an amazing reach when it comes to the high frets compared to bolt-ons. The difference here between the two is that you can feel that the neck-thru is one piece. Neck-thrus have a very solid feel to them, while set necks feel like they can break.

What's the positive to a set neck then?
Set necks offer the playability of neck-thrus at a much more affordable rate. Neck-thrus get quite expensive, while set necks can be found for real cheap. The reason, set necks are easier and cheaper  to build than neck-thrus. Also, set necks are easier to fix if the neck breaks. This is cause' of how the neck designs are made. Because neck-thrus are cured together, replacing the neck could mean getting a brand new guitar, while on a set neck, the neck can be replaced by the manufacturer because the body and neck are not one piece.

If you have any questions regarding neck-thrus and set-necks, please leave a comment :)

*Fun Fact* Very few companies ever make neck-thrus. Fender, makes one model that is neck-thru and it's very rare, and every guitar made by Gibson is a set neck.