Roasted necks

Whitecat

I’m a fan of roasted necks and roasted wood in general. Every example I’ve tried has been absolutely boss in the tone and sustain department - even if not every wood component has gone through the oven. This is unscientific of course - I am aware correlation is not causation - but it certainly means that I am perfectly ok with it and open to new stuff with it. 

StormshadowGuitars

They're a lot more stable and far less susceptible to temperature or humidity change with figured woods, it also makes them lighter by a noticeable amount and a little more resonant too.
The roasting process also brings out any figuring or birdseyes in the woods to give it more of a pop, which means you can leave them unfinished or use less finish to bring out the figuring (if required)

StormshadowGuitars

This is one of our 5A+ Roasted Quilted Maple tops....... No real benefits to Roasting a top other than aesthetics.

https://i.imgur.com/HsUKzni.jpg

Roland

So the next question is whether it can be torrified at home. Several hours in a fan oven at between 180 and 200C. 

Whitecat

Roland said:

So the next question is whether it can be torrified at home. Several hours in a fan oven at between 180 and 200C. 

Make sure to season it first and then finish with a drizzle of good oil. 

StormshadowGuitars

Roland said:

So the next question is whether it can be torrified at home. Several hours in a fan oven at between 180 and 200C. 

Not advisable no

Philly_Q

OK, aother question - do you roast the wood first and then make the neck, or make the neck then roast it?

I'm assuming the former - and imagining a ready-made neck might warp in the roasting process?

Roland

Wood shrinks as it’s dried. The process is season, torrify, cut.

Roland

StormshadowGuitars said:

Roland said:

So the next question is whether it can be torrified at home. Several hours in a fan oven at between 180 and 200C. 

Not advisable no

Still tempting, if I can find an oven large enough

StormshadowGuitars

Philly_Q said:

OK, aother question - do you roast the wood first and then make the neck, or make the neck then roast it?

I'm assuming the former - and imagining a ready-made neck might warp in the roasting process?

Yes, quite correct do not be temped to stick your neck in the oven with the Sunday Roast

GSPBASSES

I've been using Roasted Maple several years now, never had any real problems with it, having said that, you have to be very careful drilling holes, as it can be a bit flaky. It's very easy to machine, but you can't take big cuts, it's also very easy to get a super smooth finish on it. Roasted Maple is definitely a bit softer than normal maple, you have to be very careful when fretting it, particularly if you're someone who tends to tap the ends of the fret's down as you're going, as you can quite easily squash it under the fret.

 

 It's quite difficult making a comparison to other woods, one thing I can say it is very stable, I've never had a neck twist or bow, where as I would say I might get one Rock Maple neck a year twists after it's finished. I think the most stable neck wood apart from Roasted Maple is Mahogany, closely followed by Walnut. I certainly agree with @WezV if you want a very stable neck that sounds great, then laminated is the way to go. All my Gibson -type builds are Mahogany quartersawn laminated, plus any maple neck with an angled back headstock will be laminated quartersawn.

 I do have minor disagreement about flat sawn Mahogany, although I don't use it very often, I did make a batch of Mahogany Thin Line Telecaster's with flat sawn Mahogany necks quite a few years ago that have had no problems, I also use flat sawn Mahogany with my all Mahogany Jazzmaster's.

I've been using European Roasted Maple that up to now has been relatively easy to obtain. It looks like it's going to be very difficult to get now, as there was a major fire where the Maple is roasted. The American roasted Maple is available but it is exceedingly expensive.

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/108011/roasted-maple

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/126359/

Some of the neck I made last year.

dindude

Hhhmmm, so with an incoming toasted Warmoth neck, should I whack one coat of true oil or wax or just leave it - not sure I can see a consensus yet...

WezV

dindude said:

Hhhmmm, so with an incoming toasted Warmoth neck, should I whack one coat of true oil or wax or just leave it - not sure I can see a consensus yet...

See how it feels when it arrives, but I would assume it will benefit from a coat or two of oil

GSPBASSES

dindude said:

Hhhmmm, so with an incoming toasted Warmoth neck, should I whack one coat of true oil or wax or just leave it - not sure I can see a consensus yet...


 I applied some kind of oil finish to the fingerboard before it's fretted on all the Roasted Maple neck I make. 

mistercharlie

dindude said:

Hhhmmm, so with an incoming toasted Warmoth neck, should I whack one coat of true oil or wax or just leave it - not sure I can see a consensus yet...

I put a coat of tru-oil and a little gunstock wax on a Warmoth neck. It turned out alright.

dindude

Cool, thanks, sounds like a bit of oil won't go amiss.

Last Q. for the experts - if you were to roll the fretboard edges on roasted maple - is the screwdriver shaft approach as good as any? I know people say it's much more brittle so are there any watch outs?