Maple Necks vs Roasted Maple Necks

japetus

japetus

Moderator
I would like to start a discussion of non vs maple necks that have been roasted. Is there anyone here that has a strong preference one way or another?
 
I have never had trouble with any of my maple necks but I would assume roasted would be better for stability.
 
I have a custom made super Strat with a flamed roasted maple neck that’s AMAZING.


Probably the best neck on any guitar in my collection.

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I remember that around 2010 everybody said that kiln dried wood is no good for instruments tonewise. Companies used to underline that their wood supplies are air dried.

And now what do we got, they kiln dry it and call it Tonally Enhanced Wood. Tonally enhanced wood my ass! Seems like cutting costs and optimisation of workflow to me. Might offer some stability benefits, but hey, we live in 2023, we have quality double action truss rods, carbon or even titanium reinforced necks and exotic hardwoods like wenge that are really strong.

I myself wouldn’t want a roasted neck because overdried wood never looked too appealing or trustworthy to me. And todays “novelties” sometimes feel fishy too. Suddenly they discovered they can kiln dry the wood and name it some fancy way. What a genius discovery, what a novelty! Famous “you don’t say” meme comes to mind lol

If you like the look, any “tobacco” stain would yield similiar results.

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Bardagh said:
Yeah well I have a few guitars that would disagree with you when it gets really dry from late Fall until Spring.
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I adjust many of my guitars also, but it is a "problem" that takes a whole minute to fix, and most of the minute is just getting the wrench.
 
Geo said:
I have never had trouble with any of my maple necks but I would assume roasted would be better for stability.
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yeah this comment is the ultimate contradiction isn't it? .. it's a bit like saying "i've never been sick but I probably should have an operation"
 
Stradazone said:
If it's a birdseye maple neck you definitely want to have it roasted, birdseye is very unstable, I had a killer Suhr guitar with a unroasted birdseye neck that went bad, was such a bummer!
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so almost every single Peavey wolfgang guitar must be fucked by now?? none of them were "roasted"
 
I have owned dozens of maple on maple necks with no "roasting" and not a single one of them has had any stability issues .. same can't be said for maple/rosewood ones
 
I'm not crazy about the look but it's fine. Black dots on a Maple board don't look as good as before, if dark roasted white dots look better.
I think it feels better but that's typically not an issue once I'm playing. Non-roasted feels fine too.
I don't like the brittle-ness. I have cracks in a headstock on an otherwise killer roasted Warmoth and I've built a bunch and never had that happen.
I don't think I've compared enough to comment much on tone. Seems brighter.

Overall, I think I prefer regular Maple but it's close.
 
sytharnia1560 said:
yeah this comment is the ultimate contradiction isn't it? .. it's a bit like saying "i've never been sick but I probably should have an operation"
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Oh boy, another genius.

I happen to live in an area that is neither to humid like Florida or very dry like Arizona. And I take good care of my guitars.

But if I were a gigging musician or lived in one of these areas, maybe, just maybe I might need the added protection of a roasted maple neck.

Maybe think before your hands start typing.
 
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