crunchee Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 Was surfing on the 'net for guitars, found a newer Gibson SG with a 'baked' maple fingerboard...it looked darker than regular maple for sure, it might pass for light-colored rosewood in bad lighting but that's a big maybe. I hadn't heard about 'baked' maple being used for fingerboards on Gibsons, or for necks for that matter either, so I did a bit of digging. Found this on the Suhr website 'woods' page, look under 'roasted maple': http://www.suhrguitars.com/wood.aspx I may not be the most up-to-date guy when it comes to guitars, but I figured that I would have noticed any mention of this before, and I haven't. Has anybody else heard about 'roasted/baked' maple being used in guitars, for the necks and/or fretboards? Anybody here own a guitar that uses it? Is this some kinda new trend, does it have any real merit, or is it just another passing fad? Seems to me, if this stuff is used for fretboards, it's a fancy way to get away from using rosewood.
cynic Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 First I saw it was EBMM Axis guitars, most I think I've seen were BFR's.Seems like just the latest in a long line of "we can charge way more for this" options to me.
atquinn Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 I'm fairly certain Suhr was doing it before EBMM, but also, someone was doing it before Suhr and I can't remember who. Is it worth it? Who knows? I'm not going to knock it without trying it.-Austin
Monacosis Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 my understanding is that it adds stability to the neck. i think Suhr has said it doesn't affect the tone.i've played a few Suhrs and a Tuttle with roasted necks and they feel fantastic, imo. mike
coolfeel Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 Well, if nothing else, it probably tastes better roasted...
Armitage Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 Didn't they always "bake" spear shafts to make them harder?
zenmindbeginner Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 I always play and sound better when baked IMHO. Caramelized sugars... mmmm yummy!
Stike Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 Suhr claims the roasting process makes the wood extremely stable and moisture resistant. I've seen more ridiculous options.
santellavision Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 Ruokangas guitars has been doing that way before both of those. The are from Finland and everyone I know who has touched one has said it was the best sounding guitar they have every played. That's saying a lot!!! Ruokangas Guitars
crunchee Posted October 15, 2011 Author Posted October 15, 2011 Ruokangas guitars has been doing that way before both of those. The are from Finland and everyone I know who has touched one has said it was the best sounding guitar they have every played. That's saying a lot!!! Ruokangas Guitars Where do they use the 'roasted' maple? In the neck? In the top only? Everywhere except the fretboard? Where it's used is likely as important (if not more so) as what kind of wood is used.
sirDaniel Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 poppycockyou either like the look or you don't. A good maple neck is a good maple neck.
cynic Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 A good maple neck is a good maple neck.Concur. Still smells like hooey to me.But, in the end it's just another option, and if there wasn't a market it wouldn't exist. Reading the description of "Thermo Treatment", it sounds like it's best suited to turn a piece of lumber that otherwise might not be selected, into one that will. I prefer the idea of starting out with the good stuff.I've never had a twisted neck, I've never had a baked neck.
JohnnyB Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 Didn't they always "bake" spear shafts to make them harder? When the spear point is the sharpened point of a wood staff, the point is hardened by sticking it into a fire. I used to work part time with a piano restorer/retailer. It was standard practice when rebuilding a piano to put the soundboard into some sort of kiln to remove moisture. It didn't turn it brown as with these necks. I first encountered the "roasted neck" option with Ernie Ball. They certainly aren't roasting them to salvage otherwise ugly necks; they seem to do it to the figured and quilted necks, which brings out the figuring more.
burningyen Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 Sounds reasonable to me, especially when you look at the research that John Suhr cites.
geobluto Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 Is this some kinda new trend, does it have any real merit, or is it just another passing fad? 2010's version of the birds-eye maple fretboard... I vote fad over function
edgar_allan_poe Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 Sounds reasonable to me, especially when you look at the research that John Suhr cites. Stop talking sense Ben. Because it is an up-charge from a booteek builder it has to be a rip off. These builders obviously know nothing and are only in it to take advantage of us poor suckers who don't know any better.
JohnnyB Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 Sounds reasonable to me, especially when you look at the research that John Suhr cites. Stop talking sense Ben. Because it is an up-charge from a booteek builder it has to be a rip off. These builders obviously know nothing and are only in it to take advantage of us poor suckers who don't know any better. It must be a boo-teek conspiracy . Sadowsky (scroll down) also has a roasted neck option (since July 2010). Sadowsky doesn't offer figured maple necks unless they're roasted. Some of the vendors have longer warranties on roasted necks than on their standard maple.
atquinn Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 Sounds reasonable to me, especially when you look at the research that John Suhr cites. Stop talking sense Ben. Because it is an up-charge from a booteek builder it has to be a rip off. These builders obviously know nothing and are only in it to take advantage of us poor suckers who don't know any better. It must be a boo-teek conspiracy . Sadowsky (scroll down) also has a roasted neck option (since July 2010). Sadowsky doesn't offer figured maple necks unless they're roasted. Some of the vendors have longer warranties on roasted necks than on their standard maple. Suhr also didn't do birdseye maple until they started doing roasted maple. Actually he did something called vulcanized mapled first, that was much darker (as dark as rosewood). But then they moved to the roasting thing. Suhr doesn't do the roasint process himself and I'm assuming none of the other guys do either. - Austin
Studio Custom Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 Isn't this just a fancy term for kiln dried?
atquinn Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 Isn't this just a fancy term for kiln dried?No. These are much higher temperatures and the environment it is done in is low-oxygen IIRC (to keep the wood from going up in flames).-Austin
JohnnyB Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 Isn't this just a fancy term for kiln dried?No. These are much higher temperatures and the environment it is done in is low-oxygen IIRC (to keep the wood from going up in flames).-Austin+1. A lot of standard lumber is kiln-dried, as is most wood for good musical instruments, and they are definitely not roasted. If it were the same, piano soundboards would be golden brown.
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