So, let’s talk about Roasted Maple….
If you’ve been on the website, in the store or generally anywhere but under a rock for the past number of years, you will be familiar with Roasted Maple…or Torrified, Baked or Caramelized. All these terms refer to the same thing and it is just what it sounds like …. roasting or baking the wood to achieve a certain result. Is this worth the extra money? Ummmm yup!
First let’s look at what happens when we harvest wood. Fresh cut wood is made up of cellulose and lignin primarily (lignin acts like a glue to hold the cellulose together). Aside from water, there are also a complex set of volatiles … pitches, oils, sugars etc that are the byproducts of a living tree. As the wood dries, the volatiles will oxidize (combine with oxygen) and slowly disappear or mineralize. The lignen also sets like glue to permanently hold the cells together. In nature, this happens over decades. So lumber companies created a process of kiln-drying to aid in that process, dropping the moisture and volatile content down to a level that allows us to work with the wood and not have it crack and check as it starts to dry. That’s the ‘Coles Notes’ on wood drying.
I have been working with wood for 50 plus years, and typically I use this description when talking to people. When a tree is cut down, or is felled through some natural event, it dies….in theory. But, when something dies, it decomposes or rots, right? Well wood only rots when it is left on the ground in the bush. The wood we keep is in a state of stasis to some degree as it slowly goes through the process I described above. Until it reaches a point where it is completely dry and stable (again over many decades), it is constantly taking on and giving off moisture depending on the environment it is in. That’s why wood warps, twists and cracks and is generally difficult.
So back to the roasting …. Kiln drying removes a certain percentage of moisture from wood and allows us to work with it. Roasting takes that process much further and happens in an oxygen-free environment or chamber, so the wood does not combust. It is the same basic process that is used to make charcoal. With Roasting, we are doing what takes nature decades to accomplish, and in that process are making the wood much more stable and resistant to things like moisture (humidity) and temperature. This process also changes the color of the wood to a pleasant light to mid brown (or black if you keep going…). In theory, you can torrify or roast any species of wood although certain species would present difficulties (for example many of the exotics that are commonly used). Right now, maple is the most common wood to go through this process, although different types of spruce (for acoustic guitar tops) are commonly processed as well.
What does all this mean to you the builder and player? Hundreds of years ago, instrument makers knew the longer the wood cured, the better it was for building instruments…more stable, better sound etc. What took generations, decades, and lifetimes then, is now accomplished in a very short time through technology. A roasted maple neck will be a darker color, it will be less susceptible to moisture and temperature change and therefore much more stable. This means less tuning, less setups and so on. There are some that argue the wood has more sustain and better tone ….. I’d maybe go for some of the tone argument, but I’m not sure I would subscribe to the sustain … that has yet to be proven. Regardless, if you are building a kit and want to upgrade the neck, or you want to upgrade the neck on your guitar, switching to a roasted neck is really a great idea.
Check out www.sologuitars.com and look at our selection of roasted maple necks and also some roasted ash or maple bodies and tops (not always available). They are a bit more expensive, but the benefits outweigh the cost difference. Roasted woods are beautiful in a way that previously only nature could achieve, and will help you to create a better instrument!
