Has PRS jumped on the roasted swamp ash body and roasted maple neck craze yet?

[Lewguitar]

If not, why not?

Maybe they don't have a big enough oven?

Lighter, maybe more resonant.

My last two builds (a Tele and a Strat) have used roasted and I'm sold on it.

Anyone else here into it?

 

[andy474x]

They did a run of SE Custom 24’s with roasted maple necks a while back, and I absolutely loved the feel. I don’t know that they sound much different than a well dried piece of maple (non-roasted), but I’d go for it on feel alone. My current dream instrument is a wood library ME V with a roasted maple neck (or torrefied as PRS likes to call it in the core line), perhaps an ebony board.

 

[revtime]

I have a few warmoth necks that are bbqed. Love the feel and that they do not have to be finished.
Also a HB with a roasted flame maple neck. PRS seem to want to keep things like this on the expensive gits.
My HB proves it doesnt have to be expensive.

 

[Greywolf]

I've seen a few wood library torrified necks . I think they have a more pleasing tone

 

[bodia]

They’ve done some WL runs with t necks. I had a Cu24 Fatback with one. Currently have a EBMM Petrucci with one. Love the feel. I t(ink PRS hasn’t done much there because they have such a great drying process.

 

[DougGuitar]

My current dream instrument is a wood library ME V with a roasted maple neck (or torrefied as PRS likes to call it in the core line), perhaps an ebony board.

My coffee can says that the beans were "torrified"!!! lol!

Roasting a neck also helps keep it from twisting or warping as it dries and ages.

 

[ViperDoc]

They do runs with it now and again. It’s out there.

 

[László]

Torrified wood is an interesting concept. When I bought my DGT earlier this year I looked hard at a beautiful Tom Anderson Classic with a torrified neck and came very close to buying it (I've had some TA instruments, and they're very good, but in the end I said, nah, get the PRS).

So this isn't an argument against a cooked neck or body.

I have no long term experience with a torrified instrument. Therefore I'm am not qualified to venture an opinion about it. Whatever pushes the art forward is fine by me.

My favorite guitar tones were made by players on guitars that were either new or of very recent vintage at the time of the recordings. Torrified guitar woods hadn't been invented. Vintage guitars weren't vintage then. So there's that to consider when I'm guitar shopping.

As with all things musical instrument related, it's the totality of the individual instrument that counts. If it sounds and plays great, it's great.

 

[Faded]

If not, why not?

Maybe they don't have a big enough oven?

Lighter, maybe more resonant.

My last two builds (a Tele and a Strat) have used roasted and I'm sold on it.

Anyone else here into it?

They’ve done roasted necks.

 

[dogrocketp]

A guitar builder I know said that torrification is a different process than roasting. He claimed that the time and temperature were different, What the hell do I know? I did buy one of the roasted maple SE Custom 24’s. When I’m playing outdoors in extreme heat and humidity, it’s the one I reach for. The neck just never moves, and I won’t cry if anything bad happens. I do love the sound of ash on a 25” scale, like my old SAS. I’d be down with a 24 fret torrified neck with a roasted Ash body and Fiore pickups.

 

[JasonE]

Torrified Flame Maple is an option for Wood Library guitars. One of the Studios I was looking at had a torrified flame maple neck with a Brazilian rosewood fretboard. Willcutt Guitars has several Studio guitars with this neck.

 

[Greywolf]

Torrefaction is a thermochemical treatment of biomass at 200 to 320 °C (392 to 608 °F). It is carried out under atmospheric pressure and in the absence of oxygen. During the torrefaction process, the water contained in the biomass as well as superfluous volatiles are released, and the biopolymers (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) partly decompose, giving off various types of volatiles

The history of torrefaction dates to the beginning of the 19th century, and gasifiers were used on a large scale during the Second World War

The technology consists of heating the wood at a very high temperature (from 190 C to 240 C), in a torrefaction kiln (autoclave) at controlled atmosphere and low in oxygen. The length of the process, as well as the temperature degree sustained during a determined period, depends on the species and the desired color. This technology requires a pre-drying process using conventional kiln driers, to lower the moisture level between 6% and 10%. After that, the torrefaction kiln lowers the moisture level to 0%. Finally, the wood is placed in a conditioning chamber where the temperature is gradually lowered by controlled steam injection. The moisture level of the product is increased between 3% and 6%, in order to give back to the wood its natural flexibility. This conditioning stabilizes the wood and allows better quality manufacturing.



Dimensional stability

Torrefied wood has a greater dimensional stability when exposed to atmospheric variations. There will be less shrinking, swelling and warping with changing weather and unfavorable moisture conditions.

Biological qualities Torrefied wood better resists fungi and moulds which usually mark and degrade the wood. It is therefore suitable for outside applications and is as durable as cedar or chemically treated wood. Most importantly, it is completely safe for health.



Torrefied wood is a little less resistant to static flexion and to tearing compared to non-torrefied wood. It can crumble more easily, depending on the wood species. However, this strength reduction is not very significant for most wood species. Torrefied wood must not be used for structural purposes.

Machining

Due to its hardness, torrefied wood requires the right cutting tools. Torrefied wood can be moulded and worked while keeping its beauty, as the process allows a uniform color to the core, not only at the surface as with chemically treated wood.

 

[ElrytNamrogo]

This just got delivered on Friday....I absolutely LOVE the look and feel of the roasted maple. The resonance of this guitar is definitely different than my other guitars. While I'm sure it's a sum of all the parts, I'm not sure what "roasting" the maple does tonally to this particular guitar.

 

[László]

This just got delivered on Friday....I absolutely LOVE the look and feel of the roasted maple. The resonance of this guitar is definitely different than my other guitars. While I'm sure it's a sum of all the parts, I'm not sure what "roasting" the maple does tonally to this particular guitar.

I'd love to hear that combination of neck and back woods with what I assume is a maple top. Any chance you could record and post a clip?

 

[dilznik]

This just got delivered on Friday....I absolutely LOVE the look and feel of the roasted maple. The resonance of this guitar is definitely different than my other guitars. While I'm sure it's a sum of all the parts, I'm not sure what "roasting" the maple does tonally to this particular guitar.

Well, we're going to need to see the front of that, too.

 

[Lewguitar]

Here's the ax I've been working on.

Roasted swamp ash body and roasted maple neck. I had a hard time deciding on the neck so I let Laura Lee decide and she liked the roasted maple Tele neck best.

I had to reconfigure the straight butt end of the Tele neck to match the curved neck pocket of the Strat body with a file and sandpaper. Took a couple of hours but it's a nice snug fit. No slop.

That neck is as hard as a rock! Hardest maple I've ever worked with.

https://imgur.com/qC2Fb4e

https://imgur.com/XdAwFRo

 

[bodia]

This just got delivered on Friday....I absolutely LOVE the look and feel of the roasted maple. The resonance of this guitar is definitely different than my other guitars. While I'm sure it's a sum of all the parts, I'm not sure what "roasting" the maple does tonally to this particular guitar.

Hot!

 

[ElrytNamrogo]

Well, we're going to need to see the front of that, too.

Absolutely! Quilted Maple 10-Top in Autumn Sky....

I'd love to hear that combination of neck and back woods with what I assume is a maple top. Any chance you could record and post a clip?

Unfortunately, I don't have any way of producing anything that would be of substance. I can certainly try to put it into words, though...

I have several PRS guitars all with some level of difference in their build components, both materials and electronics. Compared to the "standard" build of mahogany back and neck, rosewood board, and maple top...this one definitely has a bit more punch and piano-like clarity in the acoustic nature of it's voice. Open chords sound much more defined than my "standard" build PRS guitars. On the electronics side, and speaking only to what I believe is the acoustic-properties of the build, note bloom is less prevalent in this one. They don't decay more, per se, just don't bloom into the ever-coveted feedback the way my standard builds do. I believe this is due to the swamp ash/maple neck combo...I say this because I have a Custom 24 Piezo with this combo, and it responds very similarly, even with different pickups (this newer one has 58/15LT's and my P24 has 85/15's). The P24, however does have a maple board, while this newer one has ziricote. Both even have quilt tops (not that that makes any difference haha)!

One thing that appears to be specifically inherent to this one over any of the my other guitars is it's resonant character. The notes on this one seem to ring through the entire body of the guitar in such a singing way...only way I can describe it would be like the way a bell-choirs music would ring out in a church (I was raised catholic and was even a bell-boy in the bell choir for a summer when I was a kid). Open chords have a tremendous note separation versus the standard builds. Also, for whatever reason, the third string on this guitar - particularly frets 3-12 - have almost a reverb-ish resonance in the body....very pleasant to my ears. This resonance effectively transfers into the electric side of things, producing excellent sustain when plugged in.

How much of this is actually attributed to the neck being roasted....I haven't the slightest idea.

Hot!

Yeah, buddy! I've been wanting a roasted/torrefied maple neck for a while....jumped at this one as the deal was just too damn good to pass up.

Probably should do an NGD post at some point with more pictures and all that....

 

[bodia]

Absolutely! Quilted Maple 10-Top in Autumn Sky....

Unfortunately, I don't have any way of producing anything that would be of substance. I can certainly try to put it into words, though...

I have several PRS guitars all with some level of difference in their build components, both materials and electronics. Compared to the "standard" build of mahogany back and neck, rosewood board, and maple top...this one definitely has a bit more punch and piano-like clarity in the acoustic nature of it's voice. Open chords sound much more defined than my "standard" build PRS guitars. On the electronics side, and speaking only to what I believe is the acoustic-properties of the build, note bloom is less prevalent in this one. They don't decay more, per se, just don't bloom into the ever-coveted feedback the way my standard builds do. I believe this is due to the swamp ash/maple neck combo...I say this because I have a Custom 24 Piezo with this combo, and it responds very similarly, even with different pickups (this newer one has 58/15LT's and my P24 has 85/15's). The P24, however does have a maple board, while this newer one has ziricote. Both even have quilt tops (not that that makes any difference haha)!

One thing that appears to be specifically inherent to this one over any of the my other guitars is it's resonant character. The notes on this one seem to ring through the entire body of the guitar in such a singing way...only way I can describe it would be like the way a bell-choirs music would ring out in a church (I was raised catholic and was even a bell-boy in the bell choir for a summer when I was a kid). Open chords have a tremendous note separation versus the standard builds. Also, for whatever reason, the third string on this guitar - particularly frets 3-12 - have almost a reverb-ish resonance in the body....very pleasant to my ears. This resonance effectively transfers into the electric side of things, producing excellent sustain when plugged in.

How much of this is actually attributed to the neck being roasted....I haven't the slightest idea.



Yeah, buddy! I've been wanting a roasted/torrefied maple neck for a while....jumped at this one as the deal was just too damn good to pass up.

Probably should do an NGD post at some point with more pictures and all that....

Hell yeah! That thing is killer!

 

[László]

On the electronics side, and speaking only to what I believe is the acoustic-properties of the build, note bloom is less prevalent in this one. They don't decay more, per se, just don't bloom into the ever-coveted feedback the way my standard builds do. I believe this is due to the swamp ash/maple neck combo.

This is what I experience with a maple neck electric guitar (also with an ebony fretboard) too.

Since I like a somewhat slower attack and longer decay due to my playing style, I stick with mahogany/rosewood now. I had a maple neck 594 and maple neck McCarty, and they just weren't my thing. I replaced both with mahogany versions. Not that I have those any more, either, because of the McCarty SC and other subsequent models.

On the plus side, with maple or ebony you get a lot of juicy snap due to the faster attack portion of the ADSR curve. On some styles of music, that's a great thing, and probably worth the small trade-off.

I can see having both choices available. It's all about player preference.