Roasted Maple Bridge Anyone?

How is "roasting" different from kiln-drying? That seems to me like a shortcut for seasoning a piece of wood. As I understand, most bridge blanks are seasoned already.

 

Its way beyond drying, it alters the chemical makeup of the wood quite profoundly. Torrefied Maple becomes really hard and brittle, not unlike some old ebony. Many wartime/post-war Gibson guitars had torrefied maple fingerboards, as did American Standard basses of the period.

There is a Canadian company that has sparked the resurgence of interest in torrefied maple: http://www.torrefactionplus.ca/home.php

 

"Brittle" doesn't seem to me like a desirable trait in a bridge. Hard and stiff, yes. Brittle, no.

 

I agree. I think the bridge needs to be flexible in order to allow the strings to move freely. You could re-learn how to shape bridges with different materials but why? The material is also VERY hard and a pain in the ass to work with. I wouldn't want to fit the feet on a torrefied maple bridge, though as I write that I'm realizing that you could fit the feet and then bake the bridge...

IIRC, Martin Sheridan posted a really interesting study of cello bridge movement on TB several years ago. It showed the different vibrational patterns of a bridge in motion. Very instructive for me - it explained why I had been drawn to shaping bridges the way I do.