Roasted necks and bodies

[Erik Asma]

I have this weird idea of sauces whenever I see roasted whatever appear in an add.

But besides that, isn't it just s bypass of curing wood? Good tonewood needs drying for years.
By sticking it in what is basically a pressure-cooker you can save in those.

So it sort of feels like a shortcut being sold as exclusive.
Or am I missing something? I am not a wood expert, this is just a thought I can't seem to shake.
Can't see me buying a baked bass anytime soon.

 

[flashgod]

I love roasted necks:

MusicMan Stingray BFR roasted Birdseye Maple neck

Sire Markus Miller V10 Flamed Maple Neck

It is the attempt to replicate aged wood.
Some might say, that a 60ies Fender just sounds better than a brand new (untreated) one. But they could be all wrong. In that case one has to admit, that the roasted necks just look better.
But like Zappa said: talking about music is like dancing to architecture.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

The sceptic in me wonders if this is just the latest hyped Wonder Material that will go the way of most fads, but ill keep an open mind until i actually play one. In the meantime, it looks nice, reason enough to try it.

 

[Koog]

I have several basses from Andrew Drake of Drake Custom Bass. My most recent builds from him have been from roasted woods. In those basses we've worked with Maple for both neck and body woods and Swamp Ash for bodies.

With roasted necks, if the roasting is done well, you can leave them unfinished and apply wax, buff to your liking and get, in my opinion a very nice feel. Roasted necks are very stable and require little or no adjustment unless tension is changed appreciably with restringing.

I find tone and sustain are enhanced in my roasted basses. But, of course, that is very subjective as we all hear tone differently and, as a result, will have different thoughts about what we like best. For me, the combination of roasted Ash bodies and roasted Maple necks with Ebony boards delivers more clarity and punch. I also think the sound is a bit more organic, particularly with my fretless basses.

All this said, roasted woods do not present "do it all" solutions. The right combinations of finish, electronics, ergonomics, hardware, strings, and amp and cabinet selection are additional pieces to the puzzle. Lest we not forget time in the 'shed.

The things I've described here are the result of years of experience before I have finally become comfortable with my preferences. What works for me may not work for someone else, again, because we all hear and experience things differently.

For what it's worth, Drake has told me multiple times in recent years that he now prefers to build using roasted wood. He has a great supplier who conducts the roasting process himself. He believes roasted woods are more stable and easier to work with. He believes roasted woods deliver superior tone and sustain. He has a very high level of satisfaction from his clients, but especially so from those for whom he has built using roasted woods.

A previous poster stated that the roasted woods smell good. Indeed they do. Frosting on the cake.

If I'm bass shopping, roasted woods always get more of my attention.

Hope this is helpful.

Koog

Note: Edits are to correct typos....grammar....spelling.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

When I opened the box my roasted neck came it, it wafted with this cocoa-maple aroma...but has since subsided...

 

[JohnPaulSmith]

Darn. Now I'm GASsing again.

 

[flashgod]

Note: Edits are to correct typos....grammar....spelling.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for reminding

 

[tekhedd]

Having had my Fender custom shop roasted jazz for six months now I ...

They roasted it for six months?

Wait no OK whew that's a relief.

(Also, thanks for starting this thread, because there's a sweet roasted-neck custom shop fretless 5-string 'ray in the guitar store and I was really asking exactly the same...and no while I desperately want to buy it I really can't justify it.)

 

[RudyTardy]

(Also, thanks for starting this thread, because there's a sweet roasted-neck custom shop fretless 5-string 'ray in the guitar store and I was really asking exactly the same...and no while I desperately want to buy it I really can't justify it.)

You talking about that white one at Music Go Round by chance???

 

[BobKos]

I've had roasted, quartersawn, & Titanium reinforcement.
All in I prefer the Titanium reinforcement, but the roasted wood is brittle. You could easily break the headstock just replacing the machine-heads.

With all due respect, that is ridiculous. Maybe if you beat the old ones out with a ball pein hammer without removing the fasteners, you run the risk of damaging the headstock. Or maybe by forcing 17mm dia machines into 9/16 holes. Otherwise, I don't think roasted wood is all that delicate.

 

[Doner Designs]

Having had my Fender custom shop roasted jazz for six months now I feel it is time to post an educated opinion. I have owned a heap of vintage and newer Fender jazzes over the past 40 plus years so I have a reasonable appreciation of them. So here it is: the neck is absolutely rock solid and the tone is a tad darker than what you normally expect from a jazz. For me these are both pluses, I simply have not had to adjust the truss rod regardless of temperature and for some reason that makes the neck feel more comfortable. The slightly darker tone is great, I had been considering putting a jazz neck on a precision but this seems to do the trick for me and the midrange punch that I get is a joy - again, I assume that this is due to the roasting process. I AB'd the roasted bass with a standard custom shop I owned earlier and there is a difference with the standard custom shop being more open but less punchy.
Started this thread because I think the whole roasting process makes an interesting discussion, YMMV of course.

Main benefit in my opinion is you can leave a neck unfinished and also the looks.

I’m eager for the day when Warmoth will offer roasted Birdseye.

 

[micguy]

I have one non-roasted neck - my fretless, which has an ebonol fingerboard. The rest are roasted Warmoth necks, with graphite rods. The roasted necks, even with Warmoths’s truss rods and graphite reinforcement, are lighter than a regular maple, unreinforced neck. My roasted necks are extremely stable necks. I haven’t done a good A/B sound wise against a non-roasted neck, because...I don’t have any.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

that is ridiculous

The local luthier said he's had cases of people replacing machine-heads on their own & breaking the roasted maple headstock. They crank the nuts down with too much force & CRACK!
When I was regaling him with how great the roasted maple neck was, that's the story he told me & he said to be extra careful with it, adding that he'd NEVER take one on tour.

 

[lz4005]

I've been wondering about roasted necks/fingerboards, since I've been seeing them as specs on a lot of instruments lately. All I was able to discern from the Google was that apparently roasted necks were more rigid yet also more brittle? But, my nightly login to TalkBass has given me more comprehensive information than I was able to find on my own.

There's also degrees of roasting. I watched an interview not long ago with two people who were part of the team that developed the roasted neck process used by Ibanez. They concluded there was a sweet spot along the stiffness/brittleness spectrum. They initially wanted them to be darker, but when they processed the necks until they reached that color they ended up being too brittle.

 

[Alivefor5]

Humm….. clicking over to the Warmoth neck section....

 

[barginkov]

I love roasted mapke necks.i have some sadowsky basses all are ash and maple fretboard , to my ears the roasted one sound more refined and more highs.a touch less on the low end but of course every bass will have its own voice even if the same

 

[2tonic]

Greeeaaaat!........
As if tonewood arguments weren't banal enough, now TB will be exchanging recipes.
"How do you prefer your roasted part? Medium? Well done? Al dente?".

 

[somebrains]

My J5 has a roasted body.
It also has an obnoxious flamed neck that's roasted and doesn't move much.
It's light, resonant, did I mention light?
The whole pile of parts has a ton of attack, and I can resort to using the muffled settings on a Tonestyler to chill it out.

 

[Kubicki Fan]

The local luthier said he's had cases of people replacing machine-heads on their own & breaking the roasted maple headstock. They crank the nuts down with too much force & CRACK!
When I was regaling him with how great the roasted maple neck was, that's the story he told me & he said to be extra careful with it, adding that he'd NEVER take one on tour.

It could be that they reamed the hole at an angle - if it needed to be enlarged - and that will crack a dry piece of wood for sure. It is easy to go off the normal with a reamer.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

no reaming was done
How did you get that from my post?

Starting to regret having posted in here.

Roasted necks are the best!