Roasted Maple - W vs G&L?

[rgand]

I recently cruised through the G&L prototypes list and they had two guitars with roasted maple necks. They are really dark brown and the writeup says they only put clear finish on them. Why are they so dark?

Then, the question comes up, can Warmoth get that dark roasted maple, also? I like the look.

 

[bagman67]

If they're really not tinting the finish, they must be cooking the maple a really long time.  Probably raises the cost of the part significantly if that's the case (more fuel used, fewer parts can be run through the oven, and so on).

 

[rgand]

Yeah, they probably keep 'em in the oven longer. Maybe it's actually BBQ'd maple. :icon_biggrin:

 

[stratamania]

A certain amount of roasting is a good thing by all accounts. But over roasting one wonders about the long term stability of wood that's gone through that.

 

[rgand]

A certain amount of roasting is a good thing by all accounts. But over roasting one wonders about the long term stability of wood that's gone through that.

That's a good point. The color is nice, but there's more than color at stake here. Maybe the best way to go is with ironwood and be done with it.

 

[Pharos]

Yeah, they probably keep 'em in the oven longer. Maybe it's actually BBQ'd maple. :icon_biggrin:

Baby back six string?

 

[rgand]

Yeah, they probably keep 'em in the oven longer. Maybe it's actually BBQ'd maple. :icon_biggrin:

Baby back six string?

:laughing11:

 

[Cagey]

It could also be a photographic anomaly, or a relative appearance to something else in the shot. I can't imagine over-cooking the wood could be a Good Thing, or that G&L would be unaware of how to play with roasted parts. Besides, if they're anything like Warmoth, they're buying the wood roasted, not doing it themselves. I could be wrong, but I suspect that's not a process you take on lightly.

I have both roasted and raw Maple necks here at the moment, and if you look at the roasted one on its own, it doesn't look that dark. Set the raw one next to it, and it's difficult to believe they're the same wood.

 

[rgand]

It could also be a photographic anomaly, or a relative appearance to something else in the shot. I can't imagine over-cooking the wood could be a Good Thing, or that G&L would be unaware of how to play with roasted parts. Besides, if they're anything like Warmoth, they're buying the wood roasted, not doing it themselves. I could be wrong, but I suspect that's not a process you take on lightly.

I have both roasted and raw Maple necks here at the moment, and if you look at the roasted one on its own, it doesn't look that dark. Set the raw one next to it, and it's difficult to believe they're the same wood.

I also have both and they are the same as yours. I was surprised at how dark the G&L ones are. They had two guitars with those necks and both are that dark brown. They did mention that there were very fine cracks around the dots on the fretboard on one that you can't see because of the clear lacquer finish. Maybe the dark wood is too brittle. The other guitar had a rosewood fretboard so no mention of hairline cracks.

 

[Cagey]

Hmmm... well, even a clear finish will darken things, oddly enough. For instance, here's a shot of the back of the L5S in my sig before it got finished...

All I did was wipe it with a cloth wetted with Naphtha, and you can see the difference is pretty dramatic, even though Naphtha is about as clear as you can get. You'd get the same reaction with acetone, alcohol or water.

Just for fun, lemme get out the camera and some chemicals and see what happens...

Never mind. Oddly enough, wetting roasted Maple does almost nothing to its appearance. See attached. You can't tell it's been touched. Only half of that has been wetted. It's all but invisible.

 

[rgand]

Interesting that the roasted maple is so impervious. I'd have expected some difference. Thanks for doing the test.