Roasted wood

[HomespunEffects]

What does roasting wood do for the tone of a guitar body? Does it brighten or darken the tone? Or is it negligible?

I definitely like swamp ash over alder but I want to keep the top end snap. I just don’t want to order roasted if it’s going to darken the tone.

 

[mavrick102000]

If done correctly, it's really more about stabilizing the wood from movement/warping. Looks good on maple necks again if done correctly.

 

[HomespunEffects]

If done correctly, it's really more about stabilizing the wood from movement/warping. Looks good on maple necks again if done correctly.

Yes, I know about the structural advantages. I’m wondering about any tonal change.

There seem to be conflicting anecdotes online.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

What does roasting wood do for the tone of a guitar body? Does it brighten or darken the tone? Or is it negligible?

I definitely like swamp ash over alder but I want to keep the top end snap. I just don’t want to order roasted if it’s going to darken the tone.

My guess would be that while roasting some particular piece may send it in a particular tonal direction, it won't be enough to overcome the general variability within different pieces of swamp ash for you to say for sure "a custom order of roasted will be Xer than a custom order with non-roasted" since checking the box is just telling them which variable pile to pick a block from, not telling them to roast the one block they were going to use if you'd ordered a non-roasted body.

 

[HomespunEffects]

My guess would be that while roasting some particular piece may send it in a particular tonal direction, it won't be enough to overcome the general variability within different pieces of swamp ash for you to say for sure "a custom order of roasted will be Xer than a custom order with non-roasted" since checking the box is just telling them which variable pile to pick a block from, not telling them to roast the one block they were going to use if you'd ordered a non-roasted body.

So basically i shouldn’t worry about it.

 

[FuzzyAce]

So basically i shouldn’t worry about it.

I would do it more for the feel and stability factors. An unfinished, roasted maple neck feels awesome to me. Smooth as butter. Tonally is hard to say, you'd probably have to sample quite a few to narrow down some general characteristics -- which I haven't done.

 

[paisleywookiee]

It’s virtually impossible to quantify. You’d have to have near identical guitars with wood taken from the same stash, but one roasted, one not.
I’ve got a Warmoth Tele, with roasted quartersawn maple neck, and roasted ash body. It’s snappy, “Tele-like”, and not what I’d consider overly bright nor dark. I love it.

 

[Eagle]

It makes it a little more lively but hard to say how much. Guthrie was very keen on the difference when he got the first roasted swamp ash GG Charvel but he is more of a maple on basswood guy still. It has downsides too in terms of strength if that plays a part in the application in question holding a fret for example, roasting maple makes chip out far more likely during a refret. Floyd lock nuts work loose and strip out the screws more too.