Conpletely agree. My Ibanez AZ makes my others axes feel like crap. Lol. I sincerely think all of my future purchases will have roadted maple necks. The feeling while playing it alone id a sell and then you factor in the look!!!!
Can confirm, Roasted maple necks (especially without a finish) are extremely hard to go back from once you play them once. They truly feel amazing. I have a custom Warmoth roasted maple neck that I got recently and it is the best neck I have ever played. Additionally, these necks are so stable that Warmoth will still let you have the full warranty if you play one without a finish (on most other necks such as maple the warranty will be void if you use it without a finish).
I bought a baked maple neck a while ago as i was sold on how they looked and the belief that they are more stable to humidity changes. When i got it the first thing i noticed was how much lighter it was in comparison to a normal neck. I had to drill the tuner holes just a little larger for my choice of tuners......and thats when the problems started.....very easy to get tear-out because the wood is very brittle as it has no moisture in it. Later on it got a little knock on the edge corner of the headstock. Would normally mean a little dent on an unroasted neck.....but on a roasted neck....a chip of the wood broke off. I wanted to change tuners so that meant trying to knock the ferrules back out.....huge chunks of wood came away with the ferrules, and that would never happen with an unroasted neck......and god knows what would happen if you were trying to do a re-fret, My advice to anybody thinking about getting a roasted neck......DONT!
Excellent advise. The Roasted maple guitar neck is a silly gimmick. If you like that color, I can show you how to get there with alcohol based dyes, that do not ruin the wood.
I have a roasted swamp ash tele with a roasted maple neck. 6lbs 4oz. Super light and resonate. I really dig it. I put one coat of satin on it. It's the most beautiful guitar I have seen. When you shoot clear over roasted ash it gets almost twice as dark.
I just got my first guitar with a baked neck. Dylan is quite right - strictly speaking, not necessary. But, if you can handle the additional cost, so worth it. Ultra-stable, baby’s-butt-smooth, and beautiful to look at
Agreed. I have a Squier Classic Vibe '50's Telecaster and ironically it has a flame maple neck that I constantly have to adjust every season. I'm in NJ where we have really wet periods, and really dry periods of the year. So, I might switch to a baked maple neck one day.
To my knowledge, the neck on a Classic Vibe guitar is sealed with a heavy coat of gloss polyurethane lacquer. I'm wondering: how does the moisture still get in and out of the wood?
Absolutely true! I have 2 strandbergs with roasted maple. Granted they have carbon fiber lamination as well but compared to my Jackson and tele that are standard maple necks, when the weather changes I have to adjust the 2 normal maple necks but not my strandbergs. I've only adjusted them once when I first set them up. Unless you change string gauge they are extremely stable necks. Plus he is right the look and feel amazing
I think it is a fun option, looks kind of cool, but having had many guitars I understand the ideas like necks being a lot more comfortable than regular maple. Mine is great with satin finish on the back, the roasted neck I tried wasn’t really better. I started in 1999, and don’t get the complaints about having to adjust a neck so often. My guitars have never needed more than an annual set up. Even with going from hot summers to bitter winters. The internet tells us this is something we should have, that we will have to constantly fix our new guitars, and other things we should believe like having a 7.25 radius board will keep you from bending strings etc. This is worth it if you like it, but you don’t need it.
I just put a roasted maple neck from Warmoth on my seafoam green Tele. It is absolutely gorgeous and it feels very smooth. It is light and responsive. Would I change out a perfectly good neck just to get roasted maple? Nope. I replaced my original Tele neck because it was less than great and I wanted to change to a rosewood fingerboard, so I made the neck wood roasted maple while I was at it. I totally think it's worth it. I have a unique perspective on this because I'm an acoustic player and just getting into electrics. My main acoustic is a Martin D28 1937 Authentic, and it has a "torrefied" (baked) Adirondack spruce top. The heating process TOTALLY makes a difference in terms of tone and stability on that guitar, so I was already convinced of the advantages of torrefaction, which is the technical term for baking wood. Thanks for the great video!
Hi Dylan - I'm thinking of purchasing a roasted maple neck with a rosewood board from Musikraft - will have to finish this neck at all or will it be fine raw? Thanks!
I recently got a Chapman ML3 semi hollow and that comes with a roasted maple neck. I’d never played one before and was blown away at just how great it felt. Honestly the most comfortable neck I’ve ever played. Plus with a honey burst it looks amazing. I wouldn’t say it has much in the way of a tonal impact, but I do think it resonates better. Certainly in relation to my other guitars anyway. Regardless, I fell in love with it straight away.
I have a Tom Anderson Angel and it has THE BEST roasted maple neck I’ve ever plaid on. If you add to that perfectly polished and round-ended stainless steel frets, you’ll get the best guitar neck imaginable.
I have a baked maple neck w/rosewood fretboard on my St. Vincent HH guitar. I really love it. I would like to see them offered on more guitars in the future.
I wouldn’t mind having a guitar with a roasted neck, purely because they look great. Great channel, I’ve watched a few vids now. Guess I should subscribe. Keep up the great level of quality.
Does the roasting make the grain harder, in a sense that the fret barbs can't penetrate the end grain as easily? Reason I ask is because when I do re-frets on richlite necks, the necks will go into a back bow, unless I shave the barbs down (using the StewMac fret barber). On richlite the barbs simply do not dig into the sides of the fret slots, because of the hardness of richlite. So, I am wondering if the extra hardness of the roasted maple might lead to the same issue.
i just looked, and the guitars i have tuning issues with all have really figured necks, i had always tried to find guitars with as much exotic looking figuring as i could find, well,,,,,,,,,, now i know better, maybe that's where the graphite strips came into play, out of the need to counter instability, hmmmm?
Agree 100% on the feel. I built a tele style with a fat, baked maple neck from Warmoth. I left it raw, and it's smooth and dry, without feeling sticky.
I bought a cheap Squier PJ bass a couple years ago that I fully intended to use as my "experimental" guitar. I'm new to bass anyways, so if I fuck it up. Ah, so be it. So far I've swapped the pickups, put a high mass bridge on it. I just ordered a roasted maple neck for it. And I'll be honest. I mainly did it for the looks. But I'm hearing a lot that they feel great. Good to know that they're stable. Yes, it was expensive... But... It doesn't really bother me, because the bass was cheap to begin with. I appreciate how transparent your videos are. Helps me make decisions about what to do, and what to avoid. Thanks man.
I have a Fender Stat that I bought in 1988. The maple neck plays really well and I have not had to touch that neck at all except to clean it when I change the strings
I tried this at home with a cheap tele kit I got from amazon. I roasted the neck in the oven for about 2 hours at 180 - 200 centigrade. Only problems I had was the fret ends sprouted but they didn't come loose or anything and I planned on leveling them anyway. Also the headstock turned a much darker brown than the rest of the neck, probably because of limited space in the oven, the headstock was getting the full blast of heat from the convection fan. I was able to sand it back to lighten the shade and make it more even. It still looks better than the raw white colour of maple and after applying boiled linseed oil it for a satin finish it doesn't look to bad. It's darkened the maple and given it an aged tobacco look.
Comment off topic, but have you ever picked up the higher end Tagima guitars? Just bought a T-900 and my goodness it is high quality. Solid woodwork, excellent in-house made pickups, cloth wrapped vintage style wiring, hand built in Brazil with Brazilian quality woods. I can't say enough about it. Would love to see a review on these, they deserve the exposure. They have a low end line as well made in China similar to squires , but their core line is seriously amazing.
Got a blank headstock Roasted Maple neck from Warmoth. It feels incredible, the problem is when you need to work on it. The first tuning peg I routed snapped a 1/4 inch off the headstock. Had to glue it back together & try again. Routing my headstock design was dicey too. Just be forewarned, they’re super brittle & not machine friendly. Otherwise, it’s amazing
Having built a few necks using baked/roasted/torrefied maple, I agree with Dylan, the greatest advantage is the added stability when using figured woods - to the extent that if I'm building for myself, I won't even install a trussrod, I'll just use a couple of carbon fiber reinforcing rods. 5+ years after building my first BM/CF neck, it's as straight as the day it was first installed on the guitar, and has never noticeably moved. The only disadvantage to building like this, is that you need to build in any relief needed before fretting...
Is the Classic Vibe Tele pine lighter than say a basswood ? I'm assuming they are thicker than the bullets which are basswood, so it might be hard to compare.
@@johnhowe4079 I think they vary a lot. I bought mine as a loaded body on eBay. I have the Allparts Fat neck which probably also weighs more than usual but altogether it's nearly a 10lb Tele! I don't really mind though and the transparent blonde finish is stunning 😎
I have a roasted maple neck on my Charvel DK 24, and it’s the first electric that I’ve never been able to sell lol I can’t say enough good things about the guitar, but the roasted maple neck is genuinely amazing. Like literally, they feel amazing.
According to Schecter this is very relative and depends of the maple wood, some regular maple necks can be as strong and resistant to weather changes than some roasted maple necks and they say is mainly cosmetic by most part
It’s 100% cosmetic. They feel the same as any satin maple neck. I like laminated and painted necks. I like the feel of the lacquer in my hands and it also protects the wood from the environment so my guitars don’t have neck issues.
I make and play my own guitars and I have roasted maple necks on 3 of them. They feel great and look great. I do not have any finish on any of them. I have not adjusted any of them after the first setup. I check them every time I change strings. Very smooth. I have 3 more guitars I am making that have the roasted maple necks ready to go.
i have a 120$ 2014 Jackson Dinky 22 with a normal maple neck and maybe i got lucky with it. It has a super stable neck, it doesn't change it's action or go out of tune once the strings set in. I have noticed that the grain on that thing runs just straight up and down and there are no knots or breaks in the grain.
Hey Dylan thanks a lot, as you know I am one of your channel fans, thanks to you and to your lovely wife for all the hard work and hope you are both well and safe. May I know what is your input regarding screw inserts in the guitar neck is it worth it? And if it is why fender still over the last 70 years maybe still just using just screws only without inserts at the heel of the neck and what about stability, tone...etc much appreciated thanks in advance regards from ENGLAND UK 👍
I have a sapphire blue with a roasted maple neck Strat and ur right about the feel. Arguably the smoothest to the touch I have ever felt. Like butter. Sometimes on my other Strat (regular maple) I feel like I should put baby powder or something on it so I don’t get hung up on it going from low to high frets. I think it will catch on the more people are able to try the roasted maple. There is a difference, promise. Nice video by the way
Thumbs up from Geelong Australia I just got myself a roasted maple fender neck satin finish on the back and gloss on the front and headstock it will be going on my pink Paisley I hope it looks nice 😅🇭🇲👍
Soooo glad I found & subscribed to this channel!!!!...very informative and definitely worth viewing for Pro Musicians! I’m building my own Guitars (a Custom Strat & restoring an ol’ Telecaster)...and info like this is well appreciated! I’ve experienced “Roasted Maple Necks” (+ Maple & Ebony)..and I love/prefer the feel & look of Roasted Maple!! So much so that I prefer Maple now on all my Teles!...Strats are an option but I don’t think I’ll own an Ebony one...I’m building a Strat that already has a finished Schecter Maple neck which is excellent! Anyway,..my point is that,..once you’ve tried a Roasted,..you’ll get what Dylan was getting at! For me,..a Telecaster enthusiast!...Maple is the only way to go!!..and Roasted Necks are amazingly cool!..in all aspects!!..✨🎶🎸👍🏾Play on yawl!
I recently bought a Music Man Cutlass, which has a roasted neck. I had never touched one before, and I made the decision to buy immediately. I’m thrilled with the roasted neck. However, when you pick up a regular maple strat or tele, it just may be a letdown.
I had a guitar built a few months ago and opted for a roasted maple neck and it feels and looks soooo good. I'm definitely glad I put the extra cash towards it. The stability is the cake and the looks and feel are the icing. Love it!
I have a Fender power caster with a roasted maple neck and it's my favorite neck of all 4 of my guitars. Just feels exactly like you described. I think it also "feels" good too because its kinda different from a "boring" non-roasted maple neck. A little darker color, maybe it just feels edgier.
Been planning a personal version build of a George Lynch Sunburst Tiger (as I don't like how the original feels), finally pulled the trigger on a roasted flame reverse banana headstock neck from MK, will get it in 3 weeks, can't wait :). Have a collection of MIJ Charvel and Jackson from 86-96 that I love (fabulous necks), have 6 builds on the drawing board, a couple with MIJ classic Jackson necks, had to have at least one axe with a roasted neck out of the 22 guitars...
I have a baked flame maple baritone strat neck with rosewood board on its way from Warmoth. Im pretty excited to see how it comes out. I found it interesting that at Warmoth baked maple with no finish was cheaper than plain maple with either a gloss or satin finish.
Good advice. From my experience, if you live in high (summer) to low (winter) humidity environment, get roasted maple neck (with or without other-wooded fretboard).
I just put a replacement Fender MIM roasted maple on my Strat. I haven’t spent a ton of time on it, but I can already tell that Im going to want to spend a lot more.
Played my buddies jazz bass with a roasted maple, felt awesome. Ordered one for my p bass, but not purely because I wanted a roasted maple, but because I want a jazz bass neck on my p bass. So I would agree that it's not worth buying a direct replacement neck just to get it in roasted maple, but if you're looking for a new neck anyway, its definitely worth the consideration.
I have a good collection of guitars and I'm always picking up and playing interesting looking guitars. I only have one with a baked or roasted maple neck, it's a Reverend and yes it happen to be one of my favourites but not really because of the neck. A Made in Japan Fender Strat Boxer guitar I have has a maple neck that I really love too. I had to really check it out to be sure it was wood as there virtually no grain showing and it has an ebony fret board, it's the best playing and feeling.
Any experience with aftermarket fender necks? I’m looking for an ebony board like on the Jim root jazzy. GFS has some decent looking dark rosewood fun under a hondo but I’m a little gun-shy and haven’t used one of their kits yet.
Me as a drummer started using so called flame treated sticks about a year ago , a similar 'buzz-word' thing at the time, this wood certainly feels very nice and stable too. not sure if the process is the same, but the result sells itself for sure. cool video's by the way! subscribed!!
Thanks for your videos, Dylan. I’m thinking of knocking down the fingerboard edges on a fender player strat with a roasted maple neck (clear satin urethane finish). I’m hoping to get your input….Does the roasting and finish get messed up when sanding the edge down?
I have an Ebony over roasted maple Warmoth neck with stainless steel frets. I'll never go back to a finished necks or nickel frets.In addition you can hand sand the raw roasted maple with super fine grain paper and "burnish" the wood so it feels even more slick and fast .
Feels great, looks even better, but frankly if you want a stable neck, dual-graphite bars on either side of truss rod have worked for me for over 30 yrs.
Got a 2018 Music Man Stingray Special with the roasted maple neck. Is indeed super smooth (don't know if that's from the roasting or from the satin gunstock oil finish), but from on purely aesthetic level, it just looks really nice and may prove to be more stable down the road. Like Dylan said in the video, it's not an essential thing or something that is life changing, but if it's something that strikes your fancy (like a flame maple top, or a vintage sunburst, or any other thing that costs a premium that looks cool to you), then go for it.
I baked a neck in my wife's oven but it was to change the neck bow;) and Gibson started using baked maple instead of rosewood, I have it on my Flying V and it is fantastic, yes I would pay extra for it.
Played my first baked maple neck today ( Ernie Ball, Luke III - Baked Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard ), there's no denying it, it was significant improvement - so unless there's some sort of hidden "gotcha!" in baking that we don't know about yet - I gotta say, it's worth it - this whole baked maple thing, is ( probably ) a big deal
the chances of the wood doing anything strange is real low, which is a solid in my book. i have had several strat necks warp on me so i'm really dirty on Fender but roasted necks are great and pretty much bullet proof. The ~$100 dollar difference in price is cheap compared with the endless tweaks and setup a crappy neck will put you through.
I've been thinking about getting one. my Les Paul has been flawless And I live in New England where we can have 100% humidity in the summer and below 0 temperatures in the Winter and everything in between, I've had to do nothing to the neck so far. But I would love a roasted Maple neck stainless steel frets on a tele
Same shit here in west central Wisconsin as weather extremes go.... My 1999 Standard Fender Telecaster has spent MANY hours in the sun and in several heavy smoke environments. It is without a doubt a form of a "baked" maple neck and holds tune REALLY well.....
I haven't tried one yet, but regular Maple necks (as well as fretboards) are easily my favorite to play, so I guess I'm going to ask, how much of a difference is there in playability?
Very helpful video! I'm researching for my first higher quality (Warmoth level) build, and this is one of the many things I've been considering. Thanks!
Torrefied maple was standard on my Strandberg Boden 6, and I'm building a EVH Wolfgang with a Standard neck on a Special body with Special electroncis. They do feel very nice, and look pretty sharp. I may be having a roasted maple Peavey Wolfgang neck made (3rd party) for a vintage unfinished US made HP Special body I managed to come across. Roasted Maple and Stainless frets seems like a hard combo to beat.
I hear very little difference if any at all in BM compared to regular. However, I prefer a BM neck for the feel and of course the look. But the feel is way better for me. As a matter of fact, I am having one made at this time by a luthier here in Nashville, Rocco Guitars.
Hi,Dylan..Some cheaper guitars (even new aria pro II and Schecter MII Nick J )also provide baked-maple neck nowadays...are they as good as the higher-end guitars? Thanks
I think now because of wood quality we need stuff like baked maple. Wood is almost always kilm dried( fast as it can be). But if you have a 4-5 year old guitar the neck has pretty much done all its gonna especially if its painted or has a finish on it and even more so if its plywood ( 4-5 pieces).
A guitar with a caramelized neck will surely be good for some great licks
Don't get a splinter in your tongue.
Dat sweet sweet tone
@Ej Teacher Steve Cropper prefers green onions.
Nice!
i did lick it on my channel!
I’ve played my guitar while I was pretty baked. Does that count?
That totally counts. 👍
In the 70s playing "baked" was mandatory, the way I recall it ....
Eric Wilson All my early guitar heroes WERE players from the 70’s, so in the 80’s I paid plenty of homage to them. Playing wise AND otherwise. 😂👍🏻😎
did it "feel so good"?
It adds more reverb to the tone
Having tasted Roasted Maple + Stainless Steel frets... It's hard to go back...
so freaking true.
That’s exactly why I gotta build one already or just buy that Harley Benton fusion T 😛
Kyle J. Rhines or the harley benton agufish sig, i ordered it yesterday :)
Just ordered a roasted maple neck with jumbo stainless frets. Can’t wait
Conpletely agree. My Ibanez AZ makes my others axes feel like crap. Lol. I sincerely think all of my future purchases will have roadted maple necks. The feeling while playing it alone id a sell and then you factor in the look!!!!
Roasted necks tend to be a little more brittle so use extra caution when putting in screws/tuners. The wood cracks sooner than non roasted maple.
Can confirm, Roasted maple necks (especially without a finish) are extremely hard to go back from once you play them once. They truly feel amazing. I have a custom Warmoth roasted maple neck that I got recently and it is the best neck I have ever played. Additionally, these necks are so stable that Warmoth will still let you have the full warranty if you play one without a finish (on most other necks such as maple the warranty will be void if you use it without a finish).
Pre-ordered a new Squier Contemporary Telecaster RH a few days ago. They ship from the factory with roasted maple necks.
They are nice. Squier has come along way.
how do you like it?
man, a house with two kitchens is just amazing, one for you and the other for your wife, right?
Hahaha love this comment!
Yes, but his kitchen does not have an oven in it apparently... pretty sure it has the big ass fridge filled up with beers instead.
I bought a baked maple neck a while ago as i was sold on how they looked and the belief that they are more stable to humidity changes. When i got it the first thing i noticed was how much lighter it was in comparison to a normal neck. I had to drill the tuner holes just a little larger for my choice of tuners......and thats when the problems started.....very easy to get tear-out because the wood is very brittle as it has no moisture in it. Later on it got a little knock on the edge corner of the headstock. Would normally mean a little dent on an unroasted neck.....but on a roasted neck....a chip of the wood broke off. I wanted to change tuners so that meant trying to knock the ferrules back out.....huge chunks of wood came away with the ferrules, and that would never happen with an unroasted neck......and god knows what would happen if you were trying to do a re-fret, My advice to anybody thinking about getting a roasted neck......DONT!
Excellent advise. The Roasted maple guitar neck is a silly gimmick. If you like that color, I can show you how to get there with alcohol based dyes, that do not ruin the wood.
I have a roasted swamp ash tele with a roasted maple neck. 6lbs 4oz. Super light and resonate. I really dig it. I put one coat of satin on it. It's the most beautiful guitar I have seen. When you shoot clear over roasted ash it gets almost twice as dark.
Gregory Stone: that's quite light; what brand and model is your tele? Thanks.
Same question what guitar is it? I love light weight guitar.
The color gets twice as dark or the tone?
Adam Jarrett The color.
LOve to see a pic of that ash Tele front and back. it gives me some ideas for my next guitar.
Well worth the money in my opinion. Plus when you put clear over it, the neck darkens and brings out the grain so nicely
I just got my first guitar with a baked neck. Dylan is quite right - strictly speaking, not necessary. But, if you can handle the additional cost, so worth it. Ultra-stable, baby’s-butt-smooth, and beautiful to look at
Agreed. I have a Squier Classic Vibe '50's Telecaster and ironically it has a flame maple neck that I constantly have to adjust every season. I'm in NJ where we have really wet periods, and really dry periods of the year. So, I might switch to a baked maple neck one day.
To my knowledge, the neck on a Classic Vibe guitar is sealed with a heavy coat of gloss polyurethane lacquer. I'm wondering: how does the moisture still get in and out of the wood?
Another review for me. I love the roasted maple neck on my Revered. Feels great and looks good. 7 years later still like new.
Thanks Dylan.
Absolutely true! I have 2 strandbergs with roasted maple. Granted they have carbon fiber lamination as well but compared to my Jackson and tele that are standard maple necks, when the weather changes I have to adjust the 2 normal maple necks but not my strandbergs. I've only adjusted them once when I first set them up. Unless you change string gauge they are extremely stable necks. Plus he is right the look and feel amazing
I think it is a fun option, looks kind of cool, but having had many guitars I understand the ideas like necks being a lot more comfortable than regular maple. Mine is great with satin finish on the back, the roasted neck I tried wasn’t really better. I started in 1999, and don’t get the complaints about having to adjust a neck so often. My guitars have never needed more than an annual set up. Even with going from hot summers to bitter winters. The internet tells us this is something we should have, that we will have to constantly fix our new guitars, and other things we should believe like having a 7.25 radius board will keep you from bending strings etc. This is worth it if you like it, but you don’t need it.
I just put a roasted maple neck from Warmoth on my seafoam green Tele. It is absolutely gorgeous and it feels very smooth. It is light and responsive. Would I change out a perfectly good neck just to get roasted maple? Nope. I replaced my original Tele neck because it was less than great and I wanted to change to a rosewood fingerboard, so I made the neck wood roasted maple while I was at it. I totally think it's worth it. I have a unique perspective on this because I'm an acoustic player and just getting into electrics. My main acoustic is a Martin D28 1937 Authentic, and it has a "torrefied" (baked) Adirondack spruce top. The heating process TOTALLY makes a difference in terms of tone and stability on that guitar, so I was already convinced of the advantages of torrefaction, which is the technical term for baking wood. Thanks for the great video!
Hi Dylan - I'm thinking of purchasing a roasted maple neck with a rosewood board from Musikraft - will have to finish this neck at all or will it be fine raw? Thanks!
I recently got a Chapman ML3 semi hollow and that comes with a roasted maple neck. I’d never played one before and was blown away at just how great it felt. Honestly the most comfortable neck I’ve ever played. Plus with a honey burst it looks amazing. I wouldn’t say it has much in the way of a tonal impact, but I do think it resonates better. Certainly in relation to my other guitars anyway. Regardless, I fell in love with it straight away.
Got my first roasted maple neck last year, it’s incredible, feels amazing...., never going back to regular maple.
I have a Tom Anderson Angel and it has THE BEST roasted maple neck I’ve ever plaid on. If you add to that perfectly polished and round-ended stainless steel frets, you’ll get the best guitar neck imaginable.
I have a baked maple neck w/rosewood fretboard on my St. Vincent HH guitar. I really love it.
I would like to see them offered on more guitars in the future.
I wouldn’t mind having a guitar with a roasted neck, purely because they look great. Great channel, I’ve watched a few vids now. Guess I should subscribe. Keep up the great level of quality.
I have a Suhr with Baked Maple neck and Baked Alder body. SO good. The guitar is super loud, super stable, and plays like a dream.
Really love that telecaster, looks amazing!!
I put a roasted Fender neck on my Fender Tele yesterday, and I regret having waited so long to do so. Love it.
Does the roasting make the grain harder, in a sense that the fret barbs can't penetrate the end grain as easily? Reason I ask is because when I do re-frets on richlite necks, the necks will go into a back bow, unless I shave the barbs down (using the StewMac fret barber). On richlite the barbs simply do not dig into the sides of the fret slots, because of the hardness of richlite. So, I am wondering if the extra hardness of the roasted maple might lead to the same issue.
at last someone admits to the instability of figured grain necks! I love roasted maple for necks! yup the feel is superior!
i just looked, and the guitars i have tuning issues with all have really figured necks, i had always tried to find guitars with as much exotic looking figuring as i could find, well,,,,,,,,,, now i know better, maybe that's where the graphite strips came into play, out of the need to counter instability, hmmmm?
@ Guitar works. Roasted maple is figured grain haha. It feels no better than a satin rolled neck.
Agree 100% on the feel. I built a tele style with a fat, baked maple neck from Warmoth. I left it raw, and it's smooth and dry, without feeling sticky.
I bought a cheap Squier PJ bass a couple years ago that I fully intended to use as my "experimental" guitar. I'm new to bass anyways, so if I fuck it up. Ah, so be it. So far I've swapped the pickups, put a high mass bridge on it.
I just ordered a roasted maple neck for it. And I'll be honest. I mainly did it for the looks. But I'm hearing a lot that they feel great. Good to know that they're stable.
Yes, it was expensive... But... It doesn't really bother me, because the bass was cheap to begin with.
I appreciate how transparent your videos are. Helps me make decisions about what to do, and what to avoid. Thanks man.
I have a Fender Stat that I bought in 1988. The maple neck plays really well and I have not had to touch that neck at all except to clean it when I change the strings
I tried this at home with a cheap tele kit I got from amazon. I roasted the neck in the oven for about 2 hours at 180 - 200 centigrade. Only problems I had was the fret ends sprouted but they didn't come loose or anything and I planned on leveling them anyway. Also the headstock turned a much darker brown than the rest of the neck, probably because of limited space in the oven, the headstock was getting the full blast of heat from the convection fan. I was able to sand it back to lighten the shade and make it more even. It still looks better than the raw white colour of maple and after applying boiled linseed oil it for a satin finish it doesn't look to bad. It's darkened the maple and given it an aged tobacco look.
I enjoy mine. Less work involved, has that natural satin finish I love. Is a must have for me. Plus I don’t worry about it twisting when I travel.
Gimmick or no, it's freakin beautiful wood 😍
Right on
Club Soda Eh...I’m sure they would have had it been available. Why not use technology and advances in guitar building to your advantage?
Comment off topic, but have you ever picked up the higher end Tagima guitars? Just bought a T-900 and my goodness it is high quality. Solid woodwork, excellent in-house made pickups, cloth wrapped vintage style wiring, hand built in Brazil with Brazilian quality woods. I can't say enough about it. Would love to see a review on these, they deserve the exposure. They have a low end line as well made in China similar to squires , but their core line is seriously amazing.
Got a blank headstock Roasted Maple neck from Warmoth. It feels incredible, the problem is when you need to work on it. The first tuning peg I routed snapped a 1/4 inch off the headstock. Had to glue it back together & try again. Routing my headstock design was dicey too. Just be forewarned, they’re super brittle & not machine friendly. Otherwise, it’s amazing
I've found when getting a custom neck made, it's usually cheaper to get it roasted than lacquered, and they feel great and are more stable.
Hey Dylan, Can you send me that black Tele with the Bigsby? Thanks!
Having built a few necks using baked/roasted/torrefied maple, I agree with Dylan, the greatest advantage is the added stability when using figured woods - to the extent that if I'm building for myself, I won't even install a trussrod, I'll just use a couple of carbon fiber reinforcing rods. 5+ years after building my first BM/CF neck, it's as straight as the day it was first installed on the guitar, and has never noticeably moved. The only disadvantage to building like this, is that you need to build in any relief needed before fretting...
I recently bought a headless guitar with a roasted maple neck. I love it its really stable and smooth, also its my most resonant guitar !
Loved the one I put on my strat enough that I ordered another one for my Esquire.
I put a partscaster Tele together with a Classic Vibe body and an Allparts Roasted Maple Fat neck. I burnished it instead of a finish. It's AMAZING!
Is the Classic Vibe Tele pine lighter than say a basswood ? I'm assuming they are thicker than the bullets which are basswood, so it might be hard to compare.
@@johnhowe4079
I think they vary a lot. I bought mine as a loaded body on eBay. I have the Allparts Fat neck which probably also weighs more than usual but altogether it's nearly a 10lb Tele! I don't really mind though and the transparent blonde finish is stunning 😎
I just tried a Sterling by Music Man Ray34 with roasted maple and I love it. It felt so good! I don't need a new bass but I want it
Thanks brother, for doing these vids, great, straight-forward info we guitar geeks all appreciate
Good show. Imma try one on my upcoming Tele build. Thanks
I've just recently had one installed on a Fender body, LOVE IT!!
I have a roasted maple neck on my Charvel DK 24, and it’s the first electric that I’ve never been able to sell lol I can’t say enough good things about the guitar, but the roasted maple neck is genuinely amazing.
Like literally, they feel amazing.
According to Schecter this is very relative and depends of the maple wood, some regular maple necks can be as strong and resistant to weather changes than some roasted maple necks and they say is mainly cosmetic by most part
It’s 100% cosmetic. They feel the same as any satin maple neck. I like laminated and painted necks. I like the feel of the lacquer in my hands and it also protects the wood from the environment so my guitars don’t have neck issues.
I make and play my own guitars and I have roasted maple necks on 3 of them. They feel great and look great. I do not have any finish on any of them. I have not adjusted any of them after the first setup. I check them every time I change strings. Very smooth.
I have 3 more guitars I am making that have the roasted maple necks ready to go.
i have a 120$ 2014 Jackson Dinky 22 with a normal maple neck and maybe i got lucky with it. It has a super stable neck, it doesn't change it's action or go out of tune once the strings set in. I have noticed that the grain on that thing runs just straight up and down and there are no knots or breaks in the grain.
I have an Allparts vintage C roasted maple neck on my first build and it's by far my favorite neck I've ever touched, and for only $240.
Dylan thanks for putting this one out again. Your content & presentation is always in point. You are easy to listen to, AND you make good sense.
Hey Dylan thanks a lot, as you know I am one of your channel fans, thanks to you and to your lovely wife for all the hard work and hope you are both well and safe. May I know what is your input regarding screw inserts in the guitar neck is it worth it? And if it is why fender still over the last 70 years maybe still just using just screws only without inserts at the heel of the neck and what about stability, tone...etc much appreciated thanks in advance regards from ENGLAND UK 👍
I have a sapphire blue with a roasted maple neck Strat and ur right about the feel. Arguably the smoothest to the touch I have ever felt. Like butter. Sometimes on my other Strat (regular maple) I feel like I should put baby powder or something on it so I don’t get hung up on it going from low to high frets. I think it will catch on the more people are able to try the roasted maple. There is a difference, promise. Nice video by the way
Thumbs up from Geelong Australia
I just got myself a roasted maple fender neck satin finish on the back and gloss on the front and headstock it will be going on my pink Paisley I hope it looks nice 😅🇭🇲👍
Roasted maple is the best thing ever for necks I have one on my Telecaster I built. The best looking and playing neck I have ever seen and played!
Soooo glad I found & subscribed to this channel!!!!...very informative and definitely worth viewing for Pro Musicians!
I’m building my own Guitars (a Custom Strat & restoring an ol’ Telecaster)...and info like this is well appreciated!
I’ve experienced “Roasted Maple Necks” (+ Maple & Ebony)..and I love/prefer the feel & look of Roasted Maple!!
So much so that I prefer Maple now on all my Teles!...Strats are an option but I don’t think I’ll own an Ebony one...I’m building a Strat that already has a finished Schecter Maple neck which is excellent!
Anyway,..my point is that,..once you’ve tried a Roasted,..you’ll get what Dylan was getting at!
For me,..a Telecaster enthusiast!...Maple is the only way to go!!..and Roasted Necks are amazingly cool!..in all aspects!!..✨🎶🎸👍🏾Play on yawl!
I recently bought a Music Man Cutlass, which has a roasted neck. I had never touched one before, and I made the decision to buy immediately. I’m thrilled with the roasted neck. However, when you pick up a regular maple strat or tele, it just may be a letdown.
As always, it’s better
*B A K E D*
I had a guitar built a few months ago and opted for a roasted maple neck and it feels and looks soooo good. I'm definitely glad I put the extra cash towards it. The stability is the cake and the looks and feel are the icing. Love it!
I have a Fender power caster with a roasted maple neck and it's my favorite neck of all 4 of my guitars. Just feels exactly like you described. I think it also "feels" good too because its kinda different from a "boring" non-roasted maple neck. A little darker color, maybe it just feels edgier.
Been planning a personal version build of a George Lynch Sunburst Tiger (as I don't like how the original feels), finally pulled the trigger on a roasted flame reverse banana headstock neck from MK, will get it in 3 weeks, can't wait :). Have a collection of MIJ Charvel and Jackson from 86-96 that I love (fabulous necks), have 6 builds on the drawing board, a couple with MIJ classic Jackson necks, had to have at least one axe with a roasted neck out of the 22 guitars...
sounds awesome! let us know if we can help with parts or pickups
I have a baked flame maple baritone strat neck with rosewood board on its way from Warmoth. Im pretty excited to see how it comes out.
I found it interesting that at Warmoth baked maple with no finish was cheaper than plain maple with either a gloss or satin finish.
Good advice.
From my experience, if you live in high (summer) to low (winter) humidity environment, get roasted maple neck (with or without other-wooded fretboard).
I’m looking at making my own guitar and I found a baked maple neck with abalone fret markers🤤
I just put a replacement Fender MIM roasted maple on my Strat. I haven’t spent a ton of time on it, but I can already tell that Im going to want to spend a lot more.
You're talking about baked necks, but the caption says Roasted. What's the difference between the 2 outside of 50 degrees'?
Played my buddies jazz bass with a roasted maple, felt awesome. Ordered one for my p bass, but not purely because I wanted a roasted maple, but because I want a jazz bass neck on my p bass. So I would agree that it's not worth buying a direct replacement neck just to get it in roasted maple, but if you're looking for a new neck anyway, its definitely worth the consideration.
I have a good collection of guitars and I'm always picking up and playing interesting looking guitars. I only have one with a baked or roasted maple neck, it's a Reverend and yes it happen to be one of my favourites but not really because of the neck. A Made in Japan Fender Strat Boxer guitar I have has a maple neck that I really love too. I had to really check it out to be sure it was wood as there virtually no grain showing and it has an ebony fret board, it's the best playing and feeling.
Oh man I preheated my oven for nothing? 🥺
Any experience with aftermarket fender necks? I’m looking for an ebony board like on the Jim root jazzy. GFS has some decent looking dark rosewood fun under a hondo but I’m a little gun-shy and haven’t used one of their kits yet.
Me as a drummer started using so called flame treated sticks about a year ago , a similar 'buzz-word' thing at the time, this wood certainly feels very nice and stable too.
not sure if the process is the same, but the result sells itself for sure.
cool video's by the way! subscribed!!
Thanks for your videos, Dylan. I’m thinking of knocking down the fingerboard edges on a fender player strat with a roasted maple neck (clear satin urethane finish). I’m hoping to get your input….Does the roasting and finish get messed up when sanding the edge down?
How does a baked maple fingerboard feel in comparison to non?
I have an Ebony over roasted maple Warmoth neck with stainless steel frets. I'll never go back to a finished necks or nickel frets.In addition you can hand sand the raw roasted maple with super fine grain paper and "burnish" the wood so it feels even more slick and fast .
Feels great, looks even better, but frankly if you want a stable neck, dual-graphite bars on either side of truss rod have worked for me for over 30 yrs.
I compared a baked maple neck and was surprised how light it was. And when I tapped it, it sounded more resonant.
Is baked the same as torrified? If not, what is the difference?
Got a 2018 Music Man Stingray Special with the roasted maple neck. Is indeed super smooth (don't know if that's from the roasting or from the satin gunstock oil finish), but from on purely aesthetic level, it just looks really nice and may prove to be more stable down the road. Like Dylan said in the video, it's not an essential thing or something that is life changing, but if it's something that strikes your fancy (like a flame maple top, or a vintage sunburst, or any other thing that costs a premium that looks cool to you), then go for it.
how do they taste?
Great video. I was wondering about the new rage about roasted necks.
I baked a neck in my wife's oven but it was to change the neck bow;) and Gibson started using baked maple instead of rosewood, I have it on my Flying V and it is fantastic, yes I would pay extra for it.
I have a war moth roasted maple neck on my fender koa strat... they look incredible and the tone is very good
Played my first baked maple neck today ( Ernie Ball, Luke III - Baked Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard ), there's no denying it, it was significant improvement - so unless there's some sort of hidden "gotcha!" in baking that we don't know about yet - I gotta say, it's worth it - this whole baked maple thing, is ( probably ) a big deal
the chances of the wood doing anything strange is real low, which is a solid in my book. i have had several strat necks warp on me so i'm really dirty on Fender but roasted necks are great and pretty much bullet proof. The ~$100 dollar difference in price is cheap compared with the endless tweaks and setup a crappy neck will put you through.
I've been thinking about getting one. my Les Paul has been flawless And I live in New England where we can have 100% humidity in the summer and below 0 temperatures in the Winter and everything in between, I've had to do nothing to the neck so far. But I would love a roasted Maple neck stainless steel frets on a tele
Same shit here in west central Wisconsin as weather extremes go.... My 1999 Standard Fender Telecaster has spent MANY hours in the sun and in several heavy smoke environments. It is without a doubt a form of a "baked" maple neck and holds tune REALLY well.....
I'm not sure if there's any true tonal difference but the feel is so much better on a roasted maple neck.
I haven't tried one yet, but regular Maple necks (as well as fretboards) are easily my favorite to play, so I guess I'm going to ask, how much of a difference is there in playability?
Should the neck and body both be baked?
Very helpful video! I'm researching for my first higher quality (Warmoth level) build, and this is one of the many things I've been considering. Thanks!
Joshua Treat let us know how we can help. That’s exactly what we do
@@DylanTalksTone Thanks!
Torrefied maple was standard on my Strandberg Boden 6, and I'm building a EVH Wolfgang with a Standard neck on a Special body with Special electroncis. They do feel very nice, and look pretty sharp. I may be having a roasted maple Peavey Wolfgang neck made (3rd party) for a vintage unfinished US made HP Special body I managed to come across. Roasted Maple and Stainless frets seems like a hard combo to beat.
I put one my strat i built last winter, like you said they're super smooth and feel amazing, and mine hasn't need any adjustments so far
I hear very little difference if any at all in BM compared to regular. However, I prefer a BM neck for the feel and of course the look. But the feel is way better for me. As a matter of fact, I am having one made at this time by a luthier here in Nashville, Rocco Guitars.
I have two Warmoth necks that are roasted maple, and I absolutely love them.
How is torrefaction different from kiln-drying?!
I bought an Epiphone Casino Coupe and it says it has a "Roasted Maple" neck .
Feels great.
the stock ones come with a lacquered mahagoni neck
What about baked maple for a body? Maybe a thin body like an Ibanez S?
Hi,Dylan..Some cheaper guitars (even new aria pro II and Schecter MII Nick J )also provide baked-maple neck nowadays...are they as good as the higher-end guitars? Thanks
I think now because of wood quality we need stuff like baked maple. Wood is almost always kilm dried( fast as it can be). But if you have a 4-5 year old guitar the neck has pretty much done all its gonna especially if its painted or has a finish on it and even more so if its plywood ( 4-5 pieces).
Can anyone tell me if the baked is as bright-toned as the non-roasted regular maple? I'm thinking it's the same, but I haven't played one yet.
I’m planning on ordering a baked maple neck with a rosewood board from Warmoth. Should I get it finished?
Can you guys make a custom neck with the headstock i desire? Thats roasted?