# Roasted Maple Necks?



## troyhead (May 23, 2014)

I’m thinking about putting together a bass with an unfinished roasted maple neck, maybe with the unfinished maple for the fretboard, or maybe with rosewood. 

I’m thinking unfinished for two reasons: 

I’m cheap
I like the feel of a satiny feeling neck, including reliced guitars with a “raw wood” neck (although I’m not sure if that’s really the same as no finish at all)
Warmoth will warranty an unfinished roasted maple neck, although I think they put some kind of sealer on all their necks, so I’m not sure if necks from Allparts or others would keep their shape as well. 

Any pros/cons to this idea? I’ve heard the roasted maple is more brittle and may crack if pilot holes aren’t pre-drilled correctly, so I plan on getting help putting things together in order to avoid any such mishaps. I’m also interested to hear any comments about how the unfinished roasted maple fretboard might feel compared to rosewood.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I have a roasted maple neck on my Telecaster but I used tru oil to finish it


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## Fox Rox (Aug 9, 2009)

I have ordered 2 roasted maple necks from Warmoth and to my knowledge they didn't have any sealer on them. I would recommend sanding up to 400 grit but that is a personal choice as I find Warmoth necks need a little sanding before they are ready to play. Roasted maple actually smells great, too!


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

I have an '18 Stingray 4 HH with roasted tho ebony board. Love the feel of whatever oil/wax finish they use, it is super fast and smooth.


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## troyhead (May 23, 2014)

Fox Rox said:


> I have ordered 2 roasted maple necks from Warmoth and to my knowledge they didn't have any sealer on them. I would recommend sanding up to 400 grit but that is a personal choice as I find Warmoth necks need a little sanding before they are ready to play. Roasted maple actually smells great, too!


Did you end up finishing your necks, or just leave them raw? Roasted maple on the fingerboard too? I'm curious to know what a raw roasted maple fingerboard looks like after a while... does it stay pretty clean, or does it have a "relic" look to it, or does it just look dirty?


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## Silvertone (Oct 13, 2018)

troyhead said:


> Did you end up finishing your necks, or just leave them raw? Roasted maple on the fingerboard too? I'm curious to know what a raw roasted maple fingerboard looks like after a while... does it stay pretty clean, or does it have a "relic" look to it, or does it just look dirty?


I wouldn't leave any maple neck or finger board raw. Some sort of oil finish would be fine though and just keep on top of it once in a while. I did a birds eye roasted maple fret board for a friend. Roasted maple should be more stable and stronger than regular maple, or so they say.









Cheers Peter.


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## troyhead (May 23, 2014)

Silvertone said:


> I wouldn't leave any maple neck or finger board raw.


It sounds like lots of people are leaving the roasted necks raw on the front and back, as the roasting process stabilizes them past the requirement for a finish. I'm curious how they age, and I'm not a big fan of finish on the fingerboard. If it looks gross, maybe I'll just stick with rosewood on the front.


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## Silvertone (Oct 13, 2018)

troyhead said:


> the roasting process stabilizes them past the requirement for a finish.


I have not heard this before regarding roasted maple. I am a little skeptical about that. The finish not only protects against discolouration and contaminating the wood but also slows movement related to the rapid change in humidity. 

Cheers Peter.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Silvertone said:


> I have not heard this before regarding roasted maple. I am a little skeptical about that. The finish not only protects against discolouration and contaminating the wood but also slows movement related to the rapid change in humidity.
> 
> Cheers Peter.


I am no expert, but I have read the same thing about not needing to finish them in a whole bunch of places. This is a main reason people seem to like them, they like the feel. Just passing on what I've read.


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

I do a very thin shellac finish on mine.
I left the fretboard raw on the p90 duo jet but I am not in love with the feel.
There’s a good chance of it getting a finish.

I dunno how to describe it but unfinished maple just feels weird.

Roasted maple definitely looks way nicer with a finish.

Unfinished it smells like maple syrup- it’s fantastic.

Nathan


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## Fox Rox (Aug 9, 2009)

Silvertone said:


> I wouldn't leave any maple neck or finger board raw. Some sort of oil finish would be fine though and just keep on top of it once in a while. I did a birds eye roasted maple fret board for a friend. Roasted maple should be more stable and stronger than regular maple, or so they say.
> View attachment 295254
> 
> 
> Cheers Peter.


I put a Tru-Oil finish on both of my roasted maple necks, and they turned out really nicely. The key is to do many light coats and allowing the Tru-Oil to thoroughly dry between coats. I ended up putting between 15 and 20 coats on, and wet sanded after every fourth coat with progressively higher grades of sandpaper.


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## Fox Rox (Aug 9, 2009)

Silvertone said:


> I have not heard this before regarding roasted maple. I am a little skeptical about that. The finish not only protects against discolouration and contaminating the wood but also slows movement related to the rapid change in humidity.
> 
> Cheers Peter.


Roasting takes most of the moisture out of the wood so it produces a very stable neck that does not require a finish. Here is a direct quote from the Warmoth site:
NOTE: Finish not required for warranty on this wood


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## troyhead (May 23, 2014)

Thanks, @Fox Rox

Did you happen to install any tuners that required press-in bushings with the roasted maple? As they warn about brittleness with drilling, I wonder if there are any similar concerns when installing tuner bushings.


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## Fox Rox (Aug 9, 2009)

troyhead said:


> Thanks, @Fox Rox
> 
> Did you happen to install any tuners that required press-in bushings with the roasted maple? As they warn about brittleness with drilling, I wonder if there are any similar concerns when installing tuner bushings.


I had guitar techs install the tuners for me. One of them mentioned it was really hard to get one of the tuners installed and he took a little more wood out than he wanted to. It was barely noticeable


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

You are very welcome to my artisan tools...
Tutorial - Headstock hole enlargement for new tuners.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

My telecaster neck has push in bushings and they went in fine.


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