Maple Moisture Content

[michaelomiya]

Supreme Commander, inquiring minds are wondering about the moisture content differences between a caramel, chocolate and a non-roasted maple neck.
To baseline, what is the moisture content of a regular TAG maple neck? is it 5-6%? if so, how much less moisture is in a caramel and chocolate neck?
Benefits of caramel vs chocolate in terms of stability?
thank you!

[tom]

maple, roasted or not, gets kiln dried. not everyone has the same idea of what kiln dried is. 6% is considered ideal. once the white wood is dried, then to become "roasted maple", it then goes to the thermal process where it sees higher temps than the original drying, but still exits the process at the "6%" moisture content.

Because of the cellular change that happens in the "roasting" the wood is less able to take on and release moisture. it is not inert, just less prone to faster changes in moisture content. we do see it moving less, which is a very nice thing.

But, and this is the big but, wood will find equilibrium wherever it lives. So if your guitar lives in georgia, washington state, or any other wet/humid state, it will not stay at 6% for long. conversely, if your guitar lives in new mexico, or las vegas, it will be a struggle to keep it as moist as 6%.

so regardless of which neck wood you have, be kind to your guitar, and if you live in a super dry place, this includes wet places that get cold in the winter and use forced air heating which also dries the air, keep your guitars safe from over drying and keep them in the case and humidify when ever possible. dryness will show it's ugly head much more quickly than too much moisture.

we all call it fret sprout, but it is of course really the wood shrinking.

[michaelomiya]

that tendency to bounce back to it's previous moisture level makes sense. :)
oK, good old fashioned non-roasted maple neck it is!

[tom]

roasted necks do have a real advantage when the weather changes.

[gibson5413]

Great post, Tom! Great information!