Why Don't I See More of This? (Because PRS Hasn't Provoked Anyone Into Copying It Yet)

[Drak]

I've shot several of my Maple necks over the years, the two in the middle I shot, the two outer ones are not shot (by me, anyway)

They work perfect for my 'Cowboy Sunset' Tele builds.

 

So I found this YT as a recommended link as I was looking up Masayoshi Takanaka (I used to listen to him a lot in the 80's)

And found this link to Toshiki Kadomatsu and his Aquamarine Green necked guitar.

Cool!

Look at the Neck!

What do you think is the reason we don't see more of this?

Purple, Blue, whatever, I'm down with it.

But...I always like what everyone else is NOT doing, and right now Roasted necks are 'the thing', and so I don't really like them.

I like this approach more.

As soon as PRS (ever) jumps on this, it'll sweep the guitar world like the plague, so get in before the wave!

They probably won't, because I think it will create warranty issues which a large company would never create on its own.

They want to avoid warranty issues, which roasted necks are creating anyway, they're so brittle, by what I read all the time...

[curtisa]

6 hours ago, Drak said:

What do you think is the reason we don't see more of this?

I think a lot of players and builders probably prefer to see some contrast in the finished product. Paradoxically, that Toshiki Kadomatsu video you linked to, if it weren't for the white pearloid pickguard I'd personally find that guitar pretty visually uninteresting and bland. Almost toylike even. When the finish on the fretboard eventually wears through it might not be everyone's cup of tea either.

I have a vague memory from the early 90s that Valley Arts guitars went through a period of tinting the backs of their necks to match the bursting on the bodies (blues, red, cherry, purple etc). And Gibson SGs are kinda synonymous with the whole Cherry-Red-on-everything stain. My PRS Cu22 has a gloss black neck, headstock and back of body on an ebony board, so there are some examples floating around of the everything-can-be-the-same-tone colour schemes. Maybe it just doesn't really resonate that well with the guitar buying public to become more mainstream?

 

[Prostheta]

Oh cool! A Moon Guitar! They made Larry Graham's favourite Jazz basses from what I remember.

I agree that wear will make a dyed fingerboard look terrible. Finishing is the only way around that, and few guitarists enjoy the feel of sticky gloss under their fingers. I'm imagine that infusing the fingerboard with a dyed resin would be the most successful way to manage this to get a board that doesn't wear back to natural.

Yes, torrefied wood is brittle. The last company I worked for spent hundreds of thousands in equipment and time researching whether other woods could be treated using torrefaction to rival Teak. Of course not. Teak is durable for other reasons, not just cells taking on/losing moisture. Torrefied wood also weathers very quickly. Outdoors it goes grey in no time. The dust clogs up filters and your lungs, plus structurally it is getting towards being "questionable". It's stable. That's the only real advantage.