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Old 01-12-2015, 04:47 PM
Sam Guidry Sam Guidry is offline
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Torrefication reduces organic compounds present in the wood. This makes a piece of wood lighter, which is generally regarded as "good", but slightly less stiff. Depending on the degree of torrefication, there is a sweet spot where the wood gains in the stiffness to weight ratio. Aging wood naturally will lose the organic compounds over time, which is why aged wood is generally regarded as "better" than non aged wood.
I have often thought that the loss of the volatiles in wood, glue, finish etc. that naturally occurs over time is what is happening when a guitar is "opening up"
From that standpoint, guitars with a torrefied top can still open up, but probably more from the drying of the glues and finish rather than the wood aging. I would suspect that a torrefied topped guitar would sound more open from the get go
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