Frei wrote:
Just reading in BRBL #2 a scathing article on kiln dried woods.
I know it is impractical to demand all guitar woods be air dried, but basicly the article says kiln drying kills the wood cells....
I thought cutting the tree down is what killed the cells
Frei wrote:
...kills tone....
I can't speak to the scientific properties of kiln dried wood vs air dried but I can say that almost every top I've ever built with comes from a supplier that kiln dries all their wood and I've gotten some fantastic sets with amazing sound.
Here's a link to an article that reports on testing of strength in air dried vs. kiln.
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/dspac ... 0_1952.pdfNo difference was found but it does point out that it can be hard to get air dried wood to a low enough moisture content. In discussions about baking top wood, some people make some pretty bold claims that baking tops has a profound positive effect on strength/weith ratio. I've never seen evidence of that in the kiln dried tops I've baked and tested and it makes me wonder if those results are coming from air dried wood that still has more bound water than kiln dried.
I'm quite skeptical that there would be any negative to properly kiln dried wood. Is there a copy of that article on line anywhere?
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