Torrefied Tonewoods

Rich tone, legendary beauty.

Built-in Resilience

Torrefaction has been around since the days of the Vikings, but is a relatively new development in the guitar world. Thermal modification uses a specialized kiln to apply heat to wood in the absence of oxygen. It’s a sophisticated technology that combines water, pressure and heat to age the wood without overcooking it in the process. The benefits of our thermally modified tops are:

• Soundboards that are more dimensionally stable
• Increased longitudinal and radial stiffness (MOE)
• Decreased density 
• Soundboards that are more uniform in color
• Increased Q (diminished damping)

Soundboards that have been torrefied are modified at a cellular level, making them less hydrophilic and more water repellant. They are less affected by changes in humidity, which leads to less shrinking and swelling.

Torrefied Spruce Tops

Pacific Rim Tonewoods has been providing guitar makers with torrefied soundboards since 2014. Our torrefied tops are currently not available through our online shop.

SoundOff

Jacob Navarro

Jacob Navarro, musician and composer, plays a Collings 0001 Guitar crafted with a Pacific Rim Tonewoods Torrefied Sitka spruce soundboard.