Seasoning

Drying timber to a stable moisture content before it is used, either by air-drying over years or in a kiln, so it stops moving.

Wood that is worked while still green will shrink and distort as it dries, and in an instrument that shows up as a warped neck, a cracked top or a fingerboard that lifts. Air drying is slower and generally gentler and is often claimed to give better results for soundboards, while kiln drying is faster and more controllable. Even properly seasoned timber will take on and lose moisture with the room it lives in, which is why humidity control matters afterwards.

Example: a neck blank made from inadequately dried timber can bow or twist within a season of being strung up.

Seasoning

See also