I'm looking at cheap Chinese-made bass necks on ebay, and I came across this one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335206261651. It is listed as being roasted.
My understanding is that when a neck is described as roasted, the timber is roasted before it is cut, so in order for the dark colour to be apparent after the neck is shaped, the wood will be dark all the way through the cross-section. However on the pic below, it looks like there is a scratch on the upper edge of the headstock between the holes for the A & D tuners, and the scratch appears to be a lighter colour. Am I misreading the photo, or does this indicate that this neck isn't actually roasted but instead has either been stained to give that appearance or perhaps lightly grilled?