Yikes!!! I didn't mean to sound like an alarmist
With instrument wood we deal in generalities, but also the specifics of wood in hand. Air dried hardwoods are a bit different than kiln dried hardwoods as far as residual stress goes. Kiln dried woods are stress induced (barely) as part of the process then the stress is removed thru additional moisture being added to the kiln. This relaxes the wood fibers and removes stress and tension from the wood. Air dried hardwood doesn't have this quick fix, so it can be prudent to store the wood for a year or two AFTER it's "dry" by moisture content standards. Give it time to stretch and breath and yawn and sneeze a bit then settle into it's life routine.
Todd, I'm not speaking specifically about your particular maple set and Doug would fill you in on it's age and cut cycle, but if it is still in the primary air dry cycle you need to make the decision when it's ready to build with. Given the colorful description I'd guess it's a mix of sap and heartwood (Big Leaf maple?)and further subjected to stress factors. If the wood has been milled into sets some time back and is merely hovering around the 12-14% air dry state most of the stress probably has worked out (if there was any) and reducing the moisture down to shop/build conditions (5-6%) should be enough .
Again, let me clearly state these are wood conversion generalities and not to be taken as "written in stone" rules for every piece of air or kiln dried wood. "Just in time" deliveries of air dried wood still in the primary down dry cycle is always risky biz if the intent is to build immediately.
, I'll let go of using it for this build... but it would be so perfect...