Dr. Herringbone Tone Traveler. (Review)

[Newbflat]

So a few weeks ago after one of the Dr. Herringbone Tone Traveler threads I decided to take the plunge and see what was up with this possible acoustic guitar dweeb snake oil. I have a new-ish guitar that just wasn’t what I was hoping so I thought what the heck, if it works great! If it doesn’t I can sell it to another sucker and move on pretending i didn’t rise to the bait and spent pointless money…. I hate being the mark.

So I ordered it and it came promptly. In the fancy box was a pad and a metal speaker. I had watched all the info on YouTube I could find. The Dr. Herringbone people and their potentially biased testing, Marcel and his oddly incomplete test, plus various other people doing their own “testing”. I tried to work out some kind of test that was as unbiased and empirical as I could and basically came up with nothing. I thought maybe the increased volume both Marcel and Dr. Herringbone showed could be in the software or possibly just the speaker itself braking in…. But I really just don’t have any way of testing that. Then I realized that for me it would be pretty simple. I’m inherently a skeptic and for me to be believe in something it has to really preform. Not in a subtle way, I mean I really need to hear it. I’m very aware of mine/anyone’s ability to convince themselves they hear something that’s not there. Things that have failed… in HiFi …fancy speaker wire, current conditioners. In guitars …bridge pins, better sounding tuning machines and my favorite from a recent thread, wether your guitar sounds better with or without the strap bottom in or out..etc. Pseudo acoustics is real and I really try to not fall for it.

So… the guitar in question. For about 2 months I have had a used Huss and Dalton TD-R custom (madi/ baked adi) I bought without playing. There just aren’t any around to play where I am. I bought it because about two years ago I played a TD-R with the same wood with an un baked top and it was a monster!… incredibly loud and full and also a bit brash and aggressive. I saw the same guitar for sale recently with a baked top and thought the baked top might tone the brash and aggressive side down some.

When it arrives I was underwhelmed. It had a very polite, very sweet and warm sound with very average dreadnought volume. It didn’t really have a dry or vintage tone I could hear, more a modern/new sound. When played lightly or moderately it sounded tight and restrained. If I drove it hard it would bark and had plenty of headroom but was a bit thin and quiet when played lightly and most notable really seemed to lack in overtones and sparkle. The guitar had a surprisingly fundamental sound. I played with various strings and made sure it was at a good place with humidity and such but there was no magic bullet. There was just no getting it to sound like a really nice guitar…. It was a good to average but in no way an exceptional instrument.

This was all a surprise as I have an H&D TOM-M custom (baked adi/hog) that is a truly excellent instrument that beat out every boutique I could test it against for the better part of a year. The TD-R is a 2019 and has very little wear and I don’t know how long it hung in the shop waiting to be sold. But looking at fret wear is has had very little play over the last 3-4 years.

I decided I would not micro manage the testing and give the guitar a full 96 or so hours on the Tone Traveler at full blast without touching it or listening. If I couldn’t hear a really clear difference at that point I figured it’s wasn’t really doing much then. So I set it up in a room upstairs, attached the speaker and started it humming away. Immediately learned the battery didn’t last 12 hours… so with a pause and a recharge it was off and running again, only to realize the battery died again within 12 or so hours. So I changed the area so I could plug in the speaker and pad. Several days and about 96 hours compleat on “full blast/ all strings” I took it off the Tone Traveler and brought the guitar downstairs to play it for the first time.

I guess I will stop rambling and get right to it… It was essentially a different guitar. On the very first G strum it was awash in overtones that just weren’t there before. The strings that were on it (ej17) were about 2 weeks old from before I started the Tone traveler. The guitar sounded like brand new strings except this guitar never sounded like this with new strings. It was significantly louder when playing especially with light or medium effort and much more open and full/rich sounding. It also sustains significantly longer. It no longer sounds noticeably fundamental and has much more rosewood overtone/reverb.

Count me shocked… I was seriously not prepared for there to be that big of a change. It’s not subtle, it’s like a different guitar. Ok… let me try and put this in some normal perspective. If you go into a shop and there are 5 of a kind of Martins on the wall and you play them all. All sound good but two are real standouts and one is the winner and a clear winner when compared to the last place Martin…. My H&D just went from that last to first. I went from sounding like it went from old time to change strings to new strings in 96 hours… with the same strings. It’s now much more nuanced and much more expressive when played and lower to mid volumes. I’m still listening but it boosted the midrange somewhat and I’m still sorting out how to play it as it’s basically a new guitar.

I don’t like reading my own writing about this as it sounds too good to be true. I am not prone to exaggerate, if anything the opposite. But at least on this guitar it has made a really significant change to almost every aspect of the sound. The only thing it didn’t change is giving it a more vintage tone. I don’t sense/hear any increase in ‘dryness’ or any of that old guitar ‘hollowness’ … It pretty much just seemed to affect sustain and volume especially when played lightly or moderately, lots more overtone and shimmer, definitely a more open and fuller sound.

Is there a down side? Not sure… these strings are a couple of weeks old AND were zapped by the Tone Traveler for 96 hours. At the moment there is almost too much shimmer to the strings, like brand new strings. I have never liked ej17’s until 2-3 days or even a week later. These are well beyond that and now border on too shimmery/zingy like brand new strings.. what is a new set going to be like!? There is a midrange bump I think… I’m still trying to decide if it’s a good think or not. It’s sort of hidden behind a lot of new string like shimmer so I’m waiting on judging what exactly it has done to the mids. In a fit of excitement I have subjected my TOM-M to the same treatment. It’s been 24 hours or so and it’s still humming away. I might be having second thought about doing it as I actually liked the guitar right where it was and I had Zero complaints about it. I don’t want to induce anything accidentally so I will take it off tonight and see if anything has changed in a way I might like, or not.

Why did it work? I have no idea…. I suspect my TD-R was a stiff top and not really played for years to it was tight and may have never had the most basic brake in. Very very asleep as some might put it. It WAS changing for me over the two months I had it before the Tone Traveler. It seemed to be opening up and that was part of why I wanted to try the TT (Tone Traveler). I spent good money on the guitar and I didn’t really want to wait a year or two for it to open up. I also have 3 other guitars I play equally so it might even take longer.

I feel I did jump the gun a little on this review as I’m still sorting out what did and didn’t change. I haven’t put new strings on it yet as I’m hoping the shimmer and new string sound will go away some so I can hear the fundamentals and balance better. Or did it do something to the strings that make them brighter and shimmer again!? Did it mess with the over all balance of the guitar which was fine before in a typical scooped dread kind of way…..I’m not sure yet. I do know that it changed the guitar enough that I’m have it to re ***** the instrument and there is a part of me that wonders if you can use the TT too much… I don’t think that happened in my case but it does make me wonder.

Well that’s it, I will amend this as I play my other guitar that been sitting on the TT and as things become a bit clearer where the guitar sits now compared to before.

Just for the record, I bought the TT with my own money and the acoustic forum 10% discount. I don’t know any of the TT people and all I did was buy it off there sight and have had zero contact with them.

[Cuki79]

I wonder if there would be a difference with putting a guitar in front of the speaker and send the same signal…

Does the Tonetraveler drive only the top or both the top and the neck?

[martingitdave]

It would take most of us a long time to get 96 hours of play on a new guitar. I just purchased/exchanged a Collings dread that needed to be broken in. I put about 40 hours into it. It made a difference. I exchanged it for a Martin Super D with a VTS top. I have 15-20 hours into it. It's already passed where the Collings was. I think the builders agree that playing in a guitar is an absolute requirement. The more you play it, or simulate playing it - I guess, the better it will sound. How much noise does the guitar make for 96 hours on the TT? Would it annoy a significant other in the house or a roommate?

[Newbflat]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

It would take most of us a long time to get 96 hours of play on a new guitar. I just purchased/exchanged a Collings dread that needed to be broken in. I put about 40 hours into it. It made a difference. I exchanged it for a Martin Super D with a VTS top. I have 15-20 hours into it. It's already passed where the Collings was. I think the builders agree that playing in a guitar is an absolute requirement. The more you play it, or simulate playing it - I guess, the better it will sound. How much noise does the guitar make for 96 hours ion the TT? Would it annoy a significant other in the house or a roommate?

I live in a small 650 square foot houseboat. I have a room upstairs where the TR sat on the guitar. There is no door at the top of the stairs so it’s sort of open to the living room. It a bit like if you were in a room and the guitar and TT is down the hall 20 feet, around the corner and in a room with no door. It has a multi frequency harmonic hum that isn’t really that loud. My partner and I can stand next to it and talk in a normal voice. But it is sort of Omni directional and carries. That said, when I’m in my living room, I can only just barely hear it. If there’s any ambient noise, it disappears completely. I have to swap it downstairs when I go to bed as it’s in my bedroom and when I’m in the bedroom, I can’t really hear it downstairs. I have it on the stand, the guitar that is. I have it facing some cupboards with some clothes and soft material in it that might absorb a little bit of the sound energy. We joked that it sounds something like the background noise inside an alien spaceship in the movies. Sort of this constant multi frequency harmonic hum. So as long as you have another room to put it in and can close the door, that should be fine. If you have to live with it in the room that you’re in it might drive you insane..

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Newbflat

I live in a small 650 square foot houseboat. I have a room upstairs where the guitar sat on the TT. There is no sore at the top of the stairs so it’s sort of open to the living room. It a bit like if you were in a room and the guitar and TT is down the hall 20 feet, around the corner and in a room with no door. It has a multi frequency harmonic hum that isn’t really that loud. My partner and I can stand next to it and talk in a normal voice. But it is sort of Omni directional and carries. That said, when I’m in my living room, I can only just barely hear it. If there’s any ambient noise, it disappears completely. I have to swap it downstairs when I go to bed as it’s in my bedroom and when I’m in the bedroom, I can’t really hear it downstairs. I have it on the stand, the guitar that is. I have it facing some cupboards with some clothes and soft material in it that might absorb a little bit of the sound energy. We joked that it sounds some thing like the background noise inside an alien spaceship in the movies. Sort of this constant multi frequency harmonic hum. So as long as you have another room to put it in and can close the door, that should be fine. If you have to live with it in the room that you’re in it might drive you insane..

Thanks for the description. I think I would get away with leaving the guitar in the basement rec room and not bother the family. I usually keep my guitars in the music room (front room) which is open to other other rooms on the main floor.

[Newbflat]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

I wonder if there would be a difference with putting a guitar in front of the speaker and send the same signal…

Does the Tonetraveler drive only the top or both the top and the neck?

People have been putting their instruments in front of speakers for forever, and I would suspect it probably does something similar. Although I don’t know how it compares at all. This is many frequencies all going at the same time continuously and music would be spotty in terms of frequency response, but that may be more natural. I have no idea really. As far as what shakes, the whole Guitar shakes. There’s vibrations from the head stock to the back of the guitar. But mostly it’s around the bridge where it’s the strongest. Oddly, the TT is only a tiny bit quieter if you take the TT off the guitar. The guitar itself doesn’t seem to amplify it very much which seems off to me. But yes, if you touch the headstock it’s vibrating with what feels like numerous frequencies, as does the back. Not really strongly but the whole thing is definitely humming/vibrating away. Enough that you would think there should be more sound coming out of the hole as all the strings are vibrating as well, but there really isn’t. Just the slightly amplified hum of the TT.

[colins]

Thanks for a great review, Newbflat. I’ve had success with a Tonerite over the years, after it was recommended to me by a world-class luthier. If I didn’t have it I’d be thinking seriously about a Tone Traveller, which seems to up the game quite a lot with its added flexibility.

[Cuki79]

Hi Newbflat,

Do you hear the Tonetraveler exciting signal varying over time or does the Tonetraveler sends all the frequencies continuously.

What I mean is: Does the Tonetraveler plays E, A, D, G, B, E sequentially or all notes (with harmonics) simultaneously?

[KalamazooGuy]

I got my TT this week. I have a newer Gibson Jumbo I’ve had about a month that I felt was “stiff.” I put it on it full blast yesterday while at work (10 hours).

I agree with OP. It’s really much better in all aspects. I pretty much played it nonstop for about 5 hours last night, kinda grinning ear to ear the whole time because of the noticeable change in tone and volume [emoji57]. Besides being louder, I now feel the neck vibrating in a way I’ve never felt before. Can’t wait to put it on my others. No affiliation with the company btw.

[ruger9]

I don't know if anyone can answer this...

These devices... Tone Traveler, ToneRite, etc... do they impart permanent changes? I mean, if you have a new guitar, and put one of these devices on it for x-hours, and a noticeable change happens, if you then hang the guitar on a wall (or case it) for the next 3 months and take it out again, are those changes still apparent?

This sort of goes along with what I have read for years about "waking up" a guitar (as opposed to "playing one in")

[KalamazooGuy]

Not sure ruger9, but even if the device just “wakes” the guitar up before I play a show or head to a jam, it’s worth it to me.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Great stuff. Thanks for taking the time to post an extensive review for a new sponsor. Always appreciated.

scott memmer

[colins]

Originally Posted by ruger9

I don't know if anyone can answer this...

These devices... Tone Traveler, ToneRite, etc... do they impart permanent changes? I mean, if you have a new guitar, and put one of these devices on it for x-hours, and a noticeable change happens, if you then hang the guitar on a wall (or case it) for the next 3 months and take it out again, are those changes still apparent?

This sort of goes along with what I have read for years about "waking up" a guitar (as opposed to "playing one in")

For me it made a couple of stiff guitars sound better. Once I'd used it over a few days to do that I never felt the need to use it again on those guitars. I feel like it worked at a more fundamental level then the "waking up" idea.

Hope that helps

[ruger9]

Originally Posted by colins

For me it made a couple of stiff guitars sound better. Once I'd used it over a few days to do that I never felt the need to use it again on those guitars. I feel like it worked at a more fundamental level then the "waking up" idea.

Hope that helps

Yes, thank you.

[Glennwillow]

Huh... Interesting information. I guess I need to research the Tone Traveler a little more.

- Glenn