Dr. Herringbone Tone Traveler. (Review)

[jmagill]

Isaac,

Can one run the TT for days by leaving both pad & speaker plugged in to a power source the whole time, or should one use just the batteries and recharge them occasionally? How long will both pad & speaker run on a full charge?

Thanks.

[DrHerringbone]

Originally Posted by jmagill

Isaac,

Can one run the TT for days by leaving both pad & speaker plugged in to a power source the whole time, or should one use just the batteries and recharge them occasionally? How long will both pad & speaker run on a full charge?

Thanks.

Yes! You can leave them plugged in at the same time. A lot of guys do that. Also typically the batteries last 9-12 hours if they are both within 6 feet of eachother (depending on how long you spend messing around with the tablet's screen and how loud you have the speaker left on. Back lighting the screen uses a lot of battery power but the tablet goes into "sleep mode" after about a minute I think just like a cell phone normally would).

[Pura Vida]

Looking forward to trying this! I own quite a few acoustic guitars (15+) and have had varying degrees of success with a Tonerite that I purchased used several years ago. I play all of my guitars a little bit, but none of them extensively, so this may be helpful to rotate like I used to do with the TR.

But I have one particular guitar that is nearly identical to the one the OP describes. It's a brand new Madi / (baked) Adi dread that seems tight, surprisingly fundamental, and quieter than I expected. I gave it an extended session with the TR, and it's already had some benefit, so I am optimistic about the TT providing additional benefit.

I'll let everyone know about my experience, once I've had a chance to apply it on the new dread.

[DrHerringbone]

Originally Posted by Pura Vida

Looking forward to trying this! I own quite a few acoustic guitars (15+) and have had varying degrees of success with a Tonerite that I purchased used several years ago. I play all of my guitars a little bit, but none of them extensively, so this may be helpful to rotate like I used to do with the TR.

But I have one particular guitar that is nearly identical to the one the OP describes. It's a brand new Madi / (baked) Adi dread that seems tight, surprisingly fundamental, and quieter than I expected. I gave it an extended session with the TR, and it's already had some benefit, so I am optimistic about the TT providing additional benefit.

I'll let everyone know about my experience, once I've had a chance to apply it on the new dread.

Love the user name! We can't wait to hear what you think. Shoot me an email at the email on the box if you have any questions or issues or feel free to call us. Either me or Jerry will pick up!

One note: Baked tops can take a little bit longer to break in than un-baked tops but they do come around!

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by DrHerringbone

Love the user name! We can't wait to hear what you think. Shoot me an email at the email on the box if you have any questions or issues or feel free to call us. Either me or Jerry will pick up!

One note: Baked tops can take a little bit longer to break in than un-baked tops but they do come around!

FYI, I sent an email to you via the website. Look forward to hearing back from you offline.

[Mike Buchman]

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

Y’all have convinced me. I just ordered one. Thanks TT for the 10% AGF discount!

Paul

Hi! I've just started looking into Tone Traveler and want to get one. Is this sponsor discount still available? What's the code to use? Thanks!

NEVER MIND, I found the code and ordered. Thanks!

[wcap]

Originally Posted by DrHerringbone

Hey folks so glad guys are enjoying their Tone Travelers! As for alternate tunings feel free to use the note page. Kevinplarson shared a really really useful graphic with me that I am going to attach that shows the note names and numbers mapped out on the fretboard. It's pretty low res so I will revearse search it for the full res verison but it is still legible!

That being said...

D tuning would be:
D2 G2 C3 F3 A3 D4

DADGAD would be:
D2 A2 D3 G3 A3 D4

Eb would be:
Eb2 Ab2 Db3 Gb3 Bb3 Eb4

Also you will probably hear a little difference after the first 12-24 hours but the real magic window for big differences as far as we've seen is the 72-90 hour time period and then of course the just continue to get sweeter with age/play time (I wish I did too haha).

Best,

Isaac

I've been running the Tone Traveler on my not heavily played roughly 14 year old all-mahogany Martin 00015 for two weeks now with standard tuning. I really sort of bought the Tone Traveler with this guitar in particular in mind. I really didn't notice any effect until about a week into this. I kind of expected that with a hardwood top it might take longer to see effects, and that seems to have been the case.

Despite the strings being really old and dead when I started the Tone Traveler treatment, the guitar is seeming quite changed now. This was always a guitar with a beautiful sound for fingerpicking if played in a resonant space (and was great for recording), but whose sound could sort of get lost in a sound absorbing room (e.g. with carpet, upholstered furniture, etc). I actually almost returned it after buying it, but the wonderful repair guy who used to have a shop there in the basement (at The Podium, where I had purchased the guitar) talked about how these all-mahogany Martins develop into loud guitars with a really sweet tone. I had not really seen (heard) this happen though prior to using the Tone Traveler.

After two weeks with the Tone Traveler, the matter of the sound getting lost in the room is not an issue anymore - even with dead strings on it, it has a stronger voice and seems more resonant now. Memories of sounds are tricky, of course, but it is seeming reminiscent of the wonderful 1930's (I think 1938?) all mahogany 00 size Martin I played in a shop once. It will be interesting to see what the guitar is like when I eventually put new strings on it.

I now have it tuned to DADGAD tuning (which I use for a LOT of my playing), and have it set up with with the Tone Traveler on it with the six primary DADGAD tones running.

I'm thinking of adding in some of the harmonics though too.
- the primary tones but an octave higher?
- the harmonics at the 7th fret?
- maybe 5th fret too??
- ninth fret harmonics too????

Is this overkill?

And is there any danger of overloading the speaker somehow by adding in too many notes?

Its going to take me a little bit of time thinking through what notes to switch on for all of this!

What notes for harmonics are included in the standard program for standard tuning?

If it was easy to share this, knowing those notes would streamline this for me, since for some strings they would be the same in DADGAD, and for the others I'd just have to drop the notes a whole step. I could certainly figure this out myself though.

Thanks.

EDIT: I just added in the octaves (12th fret harmonics) because it was simple and didn't require any particular thinking. One thing I see now is that a significant part of the quite loud sound of the standard tuning program is coming from the harmonics that are added in - this is much louder with these harmonics added!

[kevinplarson]

How did you add the harmonics?

[wcap]

Originally Posted by kevinplarson

How did you add the harmonics?

In the custom mode you just choose the specific notes you want the speaker to play (you can select any combination of notes). That is what you have to do for DADGAD even for the primary tones. I just added in the same notes an octave higher for the 12th fret harmonics.

Supposedly, the basic standard tuning setup includes harmonics for all the strings. I don't know what harmonics notes are included though.

And it just occurred to me that I don't know whether the volume is the same for the primary tones and the harmonics in the standard program.

And when doing the custom settings, I don't know whether choosing too many notes overloads the speaker somehow. Maybe Isaac can clear up these questions (including whether it is an OK idea to add harmonics in manually like this for custom tunings).

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by wcap

I've been running the Tone Traveler on my not heavily played roughly 14 year old all-mahogany Martin 00015 for two weeks now with standard tuning.

I bought a TT about a month ago specifically for my brand new maple Spohn OM-C. The short story is that the device did turn this guitar from a "green" one to a much more seasoned-sounding instrument. It took about 110 hours to get where it is now - noticeably greater volume overall, with greater sustain, a "liquidification" of trebles and deepening of the low end. Really, quite transformative. I have not used the device for about two weeks now, and have noticed no regression. Though, I play the guitar up to two hours a day.

My question has to do with the amount of time that a guitar can "safely" remain on the device continuously. And if a substantial (more than 5 consecutive days) is ill advised, whether it is appropriate to give the guitar a rest after an extended session. If I understand the OP's post, he had it on, and continuously, for two weeks. presumably with no ill effect mentioned.

I reached out to the TT people for an answer on the length of time the device should be used continuously, or in accumulation. While they were very prompt with two other queries I had, I received no response to that very important one.

To those of you who have used the TT, what kind of treatment time do you have on a single guitar, and how did you go about it.

I also asked whether there is a point of diminished returns with treatment, but,again, received no reply. Any help here would be appreciated as well.

David

[BlueBowman]

Originally Posted by Mike Buchman

Hi! I've just started looking into Tone Traveler and want to get one. Is this sponsor discount still available? What's the code to use? Thanks!

NEVER MIND, I found the code and ordered. Thanks!

Where did you find the code, Mike? I'm interested in ordering, if I can get a discount! Thanks.

[sinistral]

Not sure if the discount code still works, but it was AGF10. The code was originally posted almost a year ago. It’s worth trying. If it doesn’t work, reach out to Isaac through the TT website. The folks at TT are very responsive, and very helpful.

[kevinplarson]

Originally Posted by Deliberate1

I bought a TT about a month ago specifically for my brand new maple Spohn OM-C. The short story is that the device did turn this guitar from a "green" one to a much more seasoned-sounding instrument. It took about 110 hours to get where it is now - noticeably greater volume overall, with greater sustain, a "liquidification" of trebles and deepening of the low end. Really, quite transformative. I have not used the device for about two weeks now, and have noticed no regression. Though, I play the guitar up to two hours a day.

My question has to do with the amount of time that a guitar can "safely" remain on the device continuously. And if a substantial (more than 5 consecutive days) is ill advised, whether it is appropriate to give the guitar a rest after an extended session. If I understand the OP's post, he had it on, and continuously, for two weeks. presumably with no ill effect mentioned.

I reached out to the TT people for an answer on the length of time the device should be used continuously, or in accumulation. While they were very prompt with two other queries I had, I received no response to that very important one.

To those of you who have used the TT, what kind of treatment time do you have on a single guitar, and how did you go about it.

I also asked whether there is a point of diminished returns with treatment, but,again, received no reply. Any help here would be appreciated as well.

David

They told me you could use it all you wanted. Not sure about diminishing returns

My only issue is the noise leaves my wife really annoyed.

[atticus1019]

Originally Posted by sinistral

Not sure if the discount code still works, but it was AGF10. The code was originally posted almost a year ago. It’s worth trying. If it doesn’t work, reach out to Isaac through the TT website. The folks at TT are very responsive, and very helpful.

After reading back through this thread last night, I caved. Went to order and it was still in my cart with the code applied from whenever the last time was I almost ordered one (thems some good cookies, haha). All that to say- I can confirm AGF10 still works as of last night.

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by kevinplarson

They told me you could use it all you wanted. Not sure about diminishing returns

My only issue is the noise leaves my wife really annoyed.

Thanks for that confirmation.

I sympathize with your wife. The device surely has a sound only a mother (or developer) could love, as the saying goes. I put mine in what was our kid's part of the house, in a wall corner, and with a chair with a heavy comforter in front of it to deaden the sound some.

The diminishing returns remains to be seen. But, if the device is designed to accelerate the effect of playing, it stands to reason that the benefit of the device would diminish as the guitar settles into or reaches its full potential. I bought all of my guitars used, save for the Spohn which was built for me. Those other guitar are between 5 and 28 years old. Perhaps they have changed while I have owned them. If so, it has been so gradual or subtle that I really notice no difference. The new Spohn was quite different.

I suppose I could put one of those older guitars on the rig and see what happens.

David