Tonerite: The rest of the story...

[Scguit]

I’m going to add a data point because it is a rather unusual one. Perhaps the effectiveness of Tonerite is partly related to the finish job. I have a Tacoma JR55 which had the most luscious tone, but over time the dreaded Tacoma finish blister became bad enough it was affecting playability. I sent it in for warranty refinish and when it returned I was horrified to hear a somewhat deadened guitar. Not awful but not the head turner she once was. I tried playing hard, changing string brands etc. for 3 or 4 months without much improvement and then a professional singer songwriter buddy suggested he’d heard good results from Tonerite. I did the 72 hour treatment and the results were for me, music to my ears. As best I could hear my old guitar had returned. I know very little about acoustic theory but perhaps type or thickness of finish have an impact on the Tonerite being effective or not.

[SongwriterFan]

Maybe it's the placebo effect, maybe not, but I *think* I hear something after using it. Subtle, but there.

And if it's good enough for Tim McKnight (I think he still uses them on his new builds), who am I to argue?

The worst it's ever done for me is wear out a set of strings with no change.

[Guilleonline]

Hello everyone! Guille here from ToneRite USA. Thank you for sharing and exchanging thoughts on our products - I thought it would be a good idea to simply chat about the ToneRite and/or answer any questions you may have; not here to sell anything.

I joined the company this year and the upmost importance on my agenda is improving customer service and listening to the community out there. It is the right thing to do and thank you in advance to all of you who at one time or another bought one of our products. I consider you part of our family.

Right out of the bat, I will say that the ToneRite effects will vary from instrument to instrument. Many things are at play with every guitar, like tonewood hardness, bracing pattern, timber used on that bracing, solid wood vs layered laminates, etc, etc. Nonetheless, there are definitely gains to be had on 90 percent of the instruments a ToneRite could be applied to.

We are aware of the bad reputation people give to our products but hey! we live in a free country and you gotta love that! Someone said that if the ToneRite "actually worked" everyone would have one by now -hehe. Unfortunately my good friends, negative comments (from people who have never owned one) have the same reach as positive comments, and usually people who want to bash do so with great animosity. Yet... you'll get nothing but love from our end. All I can say is that if you are considering getting one: try it. we stand by our products and we will honor our 30 day challenge. no questions. no tricks. 100% refunds if you feel it isn't for you.

I am doing this because I always hated when in forums, companies never chimed in, so that being said, please ask away! Always up for a nice chat.

Guille
Executive Director - Team ToneRite

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by SongwriterFan

Maybe it's the placebo effect, maybe not, but I *think* I hear something after using it. Subtle, but there.

It is difficult to identify qualitative changes in tone when you don't have a "A" to compare "B" to. So we have to deal with a human condition of "psycho-sensory adaptation". The ear has the same way of adapting to sound just as your nose no longer senses the pet odor in your home or food odor you notice when you first come in the door, but no longer sense after you've spent a few minutes with those odors. It's easy to think placebo when you no longer have any before to measure the after against. Recordings don't really do the changes justice.

It also depends on expectations of sound. In some cases the results of the Tonerite are so remarkable that you can't deny the change and suddenly a guitar that *almost* meets your expectations begins exceeding your expectations in all circumstances. I've experienced that with one guitar, though the result on the others I've used the Tonerite on have been more modest of improvement.

Originally Posted by Guilleonline

Guille here from ToneRite USA. ...All I can say is that if you are considering getting one: try it. we stand by our products and we will honor our 30 day challenge. no questions. no tricks. 100% refunds if you feel it isn't for you.
Guille
Executive Director - Team ToneRite

I think this is a great offer. I kind of did it backwards... I borrowed a Tonerite for a month and was so impressed with the results that I bought my own.

Perhaps another approach would be to rent out Tonerites for something like $25/mo with a purchase option. If you could rent it out 10 times you've have retrieved twice the revenue and yet still potentially own the device for resale. I know I'd have wanted to rent one had I not had a friend willing to loan me his... and I ended up buying one anyway. JMO

[chistrummer]

Aural recall (tonal memory) can be developed most wll not be able to determin if Tonerite helped your guitar or not unless you have a time machine. It's one of those concepts that can't be proven or disproven to work.

[Yrksman]

I have a Tonerite and I’ve used it often on new or barely played guitars. It’s hard to measure the results but I’ve noticed definite opening up on some guitars. A very close friend of mine, a world recognised luthier, uses one on every new guitar he builds and he’s no fool when it comes to buying equipment. He recommends when I should use mine.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by Guilleonline

Hello everyone! Guille here from ToneRite USA. Thank you for sharing and exchanging thoughts on our products - I thought it would be a good idea to simply chat about the ToneRite and/or answer any questions you may have; not here to sell anything.

I joined the company this year and the upmost importance on my agenda is improving customer service and listening to the community out there. It is the right thing to do and thank you in advance to all of you who at one time or another bought one of our products. I consider you part of our family.

Right out of the bat, I will say that the ToneRite effects will vary from instrument to instrument. Many things are at play with every guitar, like tonewood hardness, bracing pattern, timber used on that bracing, solid wood vs layered laminates, etc, etc. Nonetheless, there are definitely gains to be had on 90 percent of the instruments a ToneRite could be applied to.

We are aware of the bad reputation people give to our products but hey! we live in a free country and you gotta love that! Someone said that if the ToneRite "actually worked" everyone would have one by now -hehe. Unfortunately my good friends, negative comments (from people who have never owned one) have the same reach as positive comments, and usually people who want to bash do so with great animosity. Yet... you'll get nothing but love from our end. All I can say is that if you are considering getting one: try it. we stand by our products and we will honor our 30 day challenge. no questions. no tricks. 100% refunds if you feel it isn't for you.

I am doing this because I always hated when in forums, companies never chimed in, so that being said, please ask away! Always up for a nice chat.

Guille
Executive Director - Team ToneRite

Hey Guille,
Wondering if you will Be at Namm in Jan, and if so what booth? Would love to investigate your product and learn more information about it.

[tippy5]

I have a ToneRite II that I haven't used in 2 years. I just bought a NOS 1995 Gibson signature model Buddy Holly J-45 (unplayed with factory strings).
2 days ago I planned a Tonerite treatment for the initial wake up before my right hand really opens it up over the weeks or years ahead.

Going to make that Buddy Holly - Rock Around 3 clocks - 72 hours.

[ChalkLitIScream]

Originally Posted by Guilleonline

I am doing this because I always hated when in forums, companies never chimed in, so that being said, please ask away! Always up for a nice chat.

Guille
Executive Director - Team ToneRite

Welcome!
What would you say about tonerite on torrefied guitars? would they still have some effect?

[Guilleonline]

Originally Posted by vindibona1

It is difficult to identify qualitative changes in tone when you don't have a "A" to compare "B" to. So we have to deal with a human condition of "psycho-sensory adaptation". The ear has the same way of adapting to sound just as your nose no longer senses the pet odor in your home or food odor you notice when you first come in the door, but no longer sense after you've spent a few minutes with those odors. It's easy to think placebo when you no longer have any before to measure the after against. Recordings don't really do the changes justice.

It also depends on expectations of sound. In some cases the results of the Tonerite are so remarkable that you can't deny the change and suddenly a guitar that *almost* meets your expectations begins exceeding your expectations in all circumstances. I've experienced that with one guitar, though the result on the others I've used the Tonerite on have been more modest of improvement.



I think this is a great offer. I kind of did it backwards... I borrowed a Tonerite for a month and was so impressed with the results that I bought my own.

Perhaps another approach would be to rent out Tonerites for something like $25/mo with a purchase option. If you could rent it out 10 times you've have retrieved twice the revenue and yet still potentially own the device for resale. I know I'd have wanted to rent one had I not had a friend willing to loan me his... and I ended up buying one anyway. JMO

Hi there! thank you for the suggestion - loved the idea! I had heard of something similar before and since it seems to be a recurring thought I will look into it a bit further.

Please keep the ideas coming!

Warm regards,

Guille

[Guilleonline]

Originally Posted by Yrksman

I have a Tonerite and I’ve used it often on new or barely played guitars. It’s hard to measure the results but I’ve noticed definite opening up on some guitars. A very close friend of mine, a world recognised luthier, uses one on every new guitar he builds and he’s no fool when it comes to buying equipment. He recommends when I should use mine.

I have great respect for luthiers and instrument makers (after all, I loved my time while attending lutherie school up in Michigan years back). In fact, this year I started a campaign to reach out to luthiers in the US, only to find out that a great deal of them already use our products. Those who didn't already have a ToneRite had heard about the ToneRite at some point during their careers and we were able to make our devices available to them. I have gotten similar results with luthiers overseas.

One truly has to use a unit in person to understand.

In general terms, I compare this to having an ache. You talk about your ache to friends and family, and every single person has their opinion on what to do or not to do; then you see the doctor and the doctor tells you what you should do. At the very least, you should be inclined to listen to the specialist.

Luthier = guitar doctor

P.S. really curious now to know who your friend is!

[Guilleonline]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

Hey Guille,
Wondering if you will Be at Namm in Jan, and if so what booth? Would love to investigate your product and learn more information about it.

Hi there! I will surely be there but no booth; we took a bit too long to get a space but I have some people who wanted to meet and talk more about our products so I'm attending. I'd be more than happy to get together and chat! I'll bring a few units along so we can talk a bit more in depth.

Plus I love talking gear - so I'm game for a good chat! PM me to exchange info and phone numbers to get together.

Warm regards,

Guille

[Guilleonline]

Originally Posted by tippy5

I have a ToneRite II that I haven't used in 2 years. I just bought a NOS 1995 Gibson signature model Buddy Holly J-45 (unplayed with factory strings).
2 days ago I planned a Tonerite treatment for the initial wake up before my right hand really opens it up over the weeks or years ahead.

Going to make that Buddy Holly - Rock Around 3 clocks - 72 hours.

Try this instead:

Run your ToneRite at max on the dial on that Gibson for a week non-stop. Honestly, the hardest part of the treatment is to resist the urge to take the guitar before the recommended time. After that week, play it to see if you can spot any differences. Being that your guitar should have a Sitka Spruce top, projection should be the first evident gain, as well as a more round/mellow top-end and a nicer balance with the lower frequencies.

Once you are done playing, put the guitar back under the ToneRite and run it for a second week - this time at 50% on the dial to introduce different (wave length) vibrations into the instrument. Once completed, harmonic gains should be evident and lows should have more definition and punch.

Initially, we were used to recommend short treatments, as short as 72 hours. But as we have matured as a brand, we've realized there is no reason to cheat ourself with ULTRA FAST results. After all, most of our customers plan to keep their instruments for a lifetime - Just as we do in the shop.

Cheers,

Guille

[Pura Vida]

Hi, Guille... welcome to the AGF.

Perhaps a good place to start is about setting expectations and understanding perceptions. Some people are let down because it didn’t change their mediocre guitar into a shimmering boutique instrument. And some people’s hearing is more sensitive than others, so some people can hear subtle changes on a guitar, while others cannot. Play, the whole “every guitar is different” aspect, which has already been addressed. Some guitars will respond differently than other guitars.

I bought a used ToneRite to witness the effects, first hand. I’ve recently turned over a number of guitars, so I have several new (or new-ish), most with Adirondack tops. I noticed some improved responsiveness on all / most of them, and in a couple of cases, it was a fairly dramatic improvement. But it didn’t really make it sound any older... just more open, if that makes sense. They still sound like 1-2yo guitars, but not nearly as tight in sound and feel.

[Guilleonline]

Originally Posted by ChalkLitIScream

Welcome!
What would you say about tonerite on torrefied guitars? would they still have some effect?

I myself have never tried it on a torrefied guitar, but I have heard that people have found that a ToneRite has little to no effect on them. I honestly feel ok if that is the case - we never claimed to have a "cure/solution" for ALL guitars ever-made. Nothing is made to treat everything (makes sense?). HOWEVER, I have yet to hear of someone using the ToneRite in the way I would use the ToneRite on such guitars.

See, I take many things into consideration before recommending a treatment. I mainly use a rule of thumb that include at least 3 things to take into consideration, but there are definitely many things to keep in mind when tailoring a ToneRite treatment. The more you know about a guitar the more you can accurately treat it with a ToneRite. 90 - 95% of the time The ToneRite can improve/alter the sound of a guitar.

Cheers,

Guille