Can Tonerite Harm a Guitar?

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

But you should have.

When the Levity Breaks

[Tico]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

...
Another possibility may be what setting is used. I think there is a high and a low setting. ...

There's a knob that provides continuous control from minimum to maximum vibration power.

TR Knob.jpg

[pablojones]

Originally Posted by PTL

I'm intrigued and have been reading up on Tonerite. However, I could not find any postings online or here on whether Tonerite can harm a guitar if overused or set to too high a setting.

Would love to hear some thoughts.

Thanks in advance for any insights.

This is an old thread but I thought I'd post as this is valuable info:

I have a new Alvarez parlor guitar with solid spruce top, lam rosewood back & sides. I put the tonerite on low for 4 day & high for 2 days. Pulled it off and strings dead. Put on same exact new strings as before and...

Guitar sounds WORSE! My hear sank. No more clear highs, overtones or sustain, the nasal quality of a parlor guitar is MORE pronounced & overall it sounds muddy. Before this all the notes rang out clearly and it had minimal nasal quality. I was heartbroken as I LOVED the tone before all this.

Also Tonerite is not clear EXACTLY what all the different settings on the dial do. Yes lower is higher frequencies and "sweet" tone and higher frequency is for volume but what about all the in between settings on the dial? How much time for each setting?? If you lose bass, do you put it back on with higher setting? Ffor how long? There are too many variables and unclear guidance for the nuances of this thing.

From what I've read, it should go back to pre tonerite tone eventually. I'm hoping so.

I'm all for modding anything I have to be better sooner BUT not this device. NO THANKS!

BE WARNED

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

I believe so. In fact, I highly recommend against using the Tonerite on my own guitars. Not because they don't do anything, but because they actually can loosen/open the guitar, and in the case on my own work I have observed a guitar being moved from my tonal target to a floofy unfocused tonality that lacked integrity. The good new was that 6 months later the instrument seemed to recover. I did this myself, by the way, about ten years ago.

Please make this a reference post. Maybe somebody will read it.

[Ralph124C41]

Originally Posted by pablojones

This is an old thread but I thought I'd post as this is valuable info:

I have a new Alvarez parlor guitar with solid spruce top, lam rosewood back & sides. I put the tonerite on low for 4 day & high for 2 days. Pulled it off and strings dead. Put on same exact new strings as before and...

Guitar sounds WORSE! My hear sank. No more clear highs, overtones or sustain, the nasal quality of a parlor guitar is MORE pronounced & overall it sounds muddy. Before this all the notes rang out clearly and it had minimal nasal quality. I was heartbroken as I LOVED the tone before all this.

Also Tonerite is not clear EXACTLY what all the different settings on the dial do. Yes lower is higher frequencies and "sweet" tone and higher frequency is for volume but what about all the in between settings on the dial? How much time for each setting?? If you lose bass, do you put it back on with higher setting? Ffor how long? There are too many variables and unclear guidance for the nuances of this thing.

From what I've read, it should go back to pre tonerite tone eventually. I'm hoping so.

I'm all for modding anything I have to be better sooner BUT not this device. NO THANKS!

BE WARNED

I have used the ToneRite on my four Alvarez guitars, two bought new and two bought used. I have noticed no degradation in tone whatsoever on these guitars. However, to be honest, I've not noticed any improvement either, or maybe just the slightest bit on the two new guitars.

Yes, different model of guitar but the same company.

[djeffcoat]

I had a Collings D2H with a Fishman Matrix undersaddle pick up in it. After using the ToneRite on the guitar, it developed a severe hum when plugged in. I think the vibration caused a short in the UST. I finally removed the ust pickup and replaced it with a K&K pickup.

[tadol]

The only reason I can think of to use a ToneRite is because there is something about the guitar that you feel is missing, and don't want to take the time to play it, get to know it, and see if you can bring it out. Owning a few of Bruces guitars, and one of Howards, along with a fair number of Santa Cruz, I can honestly say that I've never found a reason to use a ToneRite on any of them -

[Chas007]

Originally Posted by PTL

I'm intrigued and have been reading up on Tonerite. However, I could not find any postings online or here on whether Tonerite can harm a guitar if overused or set to too high a setting.

Would love to hear some thoughts.

Thanks in advance for any insights.

I don't know about Tonerite, but Tannerite sure can :-)

[merlin666]

Originally Posted by tadol

The only reason I can think of to use a ToneRite is because there is something about the guitar that you feel is missing, and don't want to take the time to play it, get to know it, and see if you can bring it out. Owning a few of Bruces guitars, and one of Howards, along with a fair number of Santa Cruz, I can honestly say that I've never found a reason to use a ToneRite on any of them -

Yes, and further to this why would people buy a guitar that they feel would need improvement after purchase, just buy one that you like to start with. Maybe torrified tops that have some additional stiffness baked in may need to be loosened up but if this is an issue may be less hassle to get a naturally aged guitar.

[FoxHound4690]

I've thought about getting one because I really want to try and open up my Martin D-16 a bit more but after reading through some comments on them, I've decided against it. A lot of people have said it's changed the tone of their guitar but not for the better, they actually DON'T LIKE what they hear and then the instruments seems to need time to "recover" from it. So ultimately, I've talked myself out of it.

Call me yesteryear but I choose to open up my acoustics the old fashioned way =P