Guitar Tone=Tonerite report

[AcousticDreams]

For years I have heard pros and cons on the Tonerite system. Some famous luthiers claiming that there is no empirical evidence to prove that it could create any audible returns.

I had heard great arguments from both sides on this Forum. Some saying it works, some saying it doesn't. If my memory serves me well, I remember that Wade said that it works on many guitars, but some reason it does not work On Larrivee's. ( I own Larrivee's)

Recently I saw Tony Polecastro' report where he claimed it really worked on his Maple Martin. https://acousticlife.tv/tonerite-review/

And while I attended NAMM this year and met up with a dear friend of mine, A custom guitar maker with 40 plus years experience, who also claimed that the concept really works. And then there is Tim Mcknight who says he sends out every guitar with a Tonerite treatment.

After all of that, I could not help but purchase one & try it on my Austrian Walnut Larrivee. The results? I like what it did. It is a very, very small difference. It is not night and day. But sometimes small differences add up big time. This was just enough of a difference, for me to take notice. I ran this guitar for a total of 150 hours. The difference, is that the guitar is smoother from note to note. Smoother playing chords. Not sure that I know exactly what causes this difference. It could be that there is a little bit more sustain, causing the notes to be a bit rounder and fuller. But I could not say for sure that is what the difference is. I can only note, that there is a difference. .

What ever the difference, I am very happy. As I mentioned, it is a little difference. But that little difference made all the difference to me, for my playing style and this particular guitar. I have heard from another forum member of reputable standing that it does depend on the guitar and back and sides wood as well. He noted that on Rosewood guitars there was less of a difference.

[rumble]

Very interesting thread. Thanks for your review. I spoke with Guiellmo at ToneRite a few days back about their products history ,marketing and how best to get the benefit from using the product. He did state that the initial treatment of 72hours or more was a good starting point. He also relayed that with lowering the vibrational level , to approximately mid point, that in so doing the wave length lower’s or lengthens thus affecting more impact of the mid frequency nodes on the soundboard. Hopefully a positive effect?
I’ve been using aTonerite for over ten years now with very positive results.
For me it assists the guitars response and over all body to move along the loosening of the wood’s membrane and skeletal form and enhancing tone when I’m not there doing myself. I think of the ToneRite’s oscillatory movement to the guitars body as warm water is to cold fingers and hands.

Oh well Had to give it the ole try

[Wade Hampton]

I recently had the loan of a ToneRite from a fellow AGF participant who was kind enough to let me borrow it for a couple of months. I used it on my most recent guitar purchase, a Martin Custom Shop 12 fret 00-21 that I ordered with a Swiss spruce top that they sprayed with an Ambertone finish for me.

It’s an excellent guitar to begin with, but the ToneRite seemed to open it up even further. So thanks again, Nicholas!


Wade Hampton Miller

[Pitar]

There is an undercurrent of doubt insomuch as we all know people tend to hear what they want to hear. The reports I've read suggest a very minor change, some claiming good, others bad, and to-date none ring of an overwhelming positive testimony as a highly positive qualitative change.

With respect to reputable builders, we know they pull out all the stops in ensuring their products are well marketed. The fact that the short time span from build completion to shipment does not suggest the time necessary to a before/after treatment contrast, so the alternative is to simply ensure marketing statements include treatment. Plus, the guitar itself is all kinds of new, tight, and a long time away from when all the constituent parts take a set where stresses are relieved and the box has settled down as a unit. Application of treatment at this early post-build stage seems premature in purpose and certainly of inadequate duration to make general claims about the device.

I have no doubt the device imparts a change but to automatically accept any change as a positive one is an assuming position by both claimants and builders alike.

Finally, if a guitar cannot produce a satisfactory sound quality then the cure is to replace the guitar with one that does rather than placing hope in a device and convincing ourselves it alone makes all the difference between a satisfactory and an unsatisfactory guitar, all other affectations explored and failed.

[rgregg48]

I have a Larrivee OM
ToneRite really helped it open up.
Others not so much change

[Bear Davis]

I have a couple of these and I use them everyday in a collection of 30 guitars. What I found over the past couple years is you get your biggest bang with new guitars, and even more so if they are lightly constructed instruments.

The following guitars had very noticeable changes, especially the Taylor which gained a ton of low end:

- Brand new 914c x-braced
- Brand new Preston Thompson DMA
- Brand new Yamaha LL-56
- Lightly played Martin D45v
- Lightly played Alhambra custom build
- Lightly played Collings D42
- Lightly played Santa Cruz TR custom

The following guitars had little or almost no audible change. No matter how I anchored the tonerite the tops just didn't vibrate like the above guitars.

- Brand new Guild F-150 Jumbo
- Brand new Gibson J-45 custom
- Lightly played Mcpherson adi/indi 4.5xp
- Lightly played Larrivee SD-60 Brazilian

I have got the best results from making sure the tonerite is touching the bridge. If the top of your guitar is bouncing off your finger when you touch it then your all set. If you just place it on the strings and don't allow it to touch the bridge then you aren't going to get very good results in my experience.

[redir]

I started using them on my guitars about a year ago. A fresh brand new guitar with the strings on it for the first time has a stiff sound to it. It's an amazing thing to witness. Within a few hours you can already start to hear it open up, after a day it's a whole new sound. Then a week, month, year, decade. The Toneright without a doubt speeds up that process.

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

...

Recently I saw Tony Polecastro' report where he claimed it really worked on his Maple Martin. https://acousticlife.tv/tonerite-review/...The results? I like what it did. It is a very, very small difference. It is not night and day. But sometimes small differences add up big time. This was just enough of a difference, for me to take notice. I have heard from another forum member of reputable standing that it does depend on the guitar and back and sides wood as well. He noted that on Rosewood guitars there was less of a difference.

Maple is a prime candidate for the Tonerite. I had a tangential conversation with Karl over at CME and he (in a conversation unrelated to Tonerite) mentioned that maple takes longer to open up than most tonewoods. My Taylor 614ce was transformed by the device while my 814ceDLX had a much more modest change. And even when I ran the Tonerite a second time for almost 200 hours it changed no further from the initial run.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

The difference, is that the guitar is smoother from note to note. Smoother playing chords. Not sure that I know exactly what causes this difference.

Not being argumentative, but that is fairly subtle. But also a considered description that sounds reasonable. Do you think there's any "player" factor involved as a result of expectation?

[phavriluk]

I think whoever praised the emperor's new clothes the most was rewarded with a Tonerite franchise. I think there is no way to factor out the normal effects of aging on the acoustic components of a guitar over time so as to identify the other effects as post hoc, propter hoc, tonerite induced.

[Osage]

I have found the Tonerite to make a small, but noticeable and positive difference in a new flat top acoustic. Where I have found them to make a profound difference is with an old archtop that hasn't been played in years. Often an old, unplayed archtop can sound somewhat dead and can take months of playing to get it to where it should be. A few days with the Tonerite gets you like 75% of the way there. It's almost shocking what it can do in this application.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by zmf

Not being argumentative, but that is fairly subtle. But also a considered description that sounds reasonable. Do you think there's any "player" factor involved as a result of expectation?

It is always good to question all sides of the equation. Could there be a player factor-expectation?

I should have mentioned that this is not a brand new guitar. I have owned this guitar for almost two years. There are only two guitars that I play on a regular basis, and this is one of them. So I know this guitar and its sound fairly well.

When we look at everything that is going on in the guitar industry these days...it is all about little changes. New types of bracing, New Tone woods, New techniques for aging tops through baking.

It has been noted by some that just the way we dry wood can effect sound. Some say that is the basis for Stradivarius sound. The wood was water cured by floating down river and then into the ocean. Today Sinker woods(wood stumps that have sat at the bottom of lakes) command large sums to custom acoustic guitar makers. Of course, it would be to expensive and time consuming to try and dry wood via the water method in today's world. But Air drying is considered the next best thing.

Vibrations is just another possibility into the thesis of a guitar opening up. After all, when we play, we are sending vibrations into the instrument. This is just another way of doing that.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by Flipguitar_pro

I have got the best results from making sure the tonerite is touching the bridge. If the top of your guitar is bouncing off your finger when you touch it then your all set. If you just place it on the strings and don't allow it to touch the bridge then you aren't going to get very good results in my experience.

Thanks this is really good information.

Do you just let the bottom of the Tonerite touch the beginning of the bridge? Or do you slightly angle the Tonerite in order to be able to place part of the Toneright on top of the bridge?

[rumble]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

Thanks this is really good information.

Do you just let the bottom of the Tonerite touch the beginning of the bridge? Or do you slightly angle the Tonerite in order to be able to place part of the Toneright on top of the bridge?

I place the Tonerite’s 3 rubber feet firmly to the edge of bridge so it is definitely touching. If you move /play with the positioning of weight of cord and reostat you will notice a change in vibrational amplitude to the top.

[lumr002]

I bought my Builder's Edition K24ce koa new. As expected the koa sound was very tight and I was not very pleased with the volumn/projection. Everyone says that the koa will open up over time as you play it. As I do not have that much time to play and it would take me years if ever for the koa top to open up. I'm a mechanical engineer and the Tonerite principle and reviews all sounded good. I bought a Tonerite and put it on for 96 hours....nothing!! Still sounded tight. I was disappointed. Two month later, I'm thinking I may sell the guitar because it doesn't have it but I decide to give the Tonerite another try. This time I leave the Tonerite on 120 hours at max amplitude and then 96 hours at halfway amplitude. I'm totally pleased, the guitar sounds amazing and just rings!! I'm keeping it!!