sumner77 Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Anyone use a tonerite device on your new-ish Gibsons? With what result? Love to hear if anyone specifically has experience using it on a Legends series Gibson acoustic; L-00 or J-45. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Recent thread on it here: http://forums.gibson.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=28031 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkharmony Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Recent thread on it here:http://forums.gibson.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=28031 That thread lacked a certain amount of information. I have no first-hand experience with one, but I am curious. I will say this: people have gotten real results on another forum where I spend time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryp58 Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I think people hear what they want to hear. Especially after they've dropped the cash on a gadget like that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkharmony Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I think people hear what they want to hear. Especially after they've dropped the cash on a gadget like that! When I first heard about this thing, I agreed with you, Larry. But there is a lot of anecdotal evidence from experienced folks (some well-known luthiers) who say they definitely heard an improvement. I know it seems like snake oil, but it's true that guitars "open up." Does this thing help open them up? I dunno. I'd like to borrow one to try before dropping $150. But I know I've got a tight Adi top that could use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryp58 Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 When I first heard about this thing' date=' I agreed with you, Larry. But there is a lot of anecdotal evidence from experienced folks (some well-known luthiers) who say they definitely heard an improvement. I know it seems like snake oil, but it's true that guitars "open up." Does this thing help open them up? I dunno. I'd like to borrow one to try before dropping $150. But I know I've got a tight Adi top that could use it.[/quote'] I agree, BKH. I know that guitars do "open up". I just can't believe that a simple gadget plugged in the wall can reproduce years of actual playing time on a guitar. If you think about it, the ToneRite produces a constant vibration at a certain level. I don't know about ya'll, but I'll beat the hell out of mine on one song and then turn around and play a soft ballad. Different "attacks" on the instrument altogether. I just don't believe a machine can duplicate that. Of course, this is just my humble opinion! I guess the jury is still out on this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 First of all, I would never spend that amount of money on that thing.....cheaper to put your guitar in a guitar stand and place it in front of your woofer of your sound system. Turn on something like the sound effects from that film "Jumani" and leave it playing all day while you are at work. Better yet....just put it on top of your clothes dryer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnt Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. Ralph Waldo Emerson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt the Cat Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Just play the guitar and enjoy being a part of the opening up process....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flinx Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I picked one up out of curiosity, a few months ago. The price didn't bother me much; I've spent more than that on strings and capos and tuners and such. I saw that Tim McKnight seemed to think it worked pretty good, so I figured it was worth a shot. Couldn't hurt, anyway, right? I've got one old guitar, and some that are newish. On the old guitar, I didn't hear any change, even after keeping it on there for a while. My guess is that with enough age and playing time, almost any guitar will have already opened up if it's going to, and nothing else is going to make a change except for more of the same. The newer guitars responded pretty well, some less than others. My El Cheapo guitar sounds a little better; it's not as boxy, and the tone is bassier and deeper. It's only a beater, but it's nice to hear the guitar come 'round to a certain degree, although I doubt that more time with the unit will make any difference. Ya can't make a sow's ear into a silk purse -- ain't that the way it goes? But I don't play it much, so I'm blaming the improvements on the unit. I don't think a guitar will get better if all it does is lay around in the case. My best guitar is about six years old, but wasn't played that much before I got it, since it was practically mint, and had almost no fret wear. I love the sound of this guitar, and that's why I bought it. It's the best straight I've played in many years, with a nice, wide grain Adi top. It felt sorta tight at first, but I figured that with some decent playing time, it would loosen up one day. I used this thing five times at full power, but I didn't hear much change. It got maybe a little louder, and the sound seemed like it had more wood in it, but I figured that might be my ears fooling me, or because the guitar had been getting played a lot. But just in case, I kept putting the unit on the guitar, a couple times a week. Been doing this since June, using the low power setting, which was supposed to "sweeten up" the sound. About a month ago, I picked up the guitar, started to play, and I was kinda flipped out, because something (whatever it was) had really changed. The guitar suddenly had a lot more volume! It was like I had plugged the guitar into an amp. The bass was much deeper and clearer. The wound strings were stronger, and the trebles were sweeter. It was easier to fret -- the whole guitar was more responsive. The back and sides moved more when I played, and even playing softly, everything felt more "alive". I was so surprised, you could have broke a stick over my head, and I doubt I would have noticed. I'm no spring chicken, and my hearing ain't what it used to be, but I'm not so far gone that I can't hear a big difference between the sound on Monday and the sound on Wednesday. I'm getting old, but I ain't dead yet. The guitar has been the same, ever since. I've changed strings, and it stays the same. The guitar was already pretty killer (my grandson says that a lot), but now it's so much better, it's as if I went out and bought something a lot older, and a lot more expensive, too. I am flat out tickled pink! But I'm still thinking about it, and wondering if the thinga-ma-jig is the reason, or if the guitar finally decided to open up, or if the strings I put on there are the perfect match, once they start getting some age on them. I used to think that guitars didn't open up, but just gradually got better as the wood got older, if the wood was good stuff in the first place. But now, I'm not so sure. I haven't used the ToneRiter since then, 'cause I'm afraid that if it was the reason for the changes, the guitar would become way too warm and too loud. My lady swears that the projection has gotten wider, and the volume has increased until I'm having problems singing over it without a mic. It definitely wasn't like that when I got it. It was loud, but not that loud, if you know what I mean. I don't know if the thing did this, or if it would have happened anyway. You draw your own conclusions. But that's what I did, and that's what happened. Whew, this was a long post -- ya'll put up with me now, okay? Later, gators! Flinx Oh, and by the way, you can borrow mine if you want, bkharmony. I'd be glad to help you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NevadaPic Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I think I will continue to vibrate the wood in my guitars the old fashioned way. Besides, some folks also believe that a guitar can be used up tonewise so why hasten the demise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modac Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I think the Tone Rite prbably works....but the idea, for me anyway, is to bond with the guitar, and to play it in with my hands. The last new Adi topped guitar I bought played in very nicely in about 2 months' time (I play a lot of hours each week). I'm not a particularly patient person, but 2 months is not an eternity. The guitar keeps getting a incrementally better (drier, woodier, clearer) as time goes by, but the most dramatic change only took a couple of months to occur....and I've still got the150 bucks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suburude63 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Got one ! Put it on my K 35 ! It works ! It does what it says it does ! What can I say? Concert musicians have been using them for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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