The ToneRite Guitar Tone Treatment

Nice!!

Agreed. This is a new one to me. Curious, but skeptical, mostly just skeptical. There's no before and after in the video, so...

Martin, I gotta ask, what is the nature of your relationship with Toneright?

For that matter, what about Stam and Soyuz?

Hi Guys, part of a guitar's tone involves flexibility. I read a NY Times article years ago about museums that house priceless violins that have someone come to play them once a week so they remain in good condition. I'm no expert on the physics, but I have been playing most of my life and do hear a bit of an improvement if I haven't played a guitar for a long time and then use the ToneRite. I've seen that some luthiers swear by them. I have no relationship with them, my friend was given one by the company and he didn't need it, so he gave it to me. 

Quint, as for ToneRite, Stam or Soyuz, I have absolutely no relationship with these companies other than becoming friendly with the guys that own the company over time. I'm not a professional reviewer and I don't write for magazines, so I have no vested interest. I heard a Soyuz 0-17 by chance years ago, before superstar producers began posting testimonials. They were a new and unheard of company. My ears told me something was special, so I managed to get one to try. Being an early and adamant supporter only means I'm trying to pass on something good to my friends here.

All my posts and videos of gear have been my way of returning the help so many musicians and engineers have given me online since I returned to the music business. I also use my own songs in those videos as one more way of getting people to hear my music. There's always a chance that a great producer or engineer might like what they hear and want to use one of my songs in a movie or for an artist. I've had some success at that in the past. So that's what I get out of spending my time and efforts on reviews and videos, the possibility of connection.

I'm becoming weary of constant skepticism and subtle accusations when I'm just letting people know what I'm finding. I get that these things are often technical by nature and there's science involved, but it's becoming almost enough to make me not bother anymore. I'm an artist first and foremost, not a scientist or mechanical engineer. I appreciate all the wonderful people here with much more scientific knowledge than me, but we all bring something different to the table here and the "prove it" mentality is short sighted in my experience. 

I have relationships with a few retailers in NY for over 40 years, and I automatically get 15% -20% off any gear I'm interested in, so even an occasional 25% courtesy discount from any manufacturer isn't enough to make me risk my reputation.

* there was no real way to do a "before and after" ToneRight in this case, the strings on it were 24 years old, and it desperately needed a set-up.

Cool Don!

It's subtle, but it's there. The new one is an improved version, where they've dialed in the frequencies they vibrate at. It should produce better results than mine which is a few years old. Let us know of your findings.

One thing I noticed after ToneRite is the B and high E strings seem fuller, more balanced in volume and tone with the other strings. It could be my particular guitars, so I can't say happens that across the board.

Some healthy skepticism is a good thing, but I think Martin has done a great job of speaking with integrity, and not hiding any biases, on this forum.  And his enthusiasm never comes off as dogma.  I think he's earned the benefit of the doubt

Quint, to date, I haven't received a single discount on anything I've reviewed, so please, can you give it a rest now.



I have been offered free things and discounted things and returned them or refused them if I didn't feel they were something worth sharing. I think you missed my point. I always get an automatic 15%-20 % discount on ANY gear I buy, (long story), so if hypothetically a manufacturer offered me a courtesy price at 25% off, that certainly would not be enough to change my opinion or bias my review. As I said, my reputation is worth a lot more than couple hundred dollars.

Most times I've been given pieces by stores or distributors to try out, so the manufacturers have little to nothing to do with me reviewing a piece and posting.

Sometimes I'll get a"beta" version of something and offer recommendations, evidently my opinion is valued in some places. I do want to see some manufacturers do well if they're good guys, love gear and offer great products at fair prices.

* I should have said "even an offer of a 25% discount", but since we're standing on ceremony here, I'll leave it as is.

Can we get back to the ToneRite now?

Cool Ward. let me know what you think after you've tried it.

What I'm getting weary of is the general tone of an inquisition I see all too often online. I'm not referring to myself in particular. I don't know your story, but here in NYC, after over 40 years of buying gear, I've developed good relationships and friendships with some retailers and distributors. There are occasionally sales of say.. 15%, so that kind of discount is not uncommon. So for regular customers who are known to refer people and who have a decades long track record, a standard discount is not an unusual thing. My point is, I've earned that courtesy.

You are the first person to take an accusatory tone with me, and I resent it. My work as a recording artist and producer speaks for itself. The "long story" behind my getting a discount is just that, and it's a waste of time to write of it here. You're questioning me as in "why is that" seems naive frankly. The only thing more than meets the eye going on is my interest in products I find to really work well for me and then my sharing those experiences tends to make manufacturers be friendly. I enjoy those relationships as any normal person would. Hearing of new things being developed or occasionally being asked to lend an ear for something being developed is fun.

Everyone reviewing anything has some bias. It might be their personal taste, music they prefer, who knows. Every product I've backed with my name has been exceptional within its class. I would think any gear-minded person would appreciate the opportunity to listen for themselves and form their own opinion. There's no faking how a mic sounds, so if I post a video demonstrating a mic, then people now have one more reference to help with buying decisions. Being friendly with manufacturers doesn't change the sounds I post. I'm basically just trying to turn my online friends onto something good if I find it, as they've done for me many times.

Six years ago, when I was first beginning to record at home again the cowboycoalminer posted some tracks, and I liked the drums sounds. I asked him how he did them, and he told me of Toontracks Superior Drummer. I would never have known without that tip, and subsequently, I bought it. I wouldn't have given a damn if his brother owned the company, the sounds were great, and that's what interested me, I try to return that kind of favor if I'm lucky enough to get to try things many folks can't.

Sometimes I think people are simply jealous, even though I'm being generous with my time and knowledge. I can't help that.

* as for Stam, I have nothing to do with their logistics, people can make up their own mind if they want to wait for an order to come. Originally, I had been lucky enough to be in Fab Dupont's Flux Studios listening through a reconditioned vintage Neve console, and wanted that kind of sound at home. The Stam SA73 was the closest thing I'd heard. So I mentioned that online, trying to turn friends on to it. I stand by that, it still does what the Neve console did as well as anything else I've heard. So my support comes from knowing Stam can deliver some of the best sounding gear. If I get first dibs on some new things and share it, I would think people would be happy about that instead of suspicious. If people can't figure out that I have integrity after 6,000 posts and numerous videos, that's their problem, and I believe their own integrity is suspect. I could simply not post anything and avoid the grief I'm getting here.

What are you referring to Quint? Can we please leave the snarky comments to Gearslutz ?

You've turned my sharing a simple demo of a cool product I'd found for guitar players into some kind of conspiracy theory. If you want to discuss musicians and reviewers and their relationship to manufacturers please start a new thread on that topic. This is supposed to be about a device that helps guitars sound a little better if they've been left dormant.

I don't know much if anything about ToneRite, but I noticed they have a new version. If it works even better than the one I have, that's a nice bonus for new buyers.

Thanks sideshow. The times I've used the ToneRite on guitars that have been in my closet for months it seems to help a little. I can't always play each guitar enough time to feel connected to it.

AS for all the other comments, I've tried way more products and musical gear than I mention online. So I tend to write about the things I like. That doesn't mean I love something though, and hopefully the sound files I include are good enough for people to form their own opinion. In fact I've often agreed with comments that weren't exactly positive about a product. There's just no reason for me to do otherwise.

Well, I must say this thread has soured things for me. I thought my luck in having access to some cool gear and sharing my experience with it and opinion would be of interest to musicians and producers. Evidently I'm on trial for something and so must defend myself.

I wish more of us here would take the time to ask to demo products, get them mailed to you, carefully test them, record new music with it, film it, edit the video, and then post it online, and then deal with the comments. I think if more people did that, they'd be a lot more appreciative. I'm a big boy, if someone has a different opinion about some gear I'm discussing, fine, but to insinuate I'm a shill for some company is ridiculous if you truly understand how all this works.

As I mentioned earlier what I get from this is a chance to expose my material to some great musicians, engineers and producers in the off chance I might connect and get traction with some of my music. Saving $50 - $100 on some purchase sure isn't worth the 20 hours + it takes to do these things or the grief that comes with it.

So many loud voices online rarely if ever share their works in progress or post video reviews, yet they seem to get off on criticizing others who do. Really, I wish more people would try it for themselves and then get back to me.

I'm not specifically referring to the members here, so forgive me, but I've had issues where someone actually became physically threatening over a discussion of something as innocuous as a power cord, or someone threatened to act like a stalker. So I'm a bit cautious or wary due to realistic suspicions.

* Quint, I sent you a PM.

I've owned these on 3 occasions. They help. Every time I get a relatively unused acoustic I put a tonerite on it for about 3 weeks (I've tried longer but with diminishing returns). The wood vibrates more freely letting the low end bloom, harmonic overtones come out, and there's a better sense of articulation after using a tonerite for a few weeks. I use them because i don't care for the bright/stiff nature of a new instrument. Changes in the low end can sometimes be very significant. However, tonerites can only do so much and I recently decided to sell my last one because I've come to terms with the fact that I like the sound of aged instruments much better than freshly made ones. Doesn't have to be "vintage" but a guitar that's been around for a few years sounds different than one that was just put together (and, yes, I've done direct comparisons with guitars of the same models several times). I think a tonerite gets you about 10 or 15% of the way there, and it helps, but it just doesn't replace what a few years of play and natural age do. I'm a big believer that age has just as much a hand as play and I've bought case queens that sounded settled in.

As far as instruments needing to be exercised, I think it varies by instrument. I have an all-koa 000 that seems to "close up" when it sits for a few months. If played regularly (or given tonerite treatment) the low end sounds like a completely different instrument, becoming large and booming. It's so uncanny, even my wife hears it and she doesn't play. But, even though I've noticed this in a few, most instruments I've owned have not shown the same characteristics. So, I believe it does vary.