Anyone here use a Tone-rite acoustic enhancer ? What were your impressions?

[justblues]

Originally Posted by John Thigpen

Put it back on the J-40 and see if it jumps over the Gibson again. Report back.

Okay ... 3 1/2 days later ... The J-40 seems louder especially on the bass end ... It sounds good when strummed and is louder than the Gibson, more bass but end less balance when finger picking. I think the J-40c might sound more balanced with 80/20 strings. I'm going to use the tonerite for a total of 2 weeks to match the time on the Gibson and will compare again.

The humidity in my home is measuring 46% today and was around 55% so that may be a factor. I know several guitarists who swear higher humidity deadens the sound of a rosewood instrument ... I'm not sure. Right now, I still prefer the j-100 , but after changing strings that could change. I do believe that the tonerite definitely helped the Gibson.

[MagnumSSS]

I have a playlist of Bela Fleck Bluegrass Sessions, Leo Kottke, Bill Frisell, and Alison Krauss playing through a floor monitor 6" away from the soundhole of a used 2003 Gibson J-45 that I just bought a month ago (very good condition, so not sure how much it was played). Hoping to loosen it up a bit and get more volume, even more warmth out of it. Planning on doing two 3-day sessions. We'll see how it goes!

[TNO]

Only on the Gear Page... someone outs the Tone-rite as a $5 aquarium pump (which it is) and is ignored completely. The other thing that works well is a cheap suction cup massager.

[John Thigpen]

Originally Posted by TNO

Only on the Gear Page... someone outs the Tone-rite as a $5 aquarium pump (which it is) and is ignored completely. The other thing that works well is a cheap suction cup massager.

Okay...I read koni's post, looked at the pictures on the ToneRite website, and then googled aquarium pumps and looked at a few sites. I also looked at Amazon. The cheapest pump I found was $5.79, but they went up to nearly $100. All of them have the protrusion for attaching the air hose. I could not find any that looked exactly like the ToneRite.

It appears to me that ToneRite puts a similar motor in its own housing, and attaches rubber feet designed for each instrument. Maybe they would catch less grief if it was priced at $99, or better yet, $49, but I doubt he could make a profit at that level. However, the implication of the above post is that ToneRite is some sort of scam, not someone trying to market a useful product at a profit sufficient to make it worth the trouble. Keep in mind this market is pretty limited, so there won't be enough volume to cut the cost much.

[chipdog]

I haven't read much on this post - just purchased a Tonerite a week ago and used it for 5 days on my new Collings OM3C with Sitka Top. Before using it, the guitar was really tight and stingy sounding - even though I play it relatively a lot. After the Tonerite treatment, it sounds like a completely different guitar. It's much warmer and open sounding - both strumming and single notes. Going to try it on an older Blueridge next.

[stephenT]

I rented a ToneRite for a week last year, used it on a Martin OM-15 that I bought used and was kinda stiff, worked well in terms of volume and bass. I agree the results can vary depending on the guitar.