Acoustic tone “opening up”

BowynMadley

Going back to the original thread..ish. I recently bought a martin d35 which is I'm thoroughly enjoying.  However one thing I've found and I'm not sure if it's psychological or not but, when I first take it from the case it sounds OK. However after 5 to 10 minutes of playing I find it opens up, becomes more responsive and generally sounds better. 

Has anyone else come across anything like this?

drofluf

drofluf said:

drofluf said:

thermionic said:

I read somewhere that these are based on a similar mechanism to those found in aquarium pumps and inexpensive espresso machines (a vibratory pump as opposed to a rotary pump). A Tonerite doesn’t really need to much, and I struggle to see why a £15 one wouldn’t do the job. It will be interesting to hear your conclusions.

Well it arrived today, only 11 days from China. Won’t have a chance to test it properly for a day or so but I did a quick test, it will vibrate at different speeds/intensities. 

As I don’t think a ToneRite has some magic capability that vibrates at a different rate etc. depending on the guitar I expect it will do as good a job. Whether I’ll notice it is another question…

Well I left it on for most of the day yesterday and I think I can hear a difference. 

It may be an “Emperor’s new clothes” syndrome but as it only cost £15 I don’t think I need that much self justification. Had I shelled out on a genuine ToneRite I’d have definitely heard a difference. 

I didn’t do a “before” recording to compare properly but feel the tone is richer with more complex overtones. 

So if you’re curious I’d give one of the cheap ones a go. 

Here’s an attempt to be a little more scientific although frankly the previous attempt couldn’t have been any less scientific. I also happened to read a proper scientific paper yesterday…

Equipment

1. Furch Yellow OM spruce/rosewood
2. Ali Express ToneRite knockoff
3. AKG P170 and Rode M3 into GarageBand via Scarlett 212

Method

1. Record guitar
2. Attach ToneRite, leave on until it goes flat, recharge then on until bed time plus an hour in the morning. About 11 hours in total 
3. Record guitar again

Results

Here’s the before and after results https://app.box.com/s/9vvlki00vqs01aljmhn2k4vqlnmy3qmh

Tannin

There is a difference. The second clip is crisper and notes are more defined, with less boom. But how much of that is because of the way you played it (most of us play every tune a slightly different way every time) and how much due to the ToneWrong? (Is that the correct term for a cheap Chinese knock-off of a ToneRite?)

Kurtis

I'd say the second part was a bit louder, but very little if any difference in tone. 

drofluf

Thanks!

@Tannin I’m possibly more relaxed today. I’m still exhausted from Covid and yesterday was beset with problems; collapsing microphone stands, getting the levels right, getting a perfect take only to find I’d not put phantom power on. 

So I may have had more influence than the “treatment”.