The Collings Forum

Hello musicians,

Guille here, from Team ToneRite. This is my first post in this forum and my sole intention is to provide assistance for purchased units and/or warranty issues. I have been a HUGE fan of Collings guitars since my first experience playing one years ago. They were really hard to spot in South Florida so actually strumming one and playing with one in Michigan felt like a long dream come true.

While in forums -and I have been in many over the last 20 years- I have always appreciated when company representatives made themselves available to chat and to answer questions about their products. That is my purpose with this post. The ToneRite can be sometimes perceived as a mythical creature due to bad reviews from non-users and people that simply "think" it doesn't work. Fortunately, these reviews are usually countered from actual suers who attest to their gains, whether subtle or major.

If any of you have questions about our products, please do not hesitate on reaching out as I am more than happy to talk. Furthermore, If you have any problems with your unit(s) I would love to provide help on getting you a working unit asap and in the easiest way possible.

We have matured as a company over the years and our recommendations are now around getting the best out of your instrument and your ToneRite unit, rather than rushing to get the quickest turn around possible with only minor results. We realized we were robbing ourselves and our customers from achieving great results.

That being said, feel free to share your personal encounters with our devices.

Thank you all and have a blast!

Warm regards,

Guille Chumpitaz - Executive Director @ ToneRite USA

Hi Guile,

I'm in the UK and I bought one of the original models.

This is not a complaint or a warranty issue - it is simply my observations

I used it on a couple of Collings DS models that I bought "used" but unplayed and they felt "tight.'

There is absolutely no way (that I know of) of measuring the effect of the Tonerite. I found that it took pretty much two weeks of continuous toneriting to make a difference .. that I "perceived."
I suspect that the change is experienced more by the paler that their audience.

I decided that I'd try my Tonerite on all my guitars to see if they improved, Didn't work on my '34 Gibson Archtop, and I'd also say that the procedure cannot be expected to work on all guitars - especially cheaper heavily built guitars. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear as they say.

I haven't used my Tonerite for two years or more, but I do have a guitar that I've had for a couple of years that might benefit from the treatment so I might try it again when it is warmer in my workshop.

My one "complaint" that I have with my machine is that it really doesn't comfortably fit the string spacing of any of my guitars - the user is advised to push it as close to the saddle as possible which can force the strings (and saddle grooves) out of true.

Hope that'e useful.

Guille, welcome to the site! I am not sure that you know, ( I can't imagine that you don't actually) but on the Old Collings Forum, there was a 'tome' of a thread on the Tonerite. The Collings thread was being used for a few years there to prove that the Tonerite was doing exactly what it says in your literature.
There were sceptics at the start of that thread, and the person doing the original post started asking folks to post their results. As I remember, by the end of it 160 (?) folks had weighed in, and the results were almost universally good. Other than a few Martins that were being played for 4/6 hours a day every day ( how are you you to improve on that sound?) and a Brand New Gibson that, for some reason, the unglued in braces fell out, almost everything was positive.
I bought one off a Member of Old Forum, and set it up that the machine went to ( I think) 16 different Members over many many months before it finally came into hands up here in Prince George Northern BC.

"The Traveling Tonerite" was started right here, and it was actually copied over on the Mandolin Cafe, which was great.
My personal experience with your marvellous machine is pretty extensive now, and I have done I think, well over 80 guitars. The only guitars that have not had any change were the 100% plywood ones. The plywood back and sides ones with solid top, all improved, and I wasn't surprised by that.
My two best results were on my two Collings. Guille, I seem to go to extremes sometimes so bear with me. Each of my two new Collings was on the machine for about 6 weeks all in. The difference in my first one, a D2H was a drastic one. It was like a light being turned on with the axe.

Guille, I love your product, and use it even now when some of my axes go to sleep because they are not being played.