ToneRite Signature – Automatically Breaks In Guitars
This post over at Guitar Lifestyle intrigued me – ToneRite claims to have produced a product which automatically “breaks-in” a guitar by attaching to the bridge and emitting vibrations. According to them, the ToneRite Signature accomplishes in 24 hours, what would normally take 6 months of normal playing, after which the full, mature tone of the instrument can be heard.
According to their research, audible improvements can be heard after an hour:
One of the prevalent theories is that playing-in(de-damping) an instrument relieves the tensions inherent in all instruments that are new or left fallow. Relieving tension allows the instrument to vibrate freely. As a result, your instrument becomes incredibly responsive, problem notes improve, less bow pressure is required, the sound comes more quickly with less effort and the overall quality of tone improves.
By mounting on the bridge, ToneRite naturally transfers vibrations through the bridge and into the instrument; just as the strings do when you play. Amplitude and frequency have been optimized to achieve greater results than playing yourself.
I’m not sure whether to be amazed or skeptical. What are your thoughts? Get more information about the ToneRite Signature at their website.
I do believe that guitars do sound better with time however, I have no hard evidence to back this up with.
It makes sense that a lacquer finish will probably settle in into the wood and even wear down thinner with use, allowing the wood to resonate more freely and thus sound better.
As for what happens to the wood itself, I can only surmise that vibrations over time will cause all the components (neck, top, body) to ‘sit in’ more snugly against each other, and it’s this improved contact that allows better translation of vibrations. Possibly even slight changes in moisture content of the wood will cause slight changes in tone, but drastic moisture changes are always bad for your guitar.
At the end, improvements in tone will be due more to the increasing skill of a guitar player over time, than any physical changes in the wood or finish.