ToneWoodAmp anyone tried one?

No not yet it is in Sioux Falls fedex but not set to arrive until Tuesday!

I hope they are early but doubt it. It arrived but no one is around in Sunday’s as far as I know to sort it to the truck for my route. I certainly hope I’m wrong but way to many times I have seen it arrive there only to sit for up to three days.

 

No such luck in it is still sitting at FedEx and I can’t just pick it up. So I googled a bit to see how it would play with the pure western mini, apparently they are so hot without a preamp that you need to decrease the incoming gain and tweak the notch filter. I didn’t not get any extra x things to mount in my other acoustics but if it works out well it will go into the Rancher Penguin as well provided I don’t decide to sell it. I still tend to grab my Little Martin instead so the Penguin doesn’t get much love.

 

Got it and installed it. I have to work out the notch filter better . I did get rid of the feedback but have an annoying tone happening kind of like the strings resonating behind a Bigsby. I rushed it because but I had to try it. I do like it I just need a bit more tweaking. Tomorrow I switch to electric for some tweaking!

 

Thoughts so far. I like it but it will take some time to learn to tweak well. It has an auto wah and some kind of dirt or drive and I care for neither. The delay isn’t to my liking but I haven’t played with settings yet so that may change. Reverbs trem and Leslie are nice and I must need to do an update because I thought they added chorus and dumped that of dirt whatever option. With individual drive volume and other setting and some master settings I have a fair amount of experimenting to do but the more I play the more I like it. Final judgment is still out. But I am fairly certain I will keep it. Wether I will recommend it as strongly as my Nocturne pedals remains to be seen as I learn how to beat tweak it.

 

Ok last set of notes. I wound up tuning the master gain down to 15. Some individual gains down volumes depth rates give plenty of tweakablility. I am going to keep it O enjoy it but I sure don’t consider it a game changer at least not on the Martin 000-18 GE ‘37 burst. It was such an incredible sounding instrument it is hard to improve on it. The effects are fun and I do prefer to have some slight reverb Leslie or trem currently as opposed to not having it. That alone makes it a keeper. I will buy a couple more braces and try it on my other two acoustics. Well one at least. I do like the Penguin Rancher but it gets little play time so I might love it on. That is an entirely different topic though.

 

They should hire me as a spokesperson I am on my 12 or 13 pair. I drive a lot and walk a lot on concrete in shops so I go through work boots quickly. I could get a few more years out of them with new insoles but my knees and back like a new pair every couple of years and the company allows me 140$ for safety boots each year if needed.

I was trying to keep the incoming gain as high as possible and it turns out that it is counterproductive. I have it at 15 now but I am going to experiment with lower levels and see how it works out. I am told by them that 15 was the high side of what they could make work on their guitars using the K&K pure mini pups. Going lower allows for more adjustability with the volume and gain controls within each effect itself. I also don't notice it as much over top the instrument as people do out front so it seems. So I might try making some adjustments with a mic running to one of my K10s. With the K&K going direct to the K10 I have to be quite ways back because of feedback those pups are very sensitive. I am not sure what will happen with the feed going from the unit or a mic to the K10. I even wonder how it would sound running both. I do lie it but I am not blown away like the guys in the video I posted and I think a lot of that has to do with room acoustics and setup.

 

Master gain down to 5 and it improved even more. I can hear it clearer above than I was. I wouldn’t expect miracles but it is a fun device to have. I don’t regret the purchase. I will be buying an xbrace to install it into the Rancher Penguin and at some point a pup and brace to put it in the little Martin.

 

OK, Seven months in and a bit of an update. I haven't had a lot of playtime this year. Odd really considering being locked down a few months but work was just as hectic and I have never really stopped traveling, apparently, I am essential. Anywho, what little time I have had has been on mandolin and My Martin with the TWA in it. I still love it but after listening to clips and the actuality of the tone at home I was a little disappointed. Oh, it is quite amazing but online it sounds so much more present. Well, that was all operator error and listening position. I play unplugged no mic just sitting at home in front of the guitar it is more apparent unplugged, at least to me. I can hear it when I play but it isn't in your face miraculous like I thought the clips sounded. Then one day I realized these are all recorded of the room the guitar was in, mic'd, so I mic up and there it is. Through a little PA wow! If anyone is on the fence I say go for it but I needed to put a bit of time into tweaking things the way I wanted them and tweaking a bit more when I mic'd up. I am a bit picky even though I play for crap.

In one youtube vid, a guy says, once you play it you never want to play without it. Yea there is some truth to that. My Martin is very satisfying with or without it but with it, there is some serious toneage happening. I do not know if toneage, spoken as tone age but rednecked together is a word but it should be.

 

It doesn't seem to cause any issue. But I sure wouldn't just leave it on all the time. I use it peel it off and put it back on when I am ready to play again. The grip is very strong between it and the x brace inside. I am particularly careful taking it off and putting it on but I am more worried about taking it off because it does hold well.

 

Have you found that it sounds even better mixed? So far that is my experience. Probably has a lot to do with my hearing.