Blog Posts / ToneRite

We have been lucky enough to feature Gordon Kennedy, a Grammy Award-winning artist and songwriter, as our first celebrity on our Celebrity Blog Posts. He has worked with talented artists across the board from Jewel to Peter Frampton. Check out what he had to say about the ToneRite.

"I had heard for some time about using some kind of secret recipe for making guitar's wood open up and resonate better, particularly desirable when it comes to a newer guitar. I have had enough experiences with vintage guitars to declare a preference for the tone possessed by the older guitars. New guitars can be necessary yes, especially when it comes to touring, and even being scared to leave the house with certain rare instruments. But, they sound...new. I'd heard of players sending guitars away, somewhere, behind a curtain, perhaps elves would do something to them and then the guitars would come back, louder, better, more resonant and toneful. Did the process have something to do with using sound? I know a kidney stone can be pulverized using sound. I began noticing that when I would finish playing an electric part through an amp, the very second I would stop, all of the acoustics guitars nearby were still singing in sympathy. Maybe if I placed that acoustic guitar close the amp every time I played, it would pick up the good vibrations?  I hoped so...

This remained on a burner further back until I went down to the Gibson Restoration & Repair in Nashville about a month ago. I had the wonderful folks up in Bozeman Montana, finish for me, a new CF-100. I had decided back in October while doing the 2-man acoustic tour with Peter Frampton, that I needed a cutaway for the upper notes and solos on his classic "Do You Feel." I had just about decided to pull the trigger on buying a vintage one (1950-1958) when I learned Gibson was doing that model again. They had it ready in plenty of time for me to play on the promo gigs we were scheduled to do before the tour and for his new "Acoustic Classics" which released February 26th. But, I needed a bit of tweaking done to make it a main go-to guitar so, on to the Gibson R&R guys, the "Genius Bar" of Gibson! On the day I picked it up, I noticed a couple of guitars hanging on the wall there with some funny looking gizmo attached to the strings. I was told it was the ToneRite and THIS is what I had been hearing about for awhile. Phil Crabtree, one of the expert craftsmen there, insisted that I take his personal one home to give it a try. At home, I placed it on the new pristine CF-100. Up until this time, I had no complaints about the way the guitar sounded, and you wouldn't without playing it against an old vintage acoustic. I left it on for a few days until Peter and I had another video shoot. After only that amount of time, I noticed a difference in the tone! Already? I would bring it home after each video or radio gig and put the ToneRite back on it and tell it goodnight. We wrapped up our promo tour by doing the Conan O'Brien Show, and Howard Stern radio show. I took the CF-100 for both. I finally got to hear the playback of the Conan show yesterday and was so overwhelmingly pleased with the tone of that new guitar! Peter used it on the digital recording that is part of the extra curricular web stuff that they do at Conan, he loved it as well. 

I know how the guitar sounded when I first got it. I know how it sounds after having the ToneRite on it. It IS doing something very nice for this new CF-100! I'm hooked!

In 2000, I bought John Sebastian's 1959 Les Paul Standard, the one he used on all the hits by The Lovin' Spoonful. I had the good fortune at that moment to play it against four others, two '59s and two '58s. The Sebastian was the only one of the lot that had any wear on it. The others were in near museum quality. The sound of the Sebastian left the other ones in the dust! There's something to be said for the guitars that have been played a lot. I'm finding that there is also something to be said for having this ToneRite on a new guitar and finding that the guitar is reacting as if it's constantly being played non-stop...for days! In the last couple of years, Gibson has made replicas of my original '59 Les Paul. It, even though a new guitar, still actually sounds more like the other four vintage ones (the ones tucked under the bed) I played the day I bought the Sebastian. What you would have to dig in slightly to bring out on those other vintage ones, and my replica...explodes off of the Sebastian Burst! Again, thanks to John for PLAYING it on so many great records and shows! It has some mojo which is not nearly approached by any other guitar I have played. As I write this, I am flying to Phoenix, the first show is tomorrow night in Tucson with Frampton. Somewhere back home behind me is a wonderful woman and two wonderful kids who have helped me, over time, become a better human being, wiser, resonant, sympathetic...older yes...

There is also a Gibson Collector's Choice #13 Gordon Kennedy Spoonful Burst, hanging on a stand with a ToneRite..."

Gordon Kennedy 

GORDON KENNEDY IS A GRAMMY AWARD WINNING SONGWRITER, (CHANGE THE WORLD - CO-WRITTEN WITH WAYNE KIRKPATRICK AND TOMMY SIMS), AND IS ALSO A GRAMMY AWARD WINNING PRODUCER, (BEST POP INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM FOR PETER FRAMPTON’S “FINGERPRINTS” )

AS A WRITER: CO-WRITER ON BONNIE RAITT’S SINGLE “GYPSY IN ME”,  DUE OUT IN JANUARY 2016

AS A WRITER: ERIC CLAPTON, BONNIE RAITT, DON HENLEY & STEVIE NICKS, GARTH BROOKS, BRUCE HORNSBY, RICKY SKAGGS, FAITH HILL, TIM McGRAW, ALISON KRAUSS, NICKEL CREEK, PETER FRAMPTON, among others

HAS CONTRIBUTED SONGS FOR THE FOLLOWING FILMS: THE FOX AND THE HOUND II, ALMOST FAMOUS, PHENOMENON, THE BANGER SISTERS, FOR LOVE OF THE GAME, TIN CUP, WHERE THE HEART IS, among others

AS A PLAYER: PETER FRAMPTON, DON HENLEY, JEWEL, GARTH BROOKS, FAITH HILL, SHEDAISY, KENNY LOGGINS, MICHAEL McDONALD, LEANN RYMES, BRUCE HORNSBY, RICKY SKAGGS, LITTLE BIG TOWN, among others