Tone Room Review: Enhancing Music at Its Core

Tone Room Review: Enhancing Music at Its Core

Music has always been a part of Filipinos’ lives. We, Filipinos, believe that music is not something that we invest on to earn money, but it is something that we simply love doing. Whether someone is hooked up into playing instruments like the guitar, drums, or bass, or someone who simply loves singing – here in the Philippines musicians don’t define music, but sometimes music defines Filipino music lovers.

With all of these being said, we are safe to say that music is a great deal here in the Philippines. As a matter of fact, it is one of the biggest industry here in this country. An industry that is not driven by money, but simply for the love of music. There are millions of musicians here, each having their own instrument of choice – instruments that can be damaged overtime due to over usage.

The good thing is, there are few musicians who do not just perform, but there are also some who loves to help other musicians with regards to their instrument issues – just like Tone Room.

Introducing Tone Room: One of The Best Guitar Techs Who Are Not Luthiers

This all started with these 2 siblings; Cayle and Chino. Just like any other music lovers, these two siblings initially love to play the guitar. These siblings love music so much that they did not simply learn how to play different instruments on the latter part of their hobby, but they also gained the enthusiasm to learn on how every single one of these instruments work. Soon after, the hobby became a career. They begun to learn everything they would need to become like luthiers. Their luthier-like talents which began as a curiosity officially started around 2008. Though they were not receiving official customers, they had musician friends whom they served for free with regards to their instrument problems. This in return taught them a lot of things, like sort of a self-training which extended their already vast knowledge about music instruments.

Their sort of training lasted for about four years, and by the year 2012, they officially launched a store which they named – Tone Room. Though they are well prepared to cater repairs for almost all types of music instruments, the establishment initially accepted customers who were having issues with their bass and guitars. Aside from doing repairs, they also offer studio recording works, selling instruments and parts, and tone-searching for those customers who wants to be somewhat specific with the tones of their guitars and basses.

The establishment has continually improved since then, catering more and more customers across the Philippines. Tone Room’s goal is to make every penny that has been paid to them to be worth it. To start with, they begun this career path not to earn money, but to learn how instruments work and to help other people with regards to their damaged instruments. They call themselves guitar techs not luthiers. Well, literally they are not luthiers but simple music lovers who – through passion – have learned more than what a luthier can just do.

Tone Room Specialties and Services

We have asked Chino of what their speciality is, and he answered us that it is tough to state what is it specifically. The reason is because, as he stated, they simply do their best to maintain quality as always. With their engineering backgrounds, they constantly learn on how to improve their services through their company-based innovations, just so they could do processes more efficiently while improving quality.

Personally, Chino enjoys working on acoustic guitars; specifically repairs that involve lifting bridges. He is proud about the fact that they are one of the only few who can confidently repair bridges without having to use screws for support. Screws can damage the guitar, so if you want to preserve that delicate original tone of the guitar, avoiding the use of screws for repair is one of the ways that you should do.

Apart from their special abilities with regards to repairing guitar bridges without using screws, they are also well known for repairing guitar frets, repairing acoustic guitars in general, and anything about electronic instruments.

Tone Room is very keen with regards to electronics. They repair pickups that undergone vigorous usage, and have simply wear off. "It is good as new” as what other customers would say. As a matter of fact, they use high quality materials as replacements to the damaged ones to preserve the original quality a spare part could offer when it was still brand new. Keen hands in addition to good quality of materials will result to a good service, right? 

Speaking of general care, Tone Room have proven themselves worthy to be called as "Guitar Techs”. Here, various customers visit from across  the Philippines just to have their guitars to be "refreshed”. Electric guitars, with lack of care, can deteriorate over time. It is usually noticeable with the sounds it emits. It may not be so noticeable to some people, but it can’t escape through the ears of a true music lover. Tone Room has been known to refresh these deteriorated guitars; through general setup, cleaning, replacing of delicate screws and stainless steels, and of course retuning!

We have tackled how good Tone Room is with regards to dealing with instrument’s electronic issues, guitar bridge repairs, general setup, general care, cleaning, screws and stainless-steel replacements, and other common instrument issues.

Check out this post from their Facebook page as an example of what their vast knowledge about instruments can do:

"In time, the wood where the tremolo post insert is located, gets compressed due to the pull of the strings. In most cades when the wood is soft, it compresses so much that the hole becomes enlarged and the post wiggles.

In such case, tuning issues can be experienced, or the post and insert may be pulled out when using the tremolo.

I'll be fixing the enlarged hole on this MIJ Ibanez RG7421 by plugging it with a Narra dowel (because Narra is hard and does not compress easily) and drilling the appropriate hole size.” – Chino of Tone Room.

So, knowing the specialties and services that Tone Room can offer, can you now see what a guitar tech who specializes in repairing damaged instruments can do? If you still need more information about their specialties and offers, you may want to check out their official Facebook page right HERE as well.

https://www.facebook.com/toneroomelbi/

Overall Conclusion and Review

As a music lover, I really admire where these 2 siblings, Cayle and Chino, have started their career. Meeting other musicians across the country is a common thing. We usually end up jamming, and sharing information about our favorite music and bands. However, it is very rare for a music lover to not just play but also to specialize in repairing instruments – just like Cayle and Chino. At first, I thought they are just good with simple repairs, but then I realized that they are also very good with the complicated ones. They truly deserve the title "guitar techs”. And as I continue thinking about it, they have just become experts through their passion and love for music – which I thought is very unique. That’s not all! They only use high quality materials as replacements. 

As a matter of fact, their expertness has lured not just ordinary music lovers like me who knows a thing or two about instruments, but they also serve regular customers who are well-known as professional musicians from many parts of the Philippines. This truly proves that their level of knowledge and expertise with regards to musical instruments are legit, and again, they have gained it through great passion and experience.