Hey everyone, Victor here. Today, I want to show you a very cool product that has just become accessible: the Tonewood Amp. It's a small, rectangular amplifier that clips to the back of your guitar and uses a built-in speaker to create effects that resonate through your guitar's own sound box. No external amp or headphones needed!
How Does It Work?
The magic lies in a clever mounting system. The Tonewood Amp comes with an "X-bracket" that has an adhesive tape to attach it to the inside of your guitar. Don't worry, it won't damage the wood! Once the bracket is in place, the Tonewood Amp, which has magnets, simply snaps onto the back of your guitar, held securely by the bracket inside.
A short cable connects your guitar's pickup to the amplifier. When you play, the signal goes to the amp, which then drives its speaker, and that speaker uses the body of your guitar as a natural amplifier. The result is a range of cool effects coming directly from your instrument.
Features and the App
The Tonewood Amp isn't just a simple amplifier. It comes loaded with effects like reverb, chorus, phaser, tremolo, and delay. While the first generation of the device was just the hardware amplifier, the second version introduced a companion app, the "Tonewood Amp Remote," which unlocks even more possibilities.
With the app, you can:
- Build a chain of up to four effects.
- Run effects serially or in parallel.
- Access an equalizer, compressor, and input settings.
- Create and save different guitar profiles, which is perfect if you use the amp with multiple guitars.
A Story of Accessibility
What makes this story even better is the journey to making the app accessible. When the app was first released, it wasn't compatible with VoiceOver. I reached out to the developers, and to my surprise, they were eager to make it work for visually impaired users.
What followed was a collaboration between me and the development team. Over several weeks and multiple iterations, we worked together to ensure the app was fully accessible. And the good news doesn't stop there – they made the Android app accessible too! The iOS app can be found here.
Give it a Try!
If you're looking for a way to add some new sounds to your acoustic-electric guitar without lugging around a heavy amplifier, I really recommend the Tonewood Amp. It's a great piece of gear, and the accessible app makes it a joy to use for everyone.
If you decide to get one, be sure to let the team know you appreciate their hard work on accessibility. It's great to see a company so dedicated to making their products inclusive.
You can also hear the amplifier sounds in my podcast.