[abakker]

I think that is real, though:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/technology/05tonerite.html https://www.tonerite.com

I've heard from several musicians that say that it genuinely works. I've also witnessed first hand the "breaking in" process with an instrument that results in a better sound after being played a lot. Note that an old instrument doesn't break in - it is the playing.

I've also heard, from Ed Maday - http://www.edmaday.com - that the vibrations are why he says away from power machinery in his craft - he believes that the use of that machinery might damage the potential tone of the wood. I am skeptical, but if there is a mechanical process involved, then maybe he's not wrong.

[6stringmerc]

Well it might do a little something but in the grand scheme of things, in my opinion, professional of sorts, is that there are far too many variables in the Electric Guitar chain to ever really care too much about any one element. Collectively, yes, different aspects have flavors to add, such as type of wood, age, mass...but then there's all sorts of other aspects - set up height, string quality / material, type of pickups, winding of said pickups, type of amplifier, what effects pedals might be in the chain...so I don't feel like going beyond skepticism is necessarily worth the effort.

By comparison, I had a guitar teacher who would play his G&L Strat 5 days a week for lessons, and you could just see how he was working the fretboard and neck into the sweetest playing, conditioned piece of gear. He always had a line of people waiting to buy his guitar whenever he felt like he wanted a change. I can understand wanting a guitar that "broken in" but by comparison getting something artificially relic'd or aged doesn't seem appealing.

[abakker]

I'd agree - with an electric instrument you rely on resonance, but to a lesser degree than with a violin or cello. I would consider it with an acoustic-only instrument like that.

[6stringmerc]

Yeah I wanted to specify Electric Guitar for that purpose. Acoustic instruments are a whole different design and technique realm. While technically the same family, I view steel string Electric and bronze string Acoustic as two very different instruments.

[ozi]

Gains from pretty much all "advanced" techniques are incremental. Most improvements - whether cars, sports, business, marketing, etc. - come from mastering the basics.

[6stringmerc]

Well sometimes yeah, but I can state without reserve that when I tried a different set of strings - Ernie Ball Cobalt vs. the Slinky, I actually could hear a significant difference. Same goes for changing pick thickness. I think it's important to note that it's really only at the top % where improvements become kind of logarithmic / incremental. 10,000 hours is kind of just a start with guitar.

[mulmen]

Shouldn't that kind of change be measurable using both methods on wood from the same part of the same tree?

What is the nature of this "aged" quality that is desirable?