Beautiful Guitars Sound Better than Ugly Guitars

[Mark Hatcher]

Beautiful Guitars Sound Better than Ugly Guitars.

There I said it!

Usually the argument against this statement invokes science and "objective reality". There will be talks of double blind tests where experts can't hear the difference between a Stradivarius and a modern low end violin. They say we can't hear past our "bias". I say hooey!

So what's my argument. Am I going to invoke magic or some mystical hokey pokey? No, I'm going to invoke science.

What else does current science say about our perception of reality?

Here is a Ted Talk on the subject;

https://www.ted.com/talks/anil_seth_...scious_reality

Takeaways;

Your brain projects it's sense of reality by deciphering incoming electrical impulses along with an expectation of what these impulses will be.

It's a controlled hallucination

When people share a common controlled hallucination they call it "reality".

But wait there's more, another Ted Talk;

https://www.ted.com/talks/anjan_chat...t_is_beautiful

Takeaway;

Whether you are actively conscious of it or not when your brain perceives you are in the presence of beauty it is effects your perception of something in a positive way.

I sell guitars to humans. I want them to enjoy, be inspired, and bond with the guitar I build for them. I want to sell art to artists. Plus, I enjoy the creative process and strive to make beautiful instruments. I like to be around them too!

I am not going to apologize for this "bias" we have. The basis of this "bias" is why humans aren't already extinct.

When robots become a market for guitars I'll reconsider.

[iim7V7IM7]

Mark, perhaps I am an outlier, but I cannot begin to count the number of guitars that I have auditioned at luthier exhibitions because I thought they were aesthetically exquisite. Their visual aesthetics attracted me enough to audition them, but once played, I knew that they were just not for me. Perhaps this is not inconsistent with your proposition. If I wasn't visually attracted to them in the first place, I might have liked them less after auditioning them?

[Mr Fingers]

I dunno. I think a visually arresting instrument may entice us to listen more carefully and thus discover more layers of beauty in the sounds we hear from it. I also think that expensive, beautiful guitars are generally made with better materials, so I would expect them to function better.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Beauty is what we call informed perception. We learn to appreciate balances of color and form, and some creative persons become adept at arranging these attributes in ways that please us. They are often called artists.

Tone is another form of beauty that we can learn to appreciate. There is much discussion as to just which tone is preferred, and little agreement about adjectives to describe tone, but some luthiers none the less seem to have a handle on preferred tonal flavors, and they tend to be recognized for their achievement by being able to command a decent price for their work, possibly even being able to make a living making guitars.

Even better, a very few luthiers have been able to not only get a tone that guitar players can agree to be beautiful, but they can also balance the woods, finish, and graphics aspects of their instruments to appear beautiful to the eye, beyond the conservative guitar, which is pleasant enough on its own. These luthiers could be called artists, too, more than just competent artisans, but it is an appropriation of the title, and arguably misused.

I believe there is another layer yet where aesthetics CAN play a major part in the making of guitars. As the eye becomes educated regarding what is beautiful and what is not, the eye learns to see beauty in that which works well, and find less beauty in that which is dysfunctional. This is an inversion af the old adage, "form follows function", which become "function follows form". The idea is that when an artisan's eye becomes sufficiently informed about what is working wonderfully, it then becomes possible to make the (guitar, in our case) work even better through the mechanism of making it more beautiful. Analytically, this describes a means of tapping the subconscious database of all experience through the mechanism of aesthetics. When the artisan uses this method, he/she has moved into the realm artist with much greater certainty.

I hope, Mark, that these thoughts build on or at least relate to your interesting post. I have yet to hold your work, but you are at the very least a good photographer, and I look forward to the moment.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

Mark, perhaps I am an outlier, but I cannot begin to count the number of guitars that I have auditioned at luthier exhibitions because I thought they were aesthetically exquisite. Their visual aesthetics attracted me enough to audition them, but once played, I knew that they were just not for me. Perhaps this is not inconsistent with your proposition. If I wasn't visually attracted to them in the first place, I might have liked them less after auditioning them?

I'm not implying beauty is the only element of our perception in how a guitar sounds. This thread is about the part it does play.

[Christopher Cozad]

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

...Your brain projects it's sense of reality by deciphering incoming electrical impulses along with an expectation of what these impulses will be...

...Whether you are actively conscious of it or not when your brain perceives you are in the presence of beauty it is effects your perception of something in a positive way...

Soooo...*if* we could control/override/mask the "incoming electrical impulses" we wouldn't have to work so hard? ;~}

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

Beauty is what we call informed perception. We learn to appreciate balances of color and form, and some creative persons become adept at arranging these attributes in ways that please us. They are often called artists.

Tone is another form of beauty that we can learn to appreciate. There is much discussion as to just which tone is preferred, and little agreement about adjectives to describe tone, but some luthiers none the less seem to have a handle on preferred tonal flavors, and they tend to be recognized for their achievement by being able to command a decent price for their work, possibly even being able to make a living making guitars.

Even better, a very few luthiers have been able to not only get a tone that guitar players can agree to be beautiful, but they can also balance the woods, finish, and graphics aspects of their instruments to appear beautiful to the eye, beyond the conservative guitar, which is pleasant enough on its own. These luthiers could be called artists, too, more than just competent artisans, but it is an appropriation of the title, and arguably misused.

I believe there is another layer yet where aesthetics CAN play a major part in the making of guitars. As the eye becomes educated regarding what is beautiful and what is not, the eye learns to see beauty in that which works well, and find less beauty in that which is dysfunctional. This is an inversion af the old adage, "form follows function", which become "function follows form". The idea is that when an artisan's eye becomes sufficiently informed about what is working wonderfully, it then becomes possible to make the (guitar, in our case) work even better through the mechanism of making it more beautiful. Analytically, this describes a means of tapping the subconscious database of all experience through the mechanism of aesthetics. When the artisan uses this method, he/she has moved into the realm artist with much greater certainty.

I hope, Mark, that these thoughts build on or at least relate to your interesting post. I have yet to hold your work, but you are at the very least a good photographer, and I look forward to the moment.

Thanks for commenting Bruce and when you do hold one of my guitars I hope you both see and hear beauty

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Christopher Cozad

Soooo...*if* we could control/override/mask the "incoming electrical impulses" we wouldn't have to work so hard? ;~}

To a point maybe until you started getting hungry!

[Bruce Sexauer]

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

Thank for commenting Bruce and when you do hold one of my guitars I hope you both see and hear beauty

Our common customer has offered to bring his for my scrutiny at WILS. I hope that happens.

[Christopher Cozad]

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

To a point maybe until you started getting hungry!

True, true. Just imagine the meals you could purchase if you could be the luthier to lure Willie Nelson away from his beloved guitar, Trigger.

While I am with you 100%, regarding attention to detail and aesthetic beauty (and you do really nice work, BTW!), I am constantly dumbfounded by the sheer volume of purchase or non-purchase decisions that perceive beauty completely differently than I do.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

Our common customer has offered to bring his for my scrutiny at WILS. I hope that happens.

Well if he does, I would like to hear your impressions.

[Looburst]

You guys overthink this crap way too often.

[Christopher Cozad]

Originally Posted by Looburst

You guys overthink this crap way too often.

LOL

Goes with the territory. And it can be fun, too!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Christopher Cozad

True, true. Just imagine the meals you could purchase if you could be the luthier to lure Willie Nelson away from his beloved guitar, Trigger.

While I am with you 100%, regarding attention to detail and aesthetic beauty (and you do really nice work, BTW!), I am constantly dumbfounded by the sheer volume of purchase or non-purchase decisions that perceive beauty completely differently than I do.

Thanks Christopher. Willie Nelson's Trigger hmm I don't think that will happen. He's got the whole mojo mystique going on there and it's a thing of beauty in it's own way. Reminds me of the story about a cleaners in Princeton that patched a hole in one of Einstein's sweaters and had to put it back when Einstein got so mad!
There are many ways to see beauty, maybe whoever knows the most wins! Or maybe they are disqualified for being so indiscriminate?

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Looburst

You guys overthink this crap way too often.

Thanks for your comments, no just kidding.