Quote:
Originally Posted by Herb Hunter
The so-called opening up process is a natural quality of wood and not a function of guitar brand.
I would never buy a guitar whose tone didn’t fully satisfy me in hopes that its sound would improve sufficiently over time.
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You're right. It's about the wood. Maple, for instance, will open up tons while rosewood (in the short term) not as much. And there are two ways they open: Vibration and loosening of the fibers, and then aging and drying of the lignin (polymers). You can do the former artificially with a Tonerite device (or play it every day for years). The latter just happens over time, though some tops are now "torrified" to artificially dry the lignin. But it must be noted that the torrification process must be hit or miss because it appears to be very selectively done.
So, while you may not like a Taylor 614ce or a Gibson SJ-200 out of the box, these two guitar have significantly more potential in time after significant playing a guitar like an 814 or Martin D28/35 will take years to find age properly to it's full potential. So if you don't want to wait or do anything to encourage aging you're right in picking a guitar that will only change incrementally over time.