[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by SongwriterFan

...If one can't identify 10 guitar recordings (same passage and player, different guitars) after multiple years, then how can he possibly tell if his guitar has opened up?

Hi SF...
How can a recording ever provide the tactile feedback of the pressure of the strings when squeezed together by the picking hand, or the resonance of a guitar against the chest, and the tactile feedback of the string tension under the fretting hand? Or how much resistance there is when strumming through the strings with the nail or plectrum? How can a recording replicate the feel of harmonics when struck? Or the liveliness (or lack of it) in the attack on the strings?

How can any of these be divorced from the process and experience of playing a guitar? It would be like sampling coffee by only sniffing it after being brewed without being allowed to taste it. Playing a guitar is not just about hearing what a microphone hears, it is a multi-dimensional experience.