Bill Sheehan
Well-known member
Can a very inexpensive guitar "improve with age and usage" much the same as a finer one? I got myself a classical guitar via Amazon about 5 weeks ago; the brand name is ADM ("All Day Music"), and it was under a hundred dollars. I had to knock back some sharp fret ends, and the fret board looked a little thirsty so I cleaned and conditioned it with one of my trusty Ernie Ball fret board wipes, and I also changed the strings. At first, I found this guitar to be just kind of "so-so", although the neck was decently set and the action and intonation were fine. The sound was okay, but nothing to write home about. But today, 5 weeks later, after playing the devil out of it, I felt an awareness, as I did another string change, that 1) the guitar seems to feel much more comfortable in my hands than when I first got it; and 2) the guitar's tone seems to have taken on a warmth and a "tightness" that is very pleasant to my ear, and which wasn't present in the first couple of weeks. In fact, I like the sound so much, and the guitar feels so good to hold, that I no longer feel the urge to look for something more "upscale". Has anyone else experienced this with a budget instrument?