Yes, with an addition that it should be a good guitar to begin with. Enjoy!

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Nevin , i know what you mean , i stripped the poly off of my 89 strat and what a difference in sound now , it's much louder (unplugged) and rings like a church bell , i just gave mines a few coats of danish oil , looks and feels great . Did you remove the finish from the cavities as well ? i did there was no shielding in there anyway and it hasn't caused any unwanted noise , i think it has helped with the overall sound from the strat . Also i would have to say older guitars sound better than new ones i don't have any scientific proof , they just do

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I believe that guitars get more comfortable over time. I guess if a guitar gets more comfortable, you do tend to sound better using it.

My experience has always been that if I don't bond with a guitar after about 2-3 years, I trade it in. I DO give it a fair chance, but sometimes it's just not meant to be.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Never fear Nevin there is some truth to your observation, but the instrument needs to be played regularly. This phenomenon is more noticeable in acoustic instruments but there is evidence to show that it applies to solidbody electrics as well.

In your case the most noticeable difference in your sound resulted from removing the poly finish from your guitar. Also playing the same instrument results in a muscle memory in your hands that makes it more comfortable for you to play. A small difference in nut width, neck shape, or scale length affects your play.

Here's an older article from Acoustic Guitar about aging guitars.

http://www.acguitar.com/Gear/advice/vibration.shtml

Hey Nevin, I saw a documentary two or three years ago about the Stradivarius violins. A museum owning several of them had a guy dedicated to play them one by one everyday, the idea was to keep them in shape acoustically. Later in the documentary, they played a few Stradivarius and other top brand violins to a selected jury. The jury couldn't see the violins or the players. The idea was that the Stradivarius would be spotted almost instantly. Wrong, it was inconsistent and no one in the jury could spot all the Stradivarius. Maybe the fact that the violins were all top class instruments didn't help the jury. Anyways, everyboby knows that vibration will affect musical instruments in some good way. Maybe also the fact that a guy who owned a guitar for years finally learned to adjust and tweek it properly, and bond with it.
Claude.

I think it's you that is improving with age Nevin.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

Wine improves with age...

Just kidding, I noticed that too.

My Heritage H140CM Custom has changed of the years. When I first bought it, the neck moved quite frequently with the changing of temperature and humidity. I literally adjusted the truss rod with almost every string change. It's a little over 25 years old now and the neck has settled down completely and only requires an adjustment every year or so. It also seems to resonate better. I thinkthat as guitars age they change and not always for the better. But I think my Heritage has definitely gottan better as it has aged.

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I'm with you fellers!
www.thissideup.us

I think you're on to something Nevin,I think the guitars do get better with age and tend to settle in to something special at times depending on the individual guitar....that and what you said about becoming one with it.
I really understand what you're saying and it's hard to describe,but the feeling you get when you think,man,this just keeps getting better,well,that's a great feeling when you're chasing tone.

Hi Nevin,I don't think that playing a solid body electric improves the tone as it does on an acoustic as acoustics are made of very thin wood and the constant exposure to vibration makes the wood vibrate more freely over time.As a solid body is just that- a solid chunk of wood -there is very little vibration in the wood itself although I can see how stripping the finish could enhance any vibration in the wood as a thick finish would tend to deaden the wood and stripping would certainly enhance the highs.I know that over time a well played guitar will feel more comfortable as would an old pair of jeans or sneakers-familiarity breeds"content".

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.