I know this question can seem strange, but, I think it´s true that if one plays his electric guitar often, it kind of sounds better the more we play it, I don´t know what is it, as if some kind of "magic" , as if the energy of it all is absorbed by the guitar: my energy, the electrical energy, the musical energy, everything. Whenever 4 some reason I´ve stopeed playin a particular guitar, it kind of takes time to build that "energy" and start sounding good again.
Probably a Metaphysicyst would have some interesting thoughts on it: "How the musical energy affects our instrument and us"

Yea, it's called orgone energy

Its not metaphysical its just plain old common sense and science. The more you play it the better it gets...

I think the more we play the better we get if anything else.

vintage,

some instruments take time to get used to. for instance, my 1st guitar was a classical acoustic.
when i went from there to a dreadnought, i needed time to get used to.
i know probably not the same.

but im trying to reach my point.
then my 1st strat was a hwy1, the neck is great, albeit, feels different than my am std.
then when i got my cp 60s, i used it for the king of the blues comp, with a couple of weeks ownership.
i believe my hands neeeded time to get used to the 12 inch radii.

brings me to my findings. SIMPLE, the more you play it, the more the MOJO>>>>> you hear, and feel.

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008

That´s the point, why does it get better? what happens there?
I have a friend that owns more than 15 electric guitars, and he kind of feels the same way about playing them often.
Sure can be the "getting used to thing" but I do beleive somehow they absorb our energy.

Familiarity does not always breed contempt.

More likely the more you play a guitar, the better you get, and the more famliar you become with all the subtle idiosynracies (sp?) of that particular guitar. The guitar itself doesn't get better.

well put

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008

Well guys I think I will have to show you pieces of maple, mahogany, rosewood, spruce, cedar, well name it, so 30+ years old vs one having few months. And this having these boards never been under vibrations!
You could be shocked!

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E.J. Strat 2006
American special tele (2011) with custom shop nocaster pu
Mexican Jazz bass fretless
Gibson Howard Roberts
Ibanez Roadstar II
MESA Express 5:25

I think its a lot more simple than any mystical happenings and has far more to do with common sense.

The more you play a guitar, the more broke in it gets. Just like speakers. The more broke in the guitar gets the more comfortable you are with it. Consequently you play better on it and therefore sound better on it too.

My favourite cost me £200 fifteen years ago, its undergone a fair few mods. Infact only the neck is original. It's been shaped by me, through play and design, to suit me perfectly. My most expensive cost me ten times the price of that old £200 knacker. It doesnt get a look in. Theres no other instrument on this planet I favour over that old cheapie MIM neck, body and pickups. I certainly cant play anything else like that guitar. Anyone else would probably think it's fit for firewood.

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No no and no

run this by me again

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Your Fender HSS Standard Stratocaster in Electron Blue was made at the Fender Ensenada Plant in Mexico in the Year: 2008.
Final Assembly Date: July 30th, 2008
Model Number: 013 4700 587
Serial # MZ8031252

Absolutely older acoustic guitars sound better with age. Providing they were built well to begin with. They operate on a completely different set of principles to electric guitars.

I just dont think its true of electric guitars. Yes I've played some nice vintage guitars. Theres nothing in it soundwise between a 63 tele and a 09 one of decent quality. I tried the 63 in november and quickly picked up a 09 deluxe. I did consider the 63 but only for investment purposes.

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No no and no

I'm going back aways here, but I seem to recall a similar discussion regarding the pros and cons of "breaking in" new electric guitars. It was brought up that some touring pro or pros would actually take their new guitars and put them on stands in front of their own amps while they played. This was presumably to insure that the first vibrations "felt" by the new guitar were of the guitarist's own music and playing. Does this sound familiar to anyone else?

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“All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song.” Louis Armstrong

I can't see how any amount of playing would make a solid body electric guitarsound better,this may be the case with semi hollows such as the 335 to a very small extent or a hollow like the Epiphone Casino as the vibrations over the years penetrate the wood allowing it to resonate more as time goes on that's is a good part of the reason that a well played Martin 000-28 would almost always sound better than a late model one even though the same woods,dimensions and bracing etc. are used.A solid chunk of mahogany doesn't have the same resonating properties as a 1/8"thick piece of the same wood so no amount of aging or playing would produce a noticeable difference.That's why a 300 yr old Strativarius continues to sweeten with age it's all down to resonance and vibrations.

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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.