Originally Posted by
sblock
I have no idea what you mean by "archival evidence." (A bunch of personal anecdotes and opinions, perhaps?) But I certainly do know what scientific evidence is. A few well-controlled, peer-reviewed scientific studies have been conducted to find out if mechanical vibrators, like the ToneRite (R), can improve the way an instrument sounds, by "breaking it in" more quickly than just playing. These things have been found not to work as claimed, through actual experiments. That said, there have not been many scientific studies on the phenomena popularly known as "breaking in" and "waking up." (And more exist in the violin world than the mandolin world). There are lots of reasons to believe that most of the explanation for these phenomena has more to do with the player, and his/her subjective perception, than any truly quantifiable, objective changes. You feel otherwise, and that's fine. But that is not an example of scientific thinking. In reality, it is extremely hard to separate, in a given player's mind, any small improvement in playing an instrument (which slowly improves over time, and also following each warm-up) from an improvement in the timbre of the instrument itself. BOTH these things contribute to the subjective sound of the instrument, as perceived by the player.
So, unless you have a well-controlled study that can separate these different things (which is possible to arrange), you do not have reliable evidence. But clearly, you have very strong beliefs that you do not choose to question. And that's your prerogative. But please don't confuse evidence and belief.
As for strong reactions, well, this is clearly a case of the pot calling the kettle black! Not only did you initiate this discussion by accusing others of reacting strongly (which, of course, is a strong reaction!), but you've gone so far as to accuse them of taking "offense" at your opinions. Well, we are not offended. But neither are we persuaded!
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