What Makes Instruments Easy to Play: Instruments Don't Have Identical Twins - Article 2 of 3

Instruments Don’t Have Identical Twins

What Makes an Instrument Work — Article 2 of 3

In the previous article, we examined how setup can make two apparently identical instruments feel and sound different. Setup, however, is the final, adjustable distinction between instruments.

A more fundamental set of differences exist, even when two instruments appear the same.“Appear” is the key word.

As hard as builders strive for consistency, instruments that have identical specifications cannot behave identically in your hands. Just like identical twins, there are subtle differences that you will spot if you spend enough time with the two of them.

The Expectation Problem

It’s a reasonable assumption: If two instruments share the same builder, model, materials, and specifications, they should feel the same. But they don’t.

That difference isn’t random—it comes from a combination of factors that are easy to overlook because they’re not visible.

Where the Differences Come From

Materials: No Two Pieces of Wood Are the Same

Wood is not a uniform material.

Even when it comes from the same species, supplier, or batch, each tree grows uniquely and each piece of wood has its own:

• Density

• Grain structure

• Stiffness

• Internal damping

These properties affect how an instrument vibrates, how quickly it responds, and how much energy it requires to produce sound.

Construction: Small Differences Add Up

Instrument making—whether highly automated or fully handmade—operates within tolerances.  Those tolerances are small, but they accumulate:

• Slight differences in thickness

• Subtle variations in shaping

• Minute differences in alignment

Individually, these differences probably seem insignificant. Cumulatively, however, they can profoundly influence how the instrument responds.

This is true whether an instrument is built one at a time or as part of a production run.

Setup: Still a Factor, Is Not But Not the Whole Story

As discussed in the previous article, setup can make a huge difference in playability. Setup, however, cannot overcome the intrinsic differences created by the materials and construction of the instrument. Two instruments can be indistinguishable visually, both be “properly set up” and still:

• Require slightly different left hand pressure or right hand attack

• Respond at different speeds (e.g., a stiffer or denser top may produce a quicker initial response, while a more flexible one may feel slightly slower but fuller)

• Produce different tonal response

  
  

  (e.g, small differences in top thickness, arching, bracing, or even glue and finish choices can affect whether a sound blooms and sustains, or speaks quickly and decays rapidly)

The more similar two instruments appear, the more surprising differences in instruments’ responses can be.

The Player Factor

An instrument doesn’t exist in isolation. It exists in relationship to the player, and each player is as unique as each instrument. The player brings their own technique, and the differences between players interact with the differences between instruments. This is where the experience can start to feel mysterious.

It can seem like something out of a story—like a wand choosing its wizard. The “magic” we perceive when an instrument seems to “choose” its player is Physics.

It comes down to how a myriad of minute variations in unseen things in the instrument (wood density, bracing, glue, top thickness…) responds to an equally large set of attributes wrapped into in a player’s style (subtle differences in finger angle or pressure, pick or bow attack, timing…).

For me, that is magic.

Why It Matters

This is why two players can have completely different reactions to the same instrument (or two instruments respond completely differently to the same player).

It’s why someone might pick up one instrument and immediately feel comfortable, while another—on paper, identical—feels harder to control.

It’s why choosing an instrument is not a purely logical process. Specifications matter. Builder reputation matters. Materials matter. At some point, however, it comes down to how the instrument responds to you.

Implications for Purchasing

It’s also why, in our opinion, ordering an instrument online—even with a generous return policy—even from us—isn’t the best way to find an instrument.

Photos, specifications, and descriptions can tell you a lot, but they can’t tell you whether an instrument will “choose” you.

A generous return policy can help you avoid ending up with something that doesn’t suit you, but doesn’t allow you to sit with several instruments at once, and explore the subtleties that allow you to find THE one.

The Takeaway

Two instruments can share design specs, have the same materials, and come from the same maker—and still be very different.

It’s not a flaw in the process. It is the process.

There is no such thing as “the best instrument” in the abstract. The best instrument is the one that has the unseen variations in materials and construction that uniquely respond to your playing.

Your job (and joy) is to find the one that “chooses” you.

Looking Ahead

In the next article, we’ll look at what happens when that relationship goes the wrong direction—when an instrument starts to work against the player instead of with them.

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This article is part of What Makes an Instrument Work series.

• What Makes Instruments Easy to Play - What “Setup” Really Means (Article 1 of 3)

• Instruments Don't Have Identical Twins (this article)

• An Instrument Can Help or Hinder You (Article 3 of 3)