A good musician will still sound pretty good on a crappy instrument, but will sound a lot better on a really good instrument. It doesn't much matter for a crappy musician -- bad music sounds just as bad on a great instrument as on a bad instrument.

I've had the experience of watching someone pick up a guitar that I knew sounded like crap and make it sing, partially because he quickly found the style of playing that worked on that instrument and went with it. I've also had the experience of playing a Flatiron octave mandolin and trying to use some of the octave mandolin styles I was hearing on albums and never quite being able to get there. I was assuming I was listening to musical magicians and that I was chopped liver. Then I got my hands on a Sobell cittern and could immediately play everything I was hearing in my head.

So, yes, a good musician can still sound great on a bad instrument, but also a bad instrument can hold you back from being able to play past an intermediate level. I would say it's both the musician and the instrument. It would be interesting to hear the same CD project using a $95 mandolin and a $150 guitar.

John Peekstok