To my mind, it matters. And it doesn't.

A beautiful and virtually blemish-free instrument *could* tell the audience that it spends most of its time sitting unused. OTOH, it could also tell that the player just takes fanatically good care of it so that it always looks pretty.

OTOH OTOH, if an instrument looks like it has been through both world wars and the next one but sounds like a piece of Heaven, that could say that the player is more into function than appearances.

And somewhere in the middle...somewhere in the middle. But I would *think* that whatever it looks like, that the player would want top notch sound.

Put this in different contexts. Think of...a dwelling, a vehicle, a romantic partner, and so on.

I have a bicycle that I used to ride all over. Others would remark on how ugly it was. It was dubbed the most UNstealable bike in town. Underneath the four different colors of paint, primer, and electrical tape lay a bike that was in better mechanical condition than most of the other bikes around. And yes, many of the pretty bikes didn't see much use. But also, some of the pretty bikes DID see use. Just that their owners spent much time and attention on cleaning and waxing them, cause that mattered to them.

Basically, I think attitudes go all across the spectrum, and that they are all valid. That is the wonder of the human condition, methinks.

Saul