choose based on superficiality or do we choose based on sound quality?
I myself make the choice based on both, but I tend to appreciate sound
the most.
Its not to say that I must have a beautiful flute, as none of my personal
flutes are even as beautiful as the ones I sell or any of my class' flutes,
but they do not repulse me either.
Throughout my life, people have asked me to "decorate" their flutes. Not
to be rude, but any decoration of something as special or personal as a
flute or a pipe should be done by its owner. My flutes have no decorations
other than some lace which holds them together.
If someone ever offered me an instrument and called it "traditional" -
covered with beads and feathers, I would be disgraced. Most of the ideas
that people have of Native Americans are based loosely on stories that
are not true (and tend to stretch the truth to the farthest extent,) as well
as their own (sometimes drug induced) beliefs - which can not be proven
to them as untrue.