I'm just not convinced that a better looking bat will hit the ball further.
My personal experience does seem to agree with a grainier bat being quicker to play but still I think so much of that is pressing specific as well. If you took a nice straight 12 grainer and 5 grainer from the same bat maker, I'm pretty sure the 12 grainer would play better sooner however.
The grade 1 in the pic is a good example, gave it a bit of work on the edges and toe the same as I would any bat and a few minutes on the face just to test it but other than that I was happy that the face was match ready straight away.