Not so much.
In a standard butted tube the wall thickness changes from end to end but is uniform around the circumference. The stresses on the tube, particularly those that correspond to vibrational modes, don't follow that same pattern. Considering the top tube for instance, it is supported differently in the vertical and horizontal planes so the vibrational modes in those planes are also different.
Thinking that might be important, I bought a plain gauge Ti frame and "butted" the tubes in a pattern governed by my understanding of the more important vibrational modes: the wall thicknesses changed along the length and around the circumference. This made what was to me a very perceptible difference to the ride quality of the frame, leading me to believe that much of what we perceive as ride quality is analogous to a signal to noise problem in audio (an area where I have a little experience).
That was in 2009, I'm still experimenting. I've moved away from Ti and am playing with composites of several materials. I'm expecting delivery of some boron fibre prepreg this week, I think this will be very interesting when combined with the three dimensional butting of a stainless steel tube and with some other bits and bobs.
Last edited by Mark Kelly; 10-30-12 at 04:58 AM.