Modify your guitar?

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Bigstu323

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Would you modify a guitar to suit your needs knowing it will affect the resale value of the guitar. Examples would be Robin finck or do ashba and their les paul layouts. Or my PRS with a single coil in te neck. Love to hear other views on this.
 
Re: Modify your guitar?

I never worry about resale value... I do whatever i like.. but that being I generally dont go crazy with mods anyways... I tend to buy guitars that already fit my needs.
 
Re: Modify your guitar?

I ALWAYS modify my guitars. Even if it's "perfect", I will try to find an excuse to modify.
 
Re: Modify your guitar?

I use to modify guitars...now I have them built. I buy unsanded bodies with the pickgup configuration I want. Allparts makes a good neck for the price but I prefer Warmoth. I do have a Musikraft neck on a project to be finished–it looks like it has as good of quality as the Warmoth. But I haven't played it yet so I don't know what to think of it yet.

From my experience, most changes will not add value to your guitar. Unless someone is looking for the exact same mod, it usually hurts the value. Its nice to say you put "X" dollars into it...but most people don't care about that–they know the relative value of the guitar (based off of others available on the market/internet) and will most likely just go with the best price.
 
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Re: Modify your guitar?

I'm glad I'm not the only. I seriously hate the standard les paul lay out, but love the tone of the guitars. Also sanded necks are awesome!
 
Re: Modify your guitar?

I use to modify guitars...now I have them built. I buy unsanded bodies with the pickgup configuration I want. Allparts makes a good neck for the price but I prefer Warmoth. I do have a Musikraft neck on a project to be finished–it looks like it has as good of quality as the Warmoth.

I love Warmoth too, no need to modify when you can just custom order a guitar. I only play on unfinished necks too, I love the feel of the raw neck.

Before I started playing Warmoths I was modifying a lot of guitars. Now I just order what I want.
 
Re: Modify your guitar?

Sometimes I'm reminded that a stock Strat has two tone controls and neither one affects the bridge, and I'm momentarily revolted. I can't believe that so many guitarists are OK with it like that. It makes no sense, especially after the 5 way selector became standard.

Speaking of resale value, one commonly trotted out excuse people make for spending extra on MIA guitars is better resale value, which is a dubious considering it costs that much more to begin with, but that also means you can't perform any non reversible mods, and it also means you have to be that much more careful about damaging it.
 
Re: Modify your guitar?

Sometimes I'm reminded that a stock Strat has two tone controls and neither one affects the bridge, and I'm momentarily revolted. I can't believe that so many guitarists are OK with it like that. It makes no sense, especially after the 5 way selector became standard.

I couldn't agree more.
 
Re: Modify your guitar?

Sometimes I'm reminded that a stock Strat has two tone controls and neither one affects the bridge, and I'm momentarily revolted. I can't believe that so many guitarists are OK with it like that..
Me neither, although I opt to just take them out. Also another point is why would people spend a fortune on a guitar made in America? I've never own a USA guitar, it just seems daft to spend so much on an axe when mortgage etc needs paying. I would just go for an epiphone if I'm modding.
 
Re: Modify your guitar?

Me neither, although I opt to just take them out. Also another point is why would people spend a fortune on a guitar made in America? I've never own a USA guitar, it just seems daft to spend so much on an axe when mortgage etc needs paying. I would just go for an epiphone if I'm modding.

American made instruments are very, very good when they're done right. That's why. I don't think too many people modify USA made guitars significantly anyway.
 
Re: Modify your guitar?

Me neither, although I opt to just take them out. Also another point is why would people spend a fortune on a guitar made in America? I've never own a USA guitar, it just seems daft to spend so much on an axe when mortgage etc needs paying. I would just go for an epiphone if I'm modding.

Why buy an epiphone when you can just buy an agile... seems daft to spend that much on an axe when there are other things that need paying.
 
Re: Modify your guitar?

Me neither, although I opt to just take them out. Also another point is why would people spend a fortune on a guitar made in America? I've never own a USA guitar, it just seems daft to spend so much on an axe when mortgage etc needs paying. I would just go for an epiphone if I'm modding.

Well, not to be rude but seeing as you said "I've never own[ed] a USA guitar" I assume you don't know the difference between a USA and a Made Elsewhere. The only acoustic guitar from another country I've played that could potentially rival a less expensive USA made was Larrivee–and I believe some of those are/were made in the USA. For electrics I have never played anything remotely close to my dad's Wayne (made by Wayne and Michael Charvel out in California) guitars.

That being said, I don't make money off of my guitars so I would rather build one at a fraction of the cost of the high end USA models because I have 3 guitars for the price of one of my dad's Wayne guitars. If you are fine with a MIM, MIJ, MIK, etc. then that is great–you have to go with want you like and can afford. The Charvels of the 80's were awesome guitars, and still are, but I would still take a USA Charvel over a MIJ. Same way with the Jackson Soloists.
 
Re: Modify your guitar?

Sometimes I'm reminded that a stock Strat has two tone controls and neither one affects the bridge, and I'm momentarily revolted. I can't believe that so many guitarists are OK with it like that. It makes no sense, especially after the 5 way selector became standard.

My first mod is always moving the rear tone control to the bridge pickup. I run the middle pup without tone control.
 
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I modded five out of the last eight guitars I owned prior to my most recent two purchases. I currently own one that I don't like well enough to modify and another for which I am waiting for the pickguard to arrive before digging in. So I guess I modify exactly 2/3 of them.
 
Re: Modify your guitar?

I have American guitars, and I have overseas-made ones. All-in-all "quality" is relative, and each guitar can be taken on a case-by-case basis. That said... I mod everything without drilling holes (except for locking tuners). I don't rent my instruments, I buy them to own. I generally don't add controls (usually the opposite), or anything that would require altering anything that heavily. I hate taking wood out of a guitar, and Les Pauls look silly when you start getting extra controls on the body.
 
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