Upgrading guitars

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dg.riff

New member
I've got a few decent guitars which I don't really want to mess with (e.g. Gibsons), so I'm thinking about getting a basic cheap guitar so that I can try my hand at upgrading/customising it. I've only got experience of replacing pups, but I'm keen to have a go at replacing all the electrics, the tuners, etc. Ideally I'd like to put in a couple of P-Rails and some extra switches - but we'll see!

I don't want to feel bad about making holes in it and possibly messing things up, but I do want the end result to be reasonably OK. I also don't really want a blatant 'copy' guitar so I was wondering about: an Ibanez GAX30, a Yamaha AES420 or maybe a cheaper ESP?

Does this sound like a wise idea, and can anyone suggest a better guitar for this?
 
Re: Upgrading guitars

yes, I do it all the time. Strats make GREAT mod guitars. Considering all you have to do is change the pickguard with no real damage to the guitar, you may want to look into a squier or some sort of clone.
 
Re: Upgrading guitars

Get an inexpensive Strat.

My 1995 MIA wasn't inexpensive but it has had a lot of work done to it over the years. The only original parts left are the body, neck and jack plate.
 
Re: Upgrading guitars

Something like a Mexican Strat is a great place to start but if you want something more LP/Gibson like that isn't going to cut it for you.

I'd probably be more inclined to go with something from the Ibanez Artist line in case I hit on something I really liked at least it was in a guitar that could go out and gig without falling apart.

There were some older GAX models that were a little better and made from mahogany if I recall correctly that would probably be all right.

You might look at some older Aria's that were similar in shape but were MIJ and real decent axes. Even look for a Westbury if you can find them, they were again similar in shape and really well made Japanese guitars. These should all put you in Gibson-ish territory and you won't feel too guilty about treating them like a lab rat.
 
Re: Upgrading guitars

Wattage said:
You might look at some older Aria's that were similar in shape but were MIJ and real decent axes. Even look for a Westbury if you can find them, they were again similar in shape and really well made Japanese guitars. These should all put you in Gibson-ish territory and you won't feel too guilty about treating them like a lab rat.
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+ 1 on oldish MIJ guitars.

I've just got a 1980 MIJ Vantage Les Paul Custom copy. After I've changed the cheap hardware, it feels just like a RI Gibby. It sounds and plays great and I bought it for a little less than 150 bucks.

Edwards, Burny, Tokai, Orville and most Matsumoku-made models (Aria, Aria Pro II, Vantage and Epiphone), aren't just GREAT guitars for the money... they're GREAT guitars, period!
 
Re: Upgrading guitars

Like everyone already said, a Strat-shaped guitar or anything with an easily replaceable pickguard would work out the best.

If it's a LP-style guitar you want then there are some good advices here already.

However I noticed you live in Europe so some of those would be harder to get (for a decent price that is) so I'd suggest you checked at some European-based on-line music stores like Thomann.de, musicstore.com or musik-schmidt.de

All of them ship to all of Europe and you won't have to pay any import taxes while shipping is cheap enough...
 
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