Who's modding cheap guitars?

Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

I agree that a cheap guitar will never be at the same level as an expensive one - just aint gonna happen, but that doesnt mean it cant still be a great guitar.

I have a couple of low-end Epiphones (a Special & Jr) that I bought used and very cheap on Craigslist - both have mahagony (very cheap mahagony, lol) bodies & necks and are pretty sweet. I replaced the tuners and pickups with Gibsons, and the knobs & nuts (Graphtech) on both as well. I also lowered the action on 'em, & tweaked the truss rods and intonation. They both play/sound killer now, & since I bought all the parts used as well, I've got less than $350 into them which includes what I paid for the guitars themselves.

I think what makes this all possible these days is modern machining, the current glut of gear, and of course overseas labor. It's a great time to be a guitar player. :)
 
Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

Do these count? $50 Dean B Vendetta's





Used to be this:

 
Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

Aceman, I keep seeing those around from box sets and kids not liking them. Are they really bad, or semi-bad? I mean to say I expect the bodies to be plywood, but are the necks workable? I actually like those Vendetta guitar shapes and looks, but don't want to have a total p.o.s. laying around.

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Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

The Dean Vendetta are nice guitars. IMO they are a bit under priced. ( hope DEAN doe not read this). They are beginners guitars but I think better than most others in the same price range.
 
Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

A REAL Dean Vendetta is a nice guitar and under-priced

B0009K6A1O-1.jpg


These are crap in all sorts of ways (details next)

B000GBAR5G-1.jpg


Tuners are meh
Pups are less than meh (unless DMT's - but most don't have those)
Electronics pffft
Nut varies...

The body is...can't remember. Guy told me the other day. Nice and light though. It IS wood. [edit: Paulownia]

The necks as far as comfort/feel etc go are pretty decent honestly. Not to big, but has some meet. Good shape. Smooth satin unfinished back. Plays nice.
I would only put a pup with a LOT of personality in these. Which as you can see (Detonator, Blackout...) is what I do. Fun as hell for 50 bones and I play them a LOT! Grab and go.

Quality, not at all. Crap, perhaps. But again...not why I got them.
 
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Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

I'm okay with a guitar if the body is stable and the neck is clean and functional. Everything else is modular, sort of cheap, or has a very durable 2nd hand market. Essentially, buying a throwaway Dean, adding a pair of forum special pups and some functional tuners and string holding widgets would make a pretty functional guitar.

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Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

I've modded all of mine. Pickups in Brownie, pickups and tuners on red, pickup on the Resonators, pickup and tuners on the 5th Ave., pots and switches in all electrics, pickup in the lap steel. If I total all that money and buy 1 guitar I will have 1 guitar. These allow me the different sounds I after, and the different tunings.
 
Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

Aceman said:
The body is...can't remember. Guy told me the other day. Nice and light though. It IS wood. [edit: Paulownia]
Click to expand...

Paulownia is a great tone wood imo that's why i used it for the wings on my current build. Many families around here have large plantations of it, I think it was a marketed as a wonder investment but it never turned out that way.
My only issues is its way too soft. Other than that i love it its a a great timber tonally and its extremely light
 
Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

Definitely in the light and bright category - but not super brittle sounding or anything.

Again - the pickups i put in would;d sound the same in a 2x4
 
Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

I bought a Fender Lite Ash Stratocaster (MIK) used at a local guitar shop for $275 w/ an SKB hardshell case. This particular Fender was made by Cort in Korea, so aftermarket "metric" products that normally fit MIM/MIJ Fenders didn't even fit on this guitar since Cort apparently uses their own damn specs. More trial and error went into this project than I cared for at the time, but I think in the end, this guitar turned out to be pretty awesome and worth the effort!

Mods: Seymour Duncan Hot/Vintage/Cool Rails pickups, CTS pots, Grover locking tuners, GraphTech string trees, GraphTech TUSQ XL Nut, 5-ply Black Pearl pickguard, Wilkinson VS50-IIK tremolo, Switchcraft output jack, Schaller strap locks, Customized neck plate, and all black screws.


BEFORE:




AFTER:




 
Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

Took a Lotus strat copy and replaced everything but the body and output plate.
What it looked like when I bought it for $80;
3718373-1.jpg

Now;
nulotus.jpg
The neck is from a pal's RG470 that I got for buying him a couple pints. Had a luthier remove the 23rd and 24th frets and micro routed the sides of it's heel to fit in the pocket. Switched to passives since the pic. Now its got some parts swap pickup in the neck and an Invader in the bridge.(got a JB waiting to be installed) The pickguard is custom from Terrapin. The center image lights up with a LED I installed.
 
Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

I am currently mixing and matching MIJ Charvel Model series parts. The intention is to end up with two working instruments. One nearly straight Model 3 with EMGs and a "Frankenstein" Model 4 that seems destined to serve as a MIDI Guitar controller.

The sounds from an EMG-SLV in the neck position of the basswood/maple/JT-6 Model 3 have been a revelation. I am tempted to buy a second -SLV and an -85 to complete the Lukather illusion.
 
Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

I had an 80's Washburn A10-V many years ago. I liked the neck, the action, the playability a lot. It played as easily as any USa guitar. It looked pretty hot too, with a metallic magenta finish and black binding. So it was a well made guitar, from a craftsmanship standpoint.
But the stock bridge pickup was microphonic. So out went the stock pickups, and it got a PRS HFS at the bridge and a Duncan Seymourizer II in the neck. That mod went just fine, and it sounded great.

The guitar also wouldn't stay in tune due to the whammy bar and the steeply angled headstock. I put an LSR roller nut and Sperzel locking tuners on it. Those mods went relatively OK. I had to get creative putting the roller nut on - a shim or two was necessary.

But the bridge on that guitar was hopeless. The brass saddles had sharp edges which broke strings. The bridge itself was so soft that the fulcrum edges were dull, and it made an audible clunk when used. It couldn't be set up to float because it would never return in tune when used. This was the reason that the guitar ultimately was unusable for gigging. I see some of you have replaced bridges on your inexpensive Asian guitars. My hat is off to you. That's more skill than I have, and more trouble than I was willing to go to.

Though it's never easy to part with a guitar, I ended up trading the Washburn A10-V for an ESP custom Strat style guitar at a local shop. I've never regretted that decision and I still play that ESP a lot. BTW that ESP also got locking tuners and Duncan and Dimarzio pickups to replace the stock ones. Those mods worked out just fine.

I know that the Korean and even Chinese made guitars today are better than they were in the old days. But my experiences with inexpensive guitars in my youth helped make me into a confessed made-in-USA snob. I have the ESP and a couple of overseas made basses and guitars, but most of my instruments these days are USA Hamers, PRS's, Peavey, Carvin, Jackson, Robin, etc.

I have an old photo of me with the Washburn somewhere. Maybe I'll scan it and post it.
 
Re: Who's modding cheap guitars?

Kosh Naranek said:
I know that the Korean and even Chinese made guitars today are better than they were in the old days. But my experiences with inexpensive guitars in my youth helped make me into a confessed made-in-USA snob.
Click to expand...

The old imports really were pretty bad, but instead of turning me off to them forever, I've come to really appreciate how the quality and consistency's improved, especially since the guitar market got so competitive in the last 5 years (due to the faltering economy, manufacturers are fighting for sales).
 
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