Well this is the big one that puzzles me on the Harmony Central forum as I see guys spending 2 to 3 grand on a guitar and then list 2 to 3 mods they have waiting at home to perform on it. I have owned over 30 guitars in my life and have modded 2.

I dont consider pup height, or raising or lowering your action a mod, these are just things to do that make the guitar more comfortable to your style. If I was going to spend 3 K and then mod I would just go a bit more and have it custom made.

As far as locking tuners I love them and can see someone making that change but hopefully without having to drill out bigger holes. The only two guitars I modded were Teles with DiMarzio Fast Track pups years ago and one turned into one of my most cherished axes and the other a piece of sh!t-go figure.

I spend a lot of time on ebay and the funny thing is that in a mod happy world one of the most asked questions and deal breakers is has the guitar been modded. And these are not vintage guitars I am talking about.

I always ask this quesion too, and there are a couple of reasons for doing so. Primarily, if the guitar has been modded I still want to know what i'm paying for. Secondly, If mods were done I want to know who did the work (there are a few techs around town that I wouldnt let set up my anvil!).

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

I'm neither pro nor anti modding - though surely we need to play the gear a bit before discovering things we want to change about it...?

As it happens, none of my guitars bought new have ever been modded in any way at all - except for a Ninjanut and compensated saddles added to a Telecaster. To address a particular intonation issue, obviously.

Never done any amp or pedal modification either - too stupid to know how!

Mind you, if I could get electronics into my brain I can think of a couple of pedals I'd like to build from the ground up. Sadly, I don't think it's ever going to happen...

Cheers - C

That depends on what piece of gear we're talking about and what the mod is. If I wanted to buy an American Standard Strat because I wanted a color that was only available in that series, I would buy it but I wouldn't want the non-hum canceling pickups it comes with. I would order replacement pickups as soon as I ordered the guitar.

To each his own, but I was all into looking at new amps, guitars, etc. until I sat down one night and went through all the manual and programmed settings with my old Johnson JT-50 modeling amp and my two Strats... I went through all the settings with both my Am Deluxe Strat and my CP 50s Strat... It was then I realized I hadn't really experimented with all the possible tones, effects, etc. that I have available with what I already have.. So, I figure I ought to know what's possible with what I have before I go adding new possibilities... and I didn't even try anything with the '86 MIJ Strat that I also have..

So, for me, modding sounds fun and is something I want to do but other than basic upgrades or cosmetic changes, I'm not ready to dismantle anything I've got now in search of that one magic tone or whatever... I'm not knocking other people doing extensive modding -- to each his own, whether one wants to play, collect, or tinker...

This pretty much all boils down to two schools of thought where a poll should be taken:

Which school are you in?

1. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

2. "If it ain't broke, then by all means, fix it."

Keeping my opinion out of this, I must say, I do get a kick out of how the word, "upgrade" is freely substituted for a mere lateral and oftentimes, dubious modification.

I will say this though, certain modifications shouldn't even be considered as such. Rather, they should be considered practical necessities. A few examples:

1. Installing Straplocks on all valuable guitars.
2. Tossing the 'dust cover' (gig bag) in favor of a hardshell case for all valuable guitars.
3. Replacing that POS OEM input jack on all MIMs with a Switchcraft one.
4. Setups to personal taste outside of OEM specs.

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You dig?

I get a kick out of the term "upgrades" when folks say they've "upgraded pickups to Seymour Duncans" or the like. Well, if you like the new pickups, then that change could be considered an upgrade but if you don't like them, it's a downgrade.

That's exactly what I meant. I could see at some point after having played a guitar for maybe a couple of months, where I might think,
"Ya know, these pups are not quite up to snuff, maybe I should change them out." I myself have made some small cosmetic mods, (I changed the pickguard on a Jazz bass from white to black immediately, but only because it was unavailable with a black one.)
My contention is that I've seen a number of people stating they're going to mod their gear when they get it, simply because it seems like it's the thing to do. I am mostly concerned with the novice who may be thinking they need a mod because a bunch of perceived "experts" say they do. Someone who's been at this awhile should likely know what to expect from a piece of gear and although they may like most of what it may feature ("I like everything but the bridge on this guitar") and change out what they don't like, a novice might hear this and think "Oh, so I need to change the bridge on this guitar if I should buy it." and either not get a good instrument because of this, or spend unnecessary extra time and money on a mod that won't make any difference to them. I am not by any means criticizing any who mod their stuff, only the mind-set that gear should be modded as a matter of course.

I usually swap out pickups on my guitars (sometimes more than once). Stock pickups are adequate (a nice average sound designed to appeal across a broad spectrum of consumers) but I prefer choosing my own.

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"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

Hi Matt: for sure, that's fine.

I just have in mind the posts we sometimes see round here where a guy says; "I've ordered a MIM Strat. What cool mods should I do when it arrives?" I kinda find myself thinking; "Well, playing it for a while might be a cool thing to do..."

More often thinking than saying, though.

Cheers - C

I agree. Not everything needs to be mod'd and even then not mod'd right away.

+1 to that -- For me, I don't make lots of gear purchases. So I usually spend a lot of time up front deciding what it is I really want before buying. Then I will live with it, usually (but not always), for years before modding it. There have been exceptions, though ...

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...