It does not necessarily follow that whenever someone replaces something(s) on and/or in their guitar that it is an, "Upgrade". YMMV.

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You dig?

do you mean semantics - the study of meanings or the historical and psychological study and the classification of changes in the signification of words or forms viewed as factors in linguistic development or what form other than those? There are too many to list.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

It's mostly hype,the internet has produced millions of experts in any given subject,and it's the best thing that's ever happened to sellers of aftermarket guitar parts for example.
Most people don't want to believe that the "upgrade" they just invested in really didn't improve their tone or whatever the part was supposed to do,to say that it didn't can bring on feelings of "maybe I'm not as good as the other guitarists,and can't hear the improvement",it's easy to be an expert behind a keyboard...sometimes the proof of just the opposite comes in YouTube demonstrations.

I get what you mean Martian-taking the pups out of a $125 Starcaster and putting them in a $4000 Custom Shop would hardly be considered an upgrade.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

+1

I've met hundreds of these "poindexters"......weisenheimers who've got every issue of Guitar Player and Tigerbeat Magazine going all the way back to 1964 and who play a hundred different guitars each Saturday afternoon at their local GC so they can legitimize their self-aggrandizing claims of "gravitas" when it comes to expertise regarding guitars and amps.

To those of us who've been "in the trenches" for decades, they provide loads of comic relief as they hurl their mighty pronouncements upon the hoi polloi from their ivory towers but not much in the way of practical perspective or objective analysis. It's tragic that so many are so easily duped by these Walter Mitty wannabees who peddle hype at the expense of the truth.

JMO

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Yup, I agree Arjay and RS.

It's why I come to this Forum to get the truth about guitars. Sure, this Forum has it's share of self-appointed know-it-alls but there seems to be enough immediate feedback from the other members to keep them in check.

Unfortunately, with only one or two exceptions, if I go to a store for advice, I can only take that info and double-check here, to make sure it's valid! Too many are more concerned in making the "Sale" than in making a "return customer".

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Duncan Designed means nothing to me. If it sounds bad, it just does.

I'd have to say that I've heard quite a bit of tone claims that I just don't agree with. I can remember running across a person who just had all of the answers . Everything I had was crap to him. Every claim he made concerning tone was the norm of what you read on the internet and it just gets regurgitated over and over again.

Since I've been doing Reggae, I'm dealing with the clean channel much more than I ever did in the past. And I'm just choosing to use my ears. And I have to make my decisions based on this style of music. My biggest surprises have come from using pickups that people will say I shouldn't use in the clean channel. But I have my reasons as to why I do. There is my science to it, and that's all that matters to me.

*I love a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge for the clean channel. It just chucks real hard for a reggae skank, and distorts great for solos.

*A Dimarzio Tone Zone in the neck is great while using a wah pedal. Ibanez puts them in the bridge position of their guitars, but they're fantastic neck pickups. With a wah, you won't get ice-picked. I've used Super Distortions in the neck for the same reason.

*My newest discovery is how good an EMG active 81/85 set is for playing Reggae. The whole band has been blown away by how good my Schecter Tempest sounds for this style.

Best thing I ever did was just use my intuition. Try them out first. By common internet knowledge, the EMG set should have been swapped out. Those are Metal pickups right? They're not made for Reggae. We're not Slayer!! So what?

I do admit, the thought never occurred to me that an 81/85 set would do so well for Reggae. I didn't really like them when I played hard-core.

I play a style that is for the most part unconventional. I've been in untested waters for a few years now. So in that sense, I never get down on people who mod for the sake of what they want or feel they need. Sure sometimes it might not exactly work. I've had my share of failed attempts.

Which brings me to this conclusion about this topic. Guitar companies don't always make for the masses what I really want. Just a hypothetical: Fender makes a model that comes stock with EMG active Hums. The Jim Root sig. Pretty pricy. Only one vol knob. No fret markers. Not really my thing. Would I rather do that, or buy a Blacktop and mod it with an aftermarket EMG set? I'd have 2-volumes, a tone, fret markers, and it would be cheaper. If I was really Hell-bent on having a new Fender with EMGs, that's what I'd do.

To each his own, do what you gotta do.

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HaleAmano- House Of Sharks (Now On iTunes)
http://www.reverbnation.com/haleamano
http://www.haleamano.com

Quite true there Mr. Martian. I know what your saying.. but

"I can upgrade the speed on my computer..." or "I can increase the performance by modifying the..."

I would hardly use the terms for pickups however.. It's all apples for apples isn't it. Whats good for me, might not be good for you... yet will be partial to another.. very subjective debate

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I've met hundreds of these "poindexters"......weisenheimers who've got every issue of Guitar Player and Tigerbeat Magazine going all the way back to 1964 and who play a hundred different guitars each Saturday afternoon at their local GC so they can legitimize their self-aggrandizing claims of "gravitas" when it comes to expertise regarding guitars and amps.

To those of us who've been "in the trenches" for decades, they provide loads of comic relief as they hurl their mighty pronouncements upon the hoi polloi from their ivory towers but not much in the way of practical perspective or objective analysis. It's tragic that so many are so easily duped by these Walter Mitty wannabees who peddle hype at the expense of the truth.

JMO

Arjay[/quote]

+1 (i think )
I had to go take an online English course to read this replay completely ha ha ha. I agree completely and wish i could have said it as eloquently!

I have done some switching of things here and there but i don't really get into it so much, i figure they got it right when they made the guitar. I never really go overboard with chasing a sound or getting bent out of shape about little things with my guitars. Sad truth is every one of my guitars is better than i will ever be. I am fortunate enough to have some solid low to mid range gear that i really love. Mostly i spend time on maintenance and making sure that i keep all my stuff clean and sounding/playing as good as i can.

I have to get this rant out...

I'm tired of pedal demo videos that they play through their suped up rig...

"I'm playing a (insert boutique strat knock-off) with (insert boutique pick-ups) through a
(insert boutique amp) with (insert NOS tubes) loaded with 2 (insert some Celestion model speakers)"

Ok, I wonder how it would sound with my plain ol' Strat and Fender amp.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

Huh? I've fitted alloys and a rear wing to my Strat: now you're surely not going to tell me those aren't upgrades...?

- C

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Also, let's not forget that "discontinued" now means "rare"...

most good guitar players that I have met can pick up a guitar and have it sound excellent because they can play guitar. mod guitar issues are a relatively new obsession. not that it wasn't done before, just that when you show up for the gig and your guitar isn't there, hopefully, there is a Strat or Tele that you can get your hands on quickly and play the set. If you can play, you will sound good, if not, go buy a guitar magazine and step aside please. Martian, I wasn't goofing on the thread its just you used a word in place of another that might have been a better fit, like, "Lets Talk Instrument Modifications", or something other than semantics.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

True.
It's a 'change'.

If Fender commissions a manufacturer to make a hundred thousand sets of pickups for Squier Affinity production in 2012, they can make them for $19 a set. If Seymour Duncan makes an order for 500 sets for 2012...the same quality would cost $80 a set. The latter are not 'upgrades'...they are not 'better' but different.

Guitars are not rocket science. They can be modded to fit an individual player's needs. Some folks like modding as a hobby. what they usually do, however, is diminish the value of a guitar. The first question I ask when getting a guitar over $300 or so is 'is it all original?'. I've already passed on a both a Tele and Ibanez SZ 520 in the last week because the answer was 'no, but that are even better'. One guy had the original bridge but the last thing I want is a guitar that has been messed with.