It was pretty cheeky, wasn't it?

(My wife's in publishing. That's a world where people write letters of complaint if a comma is moved - even if the alteration is a grammatically necessary one...)

Cheers - C

Does she proof read your post as they are always perfect grammatically! See I should have used a question mark huh?

Ah well: my mother was extremely dyslexic, and for sure I have inherited something of that gene. I won't reveal to you the tedious effort that often goes into trying to avoid oafish mistakes here - but when you sometimes see that "edit" sign you'll know what happened...

A particularly ironic problem for someone who doesn't know how keep his posts brief!

- C

PS Who was the cruel person who thought the word spelt "dyslexic" was the appropriate one for that particular issue...?

Well, obviously you are getting some good diverse comments here, so I'm going to toss my hat into the ring as well. Please take these comments as simply my own opinions and nothing else.

Some "off the bat" mods I can certainly see...even on a new guitar. Pickguards for example...there's a lot of really cool pickguards out there on Ebay right now that you simply can NOT get stock. As has already been suggested, just make sure the screw holes line up. If this is your intent, it's worth contacting the person you are considering buying from just to make sure. Even pickguards with the same number of holes (8 vs 11) don't always line up precisely so contact the seller and say "Hey...I have a 2004 Mexican Standard (or whatever the instrument is obviously)...will this pickguard fit correctly?".

Now on the trem, as others have said, again make sure that what you purchase is interchangeable with what you have. For example, let's say you buy an instrument with a "vintage" 6 point trem and you want to put on something like a 2 point trem...or a Floyd Rose or a Kahler. In this case, you will have to do some rather extensive modifications to the body itself. While it is possible, this is not your average "DIY" type of mod...this really falls under the category of luthier work. Since you say you've only been playing for 8 months and you've never done any kind of work like this before, this is NOT a very good place to "cut your teeth" so to speak. In this case, I certainly would NOT do this to a new guitar...here I would either buy an instrument that already has what I want -or- as others have suggested, build my own from parts where you can order specifically what you want/need.

Now I would also like to make a comment or two about "building your own". I really have nothing against this specifically...I build, I do mods and I've even cut a couple of my own bodies. That said, I did NOT do this after only 8 months of playing! Yea...sure...changing pickups is easy enough BUT how do you decide what to get when you simply don't have that much experience? Other folks may say that "such and such" sounds great but other folks can't decide what sounds best to YOUR ears. Beyond that, building a guitar...even from a "kit", isn't really as simple as just slapping a bunch of parts together. There are a lot of nuances that go into making a great guitar play like a great guitar...and again this is something that comes right back to experience. You could certainly be an exception here but most people with only limited experience as a player really don't appreciate or even recognize the difference between a $100 guitar and a $1000 instrument. If you can't recognize those differences, let alone really appreciate them, how exactly do you incorporate them into what you are building? From that view point, I would NOT recommend building your own. Someday...once you have more experience and KNOW what you really want and need, yes, but not now.

I do have one small question...jack plate? Why would you want to change the jack plate? If it's simply a matter of wanting a different color...say gold vs, chrome, I can understand that. Also if we're talking about a used instrument where perhaps the jack plate is scratched, rusty or pitted, etc., again I can see this...get new and shiney, but don't do it simply as an arbitrary mod...there's no real point to it. Beyond color/finish, one Strat jack plate is pretty much like any other.

So, all of that said...my advice to you is to start with "aesthetic" mods first. If you want a cool, flashy pickguard, go for it (again just make sure the screw holes line up correctly). If you want to change the chrome to gold...rock on bro! From there, I'd play the instrument a bit and then start to make other decisions...maybe start with the electronics. How does she sound to your ears? In this case, play it thru several amps to make sure the problem really is the pickups and not just the horrors of playing thru a cheap practice amp! LOL!!! If you really want to experiment, try using different value pots and caps...this can change the tone dramatically. After that, then I would start looking at things like the bridge. If the instrument is a used Mexican Standard for example, a new trem block is always a worthwhile upgrade. Adding an extra spring or two certainly makes a big difference as well...and is VERY easy to do...don't forget to check your setup afterwards. Which leads me to my last point...

The one last thing I would recommend above and beyond any of this is to learn how to do your own setups and learn how to do them correctly! Any time you do a serious mod such as tinkering with the bridge, you will need to check/adjust your setup. When you loosen those strings to put the new pickguard on, you'll need to check your setup. For that matter, it's always a good idea to check your setup any time you even change the strings. A good, proper setup will make a guitar more "playable" than all of the mods in the world....and the reverse is true as well...a poor setup will make a $4000 custom instrument play like total crap. Learn how to do it and learn how to do it right!

Ok...again just my opinion but there's some thoughts for you to consider.

Peace,
Jim

What makes you think tthe new Strat that you pick up in a fews months will need these things done ?

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Thomas Jefferson