# What kind of mods do you have on your guitar?



## Mike Darolfi (Jan 22, 2016)

Just wondering what kind of mods people have on their guitar (i.e the Gilmour switch). Maybe if you can, include how it effects the tone (i.e gives it a more "phat" tone). 

Thanks


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

both of my current guitars are stock. but the lp has coil taps on both pick ups. that means i can have humbucker sweetness, or quiet muddy muted tones, depending on my needs. 

the ibanez has "tri-sound" switching.










that means i get the hummer in series, (normal) or split (similar to tap) amd paralell, which seems to be a little like 2 single coil pick ups. it's similar to the series sound, but not quite. 

the strat i had used to auto split the bridge in position 2, which combined it with the neck pup. stratty quackery with a hummer


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I swapped the Dragon II's out of my PRS Custom 22 for Seymour Duncan '59's. Turns out, they sound rather similar hahaha! I do prefer the duncans though, and I'm going to hopefully have time to experiment with individual pole piece height etc to really get the most out of it.

I usually swap anything that doesnt say "Seymour duncan" out of a guitar for their medium output pickups. The only time I didn't was an EMG-loaded LTD MH1000, because EMG's in an LTD is a ton of fun!


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## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

This SG pictured on the right had at one time 2 DiMarzio Dual Sound Humbuckers and the middle single coil. Each HB was controlled by a 5 way rotary switch(frt coil, rr coil, series, para and phase), both HB together could be joined series, parallel and phase and the single coil could be added to any combination. I believe there were approximately 90 different tone switching options - some subtle, others dramatic.


When I was a Kid I was given a chemistry set. Me being what I am, combined all in one test tube to see what I get. Did the same, later, to this guitar.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Put a humbucker in a Tele - an SD 59. Didn't do what I hoped so I went back to stock. Put SD's in another guitar and loved what they did there. Other than that, I've been pretty happy with many of the stock pickups I ended up with (like those P90's in the Tribute SG - they rock). I tend to like low output pickups and don't change them unless I have a clear direction I want to go. 

But I've put Bigsby's on a couple guitars (me personally on one, my luthier on the other). Nice reversible mods that add to the guitar's sound, weight balance and sex appeal. IMHO.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

This is how my 3 pup black beauty is wired. PIO caps and 6 way switch


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## garrettdavis275 (May 30, 2014)

Zhangbucker (best p/u winder out there IMO) alnico 6b/4n set in my SG and P90's in my Firebird, some Dimarzio's in a couple others, couple capacitor value changes here and there. My Firebird also had all the gold hardware (yuck!) ripped out in favour of nickel, changed to Gotoh with nylon saddles for the bridge/tailpiece.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

American Standard Strats.

Done several pickup swaps and other odds and ends over the years, but these are the mods that stuck around and are now standard on all my Strats.

Tightened the claw screws to effectively create a fixed bridge. I don't use Trem.
Installed custom pick guards and added high quality, 1 piece copper shielding to back for noise suppression.
Wired the bridge pickup into the mid pickup tone pot for control of the bridge tone.
Installed orange drop cap to tone pots, same value as original, for slightly smoother treble roll off.
Rewired tone and volume pots to right hand sweep. I'm a lefty and righty pots wired backwards to lefty sweep just don't work right. I could have ordered lefty pots but you can't get lefty numbered knobs.


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## isoneedacoffee (Oct 31, 2014)

Dimarzio PAF 36th anniversary PUs in my Hagstrom Ultra Swede. I found I lacked dynamics with the stock (hot) pickups. The change worked very well for me. I also added a Duesenberg Tremola (like a bigsby B5). And just yesterday I ordered a roller bridge. All the mods have replaced chrome with nickel as well.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

my strats all have some kind of non-stock pickups,
have dummy coils, and are wired for a single master tone and volume.
a couple have a treble bleed cap added as well.
one of them ive had long enough that pretty much everything but the body and some of the screws and stuff are aftermarket-
just replacing things as needed.
ive got a couple of teles, but they were partscasters and so were never stock, or always have been.
depends how you look at it.
the rest of my electrics are weird old cranky things- 
but pretty much stock aside from things that had to be replaced to keep them functioning.


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

Okay, here we go!

Telecaster:
Started as a 52 RI.
New tuners, aluminium scratch plate, harmonic design S90 pickups, callaham bridge/saddles, costum lazer cut control plate with 3 toggle switch and reverse controls.

Jaguar:
Started as a 62RI.
New tuners, removed all electronics (no more lead circuit), costum lazer cut control plate for a 3 way toggle switch, removed tremolo, fixed tailpiece, staytrem bridge, seymour duncan lil '59 and JB, updated pots.

Les Paul:
Started as a Traditional.
New tuners, swapped bridge and tail piece for Faber, JS Moore pickups set, new electronic (pots, caps, switch).

Why? 'Cause I don't wanna play a Jag, a Tele or a Les Paul but my Jag, my Tele and my Les Paul. I change what I think would be improvments to my needs and I enjoy the little project it brings.


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## Maxer (Apr 20, 2007)

Most of my mods involve superficial changes - aesthetic ones rather than ones that change the tone... like swapping out vanilla plastic pick guards for ones made of exotic wood or stainless steel, or refinishing the body, that sort of thing... although I am having a lot of fun with a kill switch on one of my Godins... it's a bit of a gimmick but it's nice to have one guitar with that ability.


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## Mike Darolfi (Jan 22, 2016)

ed2000 said:


> This SG pictured on the right had at one time 2 DiMarzio Dual Sound Humbuckers and the middle single coil. Each HB was controlled by a 5 way rotary switch(frt coil, rr coil, series, para and phase), both HB together could be joined series, parallel and phase and the single coil could be added to any combination. I believe there were approximately 90 different tone switching options - some subtle, others dramatic.
> 
> 
> When I was a Kid I was given a chemistry set. Me being what I am, combined all in one test tube to see what I get. Did the same, later, to this guitar.


That is some serious stuff man aha i would love to see a video one day of all the tones


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## Mike Darolfi (Jan 22, 2016)

garrettdavis275 said:


> Zhangbucker (best p/u winder out there IMO) alnico 6b/4n set in my SG and P90's in my Firebird, some Dimarzio's in a couple others, couple capacitor value changes here and there. My Firebird also had all the gold hardware (yuck!) ripped out in favour of nickel, changed to Gotoh with nylon saddles for the bridge/tailpiece.


Nice man do you have a pic?


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## Mike Darolfi (Jan 22, 2016)

Ti-Ron said:


> Okay, here we go!
> 
> Telecaster:
> Started as a 52 RI.
> ...


Ya man forsure, always gotta make you own tone sound how you want it to be


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## garrettdavis275 (May 30, 2014)

Mike Darolfi said:


> Nice man do you have a pic?


Sure do!


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## garrettdavis275 (May 30, 2014)

Also have my Bass VI project...








So that started life as a Pawn Shop version. I got a new guard from Tony @ Pickguardian (awesome to deal with), installed Dimarzio FS1's in the middle and neck, and I've got a 57 Classic in the bridge for now. Put the Staytrem bridge on, got a chrome control plate cut by a guy at the Offset forum... Kalium strings... that's it for now but there's still work to be done.


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## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

The most important mods on my guitar are the Fender high ratio locking tuners







and the Fender Vintage Noiseless Tele neck pickup







I had to drill a hole for the pickup and expand the cavity under the pots to install a 3 way switch







The noiseless together with the stock Duncan designed gives me a few no typical Tele sounds that I use quite a bit.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

ive done other mods to my guitars, but some of them seemed kinda common so i didn't mention them. i have had several guitars i changed pick ups on, and the strat got locking tuners, a gold bridge, tremol-no, new knobs, pickguard and plastics as well as copper shielding and a roller nut. the 533 got tuners, a graphite nut, and all black hardware as well as new pots and caps. sometimes i like working on guitars, but sometimes i don't. i like it when i do it cause i want to. i don't like it when i do it out of necessity


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

Some Gibby purists might not like what I did back in the 80's. I had my '79 LP Deluxe rerouted at the Bridge to facilitate a Duncun Custom (DCJ) which is an original S5 (folowing the JB models). It was wired with a push pull knob on the tone for coil tapping. The guitar has a really unique sound compared to stock. Everything else is original.


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## lexx (Feb 26, 2009)

My #1 is a American Standard Strat FSR in Fiesta red. I added locking Fender tuners, tortise pickguard, Vineham custom pickups and a TBX control.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I took the pick guard off. In my opinion, guitars should be shipped/sold without them if they need to be screwed to the body, like my 5th Avenue. That way, if you don't want one, you don't end up with screw holes in the body of your guitar. Do you suppose the mfrs. would listen to me if I told them that?


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Steadfastly said:


> Do you suppose the mfrs. would listen to me if I told them that?


Hopefully they don't. The last time they listened to the average guy we got this and Toyota almost went bankrupt.


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## GTmaker (Apr 24, 2006)

considering that this is Guitar Forum..
a more useful question would have been...

What mods haven't you done.....yet?
G.


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## TA462 (Oct 30, 2012)

I haven't modified any of my 8 guitars except for adding new knobs on one of my LP's.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Well I just had my PRS CU22 modded by a great local tech.

I had the five way rotary pick up selector replaced with a normal three way switch.

I also had the tone pot replaced with a mini-toggle to tap both pickups.

He also dropped the action and did an excellent set up.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Since maybe 1970, I have had many guitars, and the only one that has remained stock in the Casio MG-510 MIDI guitar I bought from a deceased friend's estate. 

I changed the trapeze tailpiece on my '37 Kalamazoo KG-21 for a nicer one, and removed the pickguard. I'm trying to finish winding a pickup for it.

I wound a pair of humbuckers for my late 50's Epi Windsor (that got stolen), made a bound tortoiseshell pickguard to fit the new pickups, and gave the original New Yorker pickup to Mark Knopfler (yes, for real).

I have modded the '64 Epi Coronet my late cousin gave me SO many times over the last 40 years, it's not funny. That includes stripping the original cherry red finish, installing other pickups and a Leo Quan badass, various onboard preamps, a Bigsby, jumbo frets, and various electronics. Presently, it has a Mighty Mite P90, a homebrew narrow-spacing Strat-type pickup using polepieces from a busted late 60's grey-bottom Strat PU, dual volumes and master tone toggle switch, and a LP Jr style wraparound bridge.

I bought a recent Epi Wilshire body w/set neck from a guy on kijiji. Installed a pair of Duncan P-Rails I got from member Sulphur, single volume and tone w/Tele 3-position Top Hat switch, and two toggles to select the mode of each PU, yielding 9 different pickup combinations. The tone control is a "bi-directional" control, that yields one rolloff in one direction, and a different one in the other direction, with max treble in the middle. The pickguard is traced from the original one, but made from some nice mint-black-mint pickguard material I got from Guitar Fetish.

On my Turser Tele, I wound 3 pickups to make myself a "Nashville" Tele, installed a custom 5-position switch that gets me Tele and Strat tones, and also installed the same sort of bidirectional tone control.

Picked up an old Guyatone a few years ago, and installed a phase-reverse switch for one of the pickups.

Bought a Guyatone lap steel from my late friend's estate that had a busted nut. Carved a brand new nut out of a small piece of ebony, and threw a few hundred additional winds on the pickup. New volume pot.

I'll leave it at that.


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## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

Musk Ox horn nuts on all my electrics, and bone nut and saddle and brass bridge pins on my acoustic. My #1 has a coil split on the humbucker and a dummy coil to cancel the hum on both the tele neck pickup and the humbucker when it's split. Other than that, I build most of my guits so there's not much modding to be done.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Added Bigsby on both guitars.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Chito made me do it!

The LP was done by someone who knew what he was doing and the I did the SG.


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## bluebayou (May 25, 2015)

Currently upgrading my Epi LP with new pups, Parsons Street from Stewart MacDonald, and CTS pots. I am really hoping to hear some difference. Next will be my Squire Tele. Want to tone down the treble. Was considering just changing the capacitor but the volume pot is a piece of crap. So, decided that the pots and switch wll go as well as the pups. Bare Knuckles has some interesting Tele replacement pups.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

The only two guitars that I have really modded (other than changing knobs or removing a pickguard) are my Les Paul copy & my Les Paul

I modded my Les Paul copy as the pickups were weak and I didn't like them that much--and I changed some other stuff due to wear & tear and that sort of thing.
I use it for open G tuning.
Some things were modded gradually and some not too years ago.
Off the top of my head here's what I changed:
-New Tuners -the original ones had plastic housing--I put on new ones with metal casing (Either Dixon or Gotoh--it was many years ago--I think they're Dixon though)
-Tusq nut (old plastic one wore out)
-Pickups--in the neck a Seymour Duncan P-Rail (Wired for humbucker, P-90 or rail single coil)
--in the bridge a Seymour Duncan JB (Wired for series/parallel/coil split)
-mini-switches for the pickup options
-new pickup rings (Black)
-new strap knobs (Black)
-new jack plate (Black)
-Speed knobs (Black)
-Toggle switch tip (Black)
-removed pickguard

On the Les Paul--it was modded when I got it used, and I changed a few other things.
-Schaller machine heads (The previous owner had put huge Grovers on it--and they were too big)
-Pickups (The previous owner had pickups that didn't physically fit in the guitar so they forced them in. I had to fix that as well)
The pickups are the Seymour Duncan Duncan DIstortions 9Bridge & neck)--they are wired for series/parallel with push/pull pots)
-Speed knobs (Black)
-pickup rings (Black)
-jack plate (Black)
-new bridge (Gibson TOM--the old one was corroded and needed work)
-TP-6 tailpiece
-toggle switch tip (Black)
-poker chip (Black--the previous owner had removed it)

On both I kept the original parts and with the Les Paul kept most of the non- original parts form previous mods--but traded the pickups for the labour on the Les Paul.


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## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

Mike Darolfi said:


> That is some serious stuff man aha i would love to see a video one day of all the tones


The problem with so many tone choices I was turning knobs and flipping switches more than I was playing. Simplified it to about a dozen selections. This 'mod' helped me appreciate the stupid simplicity of a Tele.


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## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

The Squier Protone Strat was switched over to a three way, middle control became volume for centre PU giving me 7 tonal variations.


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

I use a Telecaster deluxe, and it needs nothing, i do use the built in S1-switching , other then that , the guitar was perfect when i bought it...


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## BEACHBUM (Sep 21, 2010)

Fender MIM FSR Tele - American Standard neck - 52 Reissue pickups - Gotoh 6 saddle bridge.


G&L Blues Boy Tribute - Seth Lover neck humbucker - Gotoh 6 saddle - Graphtech tusk nut.


Fender Special Edition Koa Tele - Matte black pickguard - Gotoh 6 saddle


American Standard Tele - Warmoth mahogany/ebony neck - Gotoh saddles - Fender/Schaller locking tuners - Matte black pick guard.


American Standard Strat - EMG loaded guard


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## Rollin Hand (Jul 12, 2012)

OLP MM1 -- Stainless steel saddles, brass trem block from GFS, cheapy overseas locking tuners, Tusq XL nut, stainless steel neck screws. The saddles and neck screws made the biggest difference, especially with the trem decked. The locking tuners helped with sustain, but don't stay in tune as well as the old tuners. They may get upgraded again.
Fender Highway One Strat -- Steel block from GFS (minimal to no difference with the decked trem), stainless steel neck screws (noticeable).
Washburn N3 -- Washburn-branded Schaller trem, oversized brass block, OFR trem studs, Gotoh lock nut, stainless neck screws. On a floating trem, those brass blocks make a biiiig difference.
VHI partscaster -- Big brass block, hardened steel fasteners on the cheapy overseas trem (biiiig difference). The LFR is decked. With that block, it sustains for days.
Agile AL3100 -- Gotoh bridge. Gained sustain, but lost some character.
Douglas Spad -- Tusq XL nut, Gotoh bridge, cheap overseas locking tuners. Now I just need a couple of decent pickups, and I am in business.
Douglas Scope 725 -- Stainless neck screws (with Robertson heads! #CANADA!), Guitarheads Hex7 pickups (better than the stockers, but not great), stainless steel spring anchor screws. Haven't done the fasteners on the bridge yet.
SX Ursa 5-string bass -- stainless steel fasteners for the bridge saddle height adjustment and intonation screws, and for the neck screws.

A note on the fasteners: on cheap offshore guitars, fasteners are often made of wire-grade steel. Heading to a local fastener supply house with samples can make these guitars improve a great deal for less than $5 per guitar if they have the oval head sheet metal screws in stock in stainless. Sometimes one has to pay the order fee to get the oval-head screws, which makes it less palatable. I try to get a bunch of stuff I need in one order to spread out the cost per guitar.

The hardened steel fasteners can take a cheap Floyd copy and make it instantly more accurate and usable with more sustain. I did that with a cheap Schaller copy, and the bridge was almost too sensitive after I was done -- it would flutter at the slightest provocation, which isn't great for folks like me with a heavy picking hand. That bridge might be going on my Watson Wolfgang copy soon.


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## Swervin55 (Oct 30, 2009)

'05 R4: Lollar's with 50's Luxe bumblebee caps, Mojoaxe tailpiece, Revibe aged covers, poker chip, switch tip, jack plate and knobs, Montreaux aged guard, Retrospec knurled switch nut and rolled truss rod cover, Kluson aged no line/single ring tuners, Buzzy inlays but not in these pics yet. I know, crazy, but this a while back. I'm smarter now....honest. Photos courtesy of my good friend Alex (Buyusfear).


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## BMW-KTM (Apr 7, 2015)

My MIA guitars have only cosmetic changes. Pick guards, knobs, etc.

My Korean Koa-Top Strat has more mods than stock parts. Swapped the sealed tuners for Schaller lockers. Changed the vintage frets to medium jumbo. Changed the standard strap pins to Schaller lockers. Swapped out the stock pups for Fender Fat 50's gutted the whole cavity and installed a Kinman K9 harness. 

My Korean Epi LP is similarly gutted in favour of a Switchcraft switch & socket, PRS tone & volume pots and Dimarzio pickups; Super Distortion at the bridge and Humbucker From Hell at the neck. 

Anything else I own is bone stock.


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## BMW-KTM (Apr 7, 2015)

Except (of course) for the Strat Partsocaster, which is obviously one giant mod.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Just for laughs (not mine)...


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## georgemg (Jul 17, 2011)

I replaced the pick ups in my Strat and Tele with Seymour Duncans - Classic Stack Plus/Classic Stack Plus/Custom Stack Plus in the Strat and Vintage Stacks in the Tele.

As far as adding switches for extra sounds, I actually removed the S-1 switch in my Deluxe Strat and changed it to the standard Strat five way switch set up. I never used the extra options the S-1 gave and found the volume pot with the S-1 switch didn't turn as smoothly as a regular pot does. It was more trouble than it was worth to me.


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## Mike Darolfi (Jan 22, 2016)

Thanks everyone for replying, it is interesting what people have done as i go through and read what people have to say. Im sorry i cant reply to everyone but i am reading them and everything is awesome. thanks everyone!


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Even the "Made in America" guitars are sporting crap hardware these days so;
Locking tuners 
Roller trees
Bone/Graphite/Roller/Locking nuts 
Real steel or aluminum bridge (some with rollers)
CTS pots
I don't think high end capacitors are required. A value is a value.
Pickups of course

So ya, basically everything on the guitar but the wood


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## ICZip (Nov 5, 2021)

I replaced the pickups on my MIM strat with boutique Hendrix single coils. The tones are super accurate... The licks not so much.
I also added a bridge/neck blend pot, which gives a pretty good tele immitation.


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## SaucyJack (Mar 8, 2017)

Fixed me strat.


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## BMW-KTM (Apr 7, 2015)

AD Telecaster:
6th string, 6th tuner and 6th ferrule removed.
Now a 5 string guitar a la Keith Richards, tuned GDGBD.
Different scratch-plate.
All else stock.

Strat Partsocaster:
Stock Fender AD neck, stock bridge-plate and claw.
Nothing else stock at all so pretty much nothing _but_ mods c/w custom wiring scheme designed by me as I could not find a diagram for what I wanted.

MIK Strat.
Different tuners, roller trees, different pickups, different pots, switch, jack and wiring scheme.

Ric:
Replaced Toasters with buckers.
All new pots and cap values.

Taylor acoustic #1:
Different saddle, continuously compensated (wave)
Custom truss-rod cover.

Taylor acoustic #2
Custom truss-rod cover.
Ebony pins to replace stock plastic pins.

Jazz Bass (USA-VB)
No mods, all stock.


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## King Loudness (May 3, 2010)

I changed the strings on my guitars, does that count? Ha... I tend to leave my guitars in the condition I get them in, unless they need repair for reasons of functionality. I'm not much of a tech, so the idea of swapping pickups or other parts isn't something I do often. The closest I have to a guitar that has been modified by me is a Historic '57 RI goldtop Les Paul that I've had the electrics (pickups and pots/caps) changed, and swapped out the stock bridge and tailpiece for a Faber kit.

W.


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

Easy reversible mod to every guitar I've ever owned with dogear P90s - add pickup risers. Get those suckers up to the sweet spot and listen to the magic happen.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I'd have to check, but I can't off hand think of a single guitar I have left un-modded.

I guess I never really screwed with the Gibson R7 VOS that I had, but I sold it as I do most Les Pauls eventually.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I tend to mod acoustics as much as electrics, and currently my electrics are mostly stock. In the past though, pickups, nuts, saddles, machine heads, frets…well, everything…was game. Once had a red Strat that eventually only had wood, bridge block, jack plate, and neck plate/screws as original, and that’s not likely very unusual around this forum.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

LowWatt said:


> Easy reversible mod to every guitar I've ever owned with dogear P90s - add pickup risers. Get those suckers up to the sweet spot and listen to the magic happen.


What is your approximate recommended dog ear P90 sweet spot (i.e., from the bottom of the unfretted low E string to the top of the pole piece/screw)?

Thanks for your help.


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

greco said:


> What is your approximate recommended dog ear P90 sweet spot (i.e., from the bottom of the unfretted low E string to the top of the pole piece/screw)?
> 
> Thanks for your help.


I can't give a measurement as I'm way more a tinker and listen a bit and tinker again kind of guy. But with P90s, you don't have the same magnetic pull as most other pickups. They just seem to add punch and growl the closer they get to the strings and you don't lose sustain or detail from being too close like with most other pickups.

The sweet spot for me almost always is to set the bridge p/u as close as you can get to the strings as possible without interfering with playability (set the neck p/u to volume balance against the bridge p/u). On just about every other instrument i keep the pickups backed off a bit because I find a more detailed rich balanced tone, but there's something about P90s where they just get smaller sounding and lose that mean attack if they're not close enough to the strings.


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## doblander (Dec 8, 2019)

I have accumulated 30 plus guitars most of them entry level. My hobby is refinishing them and setting them up, make them look new and play best. My guitars NEVER leave my basement, I'm a loner self taught old neverwas guitarist. I have NEVER replaced a single tuner or bridge. Despite all but one of them being of Asian descent, their tuners and bridges work perfect. I got crazy and replaced stock pickups in 2 of my beauties with expensiver pups. An expensive Jeff Beck bridge bucker in an Epiphone and a set of 3 single coil Tex Mex in a Squier SE. What a colossal waste of money that was both times. Upgraded pickups will never be considered here again!! If you're going onstage with your stuff, you NEED upgrades. Maybe?? If you're a low volume closet plucker like me, upgrades don't provide a noticeable change. Top notch setup is the only upgrade we NEED. By self or its not worth it. If you still insist on upgrading an modding then God speed! It's a wonderful pastime and we'll worth it in terms of satisfaction for the job well done!


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## Mutant_Guitar (Oct 24, 2021)

doblander said:


> I have accumulated 30 plus guitars most of them entry level. My hobby is refinishing them and setting them up, make them look new and play best. My guitars NEVER leave my basement, I'm a loner self taught old neverwas guitarist. I have NEVER replaced a single tuner or bridge. Despite all but one of them being of Asian descent, their tuners and bridges work perfect. I got crazy and replaced stock pickups in 2 of my beauties with expensiver pups. An expensive Jeff Beck bridge bucker in an Epiphone and a set of 3 single coil Tex Mex in a Squier SE. What a colossal waste of money that was both times. Upgraded pickups will never be considered here again!! If you're going onstage with your stuff, you NEED upgrades. Maybe?? If you're a low volume closet plucker like me, upgrades don't provide a noticeable change. Top notch setup is the only upgrade we NEED. By self or its not worth it. If you still insist on upgrading an modding then God speed! It's a wonderful pastime and we'll worth it in terms of satisfaction for the job well done!


I need a good setup, a walkthrough, a guide. Any ideas/advice for someone starting to tinker on their guitars? 
I have need of what I think is an easy setup, and another for my 8string that I think will be a bit of a challenge without some forethought or knowhow.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

Mutant_Guitar said:


> I need a good setup, a walkthrough, a guide. Any ideas/advice for someone starting to tinker on their guitars?
> I have need of what I think is an easy setup, and another for my 8string that I think will be a bit of a challenge without some forethought or knowhow.


the "basic" set up is easy...because it's basic. still, on most guitars, you'll see results in playability. 
new strings, adjust the action, and the intonation, tweak the truss rod if needed. adjust the pick up height. make sure the input jack and the tuners are tightened. check for scratchy pots, shoot them with contact cleaner if necessary. 

the best gains come (depending on just how bad you needed a set up to begin with) from what is beyond the basic part of a set up. fret level, polish and crown, dress the ends. check the nut slots for proper height, get rid of any burrs, etc. replace if needed, or if it's plastic.

that's if you have a fixed bridge and a set neck. if you have a bolt on neck you may need a shim. if you have a whammy of some kind, that's an entirely separate rabbit hole.

some people will claim you may need to adjust the pole pieces, but that's voodoo. people that sell that nonsense either don't know what the magnetic field looks like from a pick up, or they haven't thought about it in depth. 

if you want to learn to do set ups, a cheap guitar to practice on, and some youtube searching will get you where you need to be. you're probably going to need to buy some tools.


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## Mutant_Guitar (Oct 24, 2021)

cheezyridr said:


> the "basic" set up is easy...because it's basic. still, on most guitars, you'll see results in playability.
> new strings, adjust the action, and the intonation, tweak the truss rod if needed. adjust the pick up height. make sure the input jack and the tuners are tightened. check for scratchy pots, shoot them with contact cleaner if necessary.
> 
> the best gains come (depending on just how bad you needed a set up to begin with) from what is beyond the basic part of a set up. fret level, polish and crown, dress the ends. check the nut slots for proper height, get rid of any burrs, etc. replace if needed, or if it's plastic.
> ...


Thank you for the reply, Cheezy. I may need a tool or two, not sure if I have everything at home. I think for my ESP I need to tweak the truss to get a little bit of twang out of the High E string and make sure the neck relief is right. That's where I might start, and maybe some how-to videos might strengthen my resolve. 
I play with clean amp settings like 90% of the time, so I do start to notice intonation issues, and in all my time I've never really done much about them. When I was learning to play and practice (still learning) it was mostly chalked up to my fretting hand working overtime and causing the issues. Now I know there is a fine balance to be had, and I'm not sure I've really ever setup a guitar to my preference.


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## doblander (Dec 8, 2019)

For sure Cheezy covered all the bases. I made a hobby out of refinishing and setup of 2nd hand bottom feeder guitars. I'm far better at these aspects than I can ever hope to be at playing. Massively rewarding to shim necks, file frets, you can achieve the playability of a high ender out of a bottom feeder. Both have wooden necks and bodies. Lots of the feeders accidentally or otherwise have top drawer necks, so they set up 100% as good as $2,000 guitars. It's just that everything that screws onto them can be "a bit weak". Never use a levelling beam in your luthier pursuits. A notched thingy to aid in straightening the neck, a fret rocker and an ignition points file from Amazon - for fretwork. These 3 tools are absolutely all the SPECIALTY tools you'll require to make a "healthy" cheap guitar GREAT. Learn as you go!


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## Trimshaw (Oct 7, 2021)

*Most Modded: Godin SD22*_ (no longer own) _
-Converted from HSS to HH
-Replaced 3-way switch with 5-way for middle out of phase and middle series/parallel
-Push-pulls for coil taps on each humbucker
-KGC Brass Tremolo Block

*Favourite Modded: Ibanez Roadstar II RS240*
-Rewired the 3-way switch for Neck/Neck-Bridge/Bridge
-Removed middle volume for a middle on/off master switch (only middle pickup is on regardless of position)
-Push-pull pot for adding middle to whichever position the selector is set to
-Push-pull for Neck-Bridge out of phase

You might think it would've been better to have left it stock with the middle volume as a blend pot but I use the middle and middle-bridge a lot and found it was always a hassle turning it up and down constantly. 

I've modded most of my guitars somewhat, but those two were the most interesting.


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

I have modded guitars in pretty much every possible way (new pickups, new neck, made new body etc)
My favourite simple mod is to connect the tone to bridge pickup only.
This works great with teles and p90 guitars.

Nathan


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

doblander said:


> For sure Cheezy covered all the bases. I made a hobby out of refinishing and setup of 2nd hand bottom feeder guitars. I'm far better at these aspects than I can ever hope to be at playing. Massively rewarding to shim necks, file frets, you can achieve the playability of a high ender out of a bottom feeder. Both have wooden necks and bodies. Lots of the feeders accidentally or otherwise have top drawer necks, so they set up 100% as good as $2,000 guitars. It's just that everything that screws onto them can be "a bit weak". Never use a levelling beam in your luthier pursuits. A notched thingy to aid in straightening the neck, a fret rocker and an ignition points file from Amazon - for fretwork. These 3 tools are absolutely all the SPECIALTY tools you'll require to make a "healthy" cheap guitar GREAT. Learn as you go!


i have tweaked nut slots using a tip cleaner for a mig welder. they come in a pack of different sizes kinda like how allen keys come all bolted together in one pack. it's not "the right tool for the job" but it will clean off burrs in a pinch.


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

doblander said:


> For sure Cheezy covered all the bases. I made a hobby out of refinishing and setup of 2nd hand bottom feeder guitars. I'm far better at these aspects than I can ever hope to be at playing. Massively rewarding to shim necks, file frets, you can achieve the playability of a high ender out of a bottom feeder. Both have wooden necks and bodies. Lots of the feeders accidentally or otherwise have top drawer necks, so they set up 100% as good as $2,000 guitars. It's just that everything that screws onto them can be "a bit weak". Never use a levelling beam in your luthier pursuits. A notched thingy to aid in straightening the neck, a fret rocker and an ignition points file from Amazon - for fretwork. These 3 tools are absolutely all the SPECIALTY tools you'll require to make a "healthy" cheap guitar GREAT. Learn as you go!


I have found that the most bang for my buck was buying a set of nut files.
It was not cheap but it was well worth it.
It was about the cost of 3 or 4 nuts from a guitar tech.

If you buy/ sell guitars or like to fix up old guitars it’s well worth the expense.

Also a fret crowning file & fret pullers.(around $100 for both).

A decent straight edge (I have a regular one and a notched one - both cheap ones from solo).

A good set of screw drivers (which you should have anyway).
Mine are an older craftsman set.
A decent tuner (which you should have anyway).
Everything else is stuff you can diy.

Nathan

ps except radius blocks - but you only need those when you start building your own necks.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)




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## Mutant_Guitar (Oct 24, 2021)

Wardo said:


> View attachment 387082


I've been getting into Chris Whitley, a really solid singer/steel guitarist...deceased. 
I've always wondered what it is to play one of these.


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## champster29 (Jul 26, 2013)

I once change all wirings pots and pickups on a R9 and went with holy grail pre wired kit and Throwbak 101 pickups. The result was day and night for the better. I also had treble bleed installed on my Gretsch Tennessee Rose. Other than that I keep mostly everything stock as much as I can.


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## BEACHBUM (Sep 21, 2010)

G&L Tribute Bluesboy. Seth Lover neck pick up, Gotoh six saddle bridge, Graphtech nut, modular electronics and reshaped head stock.


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## wraub (May 21, 2021)

P bass- Red Rhodes' Velvet Hammer pickup, Hipshot Extender, vintage threaded saddle bridge, gold ano pickguard, different pots and cap
J bass- Bartolini pickup, Hipshot Extender, vintage threaded saddle bridge
Delonge Strat- GFS Vintage Split pickup
Firefly FFLP- Tone Specific PAF pickups, Gotoh aluminum tailpiece
Ibanez RB885- Kahler 2440-N5 bridge and body mod to fit
Ibanez RB885 (a second one)- converted to fretless


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

Most useful I've found is putting a 4-way switch on any Telecaster I own. It's an invisible mod and adds the pickups in series which is a totally different and totally useful tone. Why this isn't stock on all Teles made today is beyond me.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Powdered Toast Man said:


> Most useful I've found is putting a 4-way switch on any Telecaster I own. It's an invisible mod and adds the pickups in series which is a totally different and totally useful tone. Why this isn't stock on all Teles made today is beyond me.


While I agree it provides one additional sound on a Tele, I really like the simplicity of a three way switch and don't like having to scroll past a position to reach one I want.

For that reason I only had that mod on one Tele and switched it to a three way.


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

Milkman said:


> While I agree it provides one additional sound on a Tele, I really like the simplicity of a three way switch and don't like having to scroll past a position to reach one I want.
> 
> For that reason I only had that mod on one Tele and switched it to a three way.


I always have mine wired so the series option is the front most position. So otherwise it's completely normal and I don't have to skip over it.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Powdered Toast Man said:


> I always have mine wired so the series option is the front most position. So otherwise it's completely normal and I don't have to skip over it.


Only problem is, I'm so physically inept, with that arrangement, I'd have to put the switch all the way forward, and then back one to get to the neck pup. Otherwise, half the time I'd end up with that special position instead of the neck.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Here's two I didn't mention previously. One is a damn good copy of a Mosrite Combo that a former workmate gave me. It's a semi-hollow with a very thick top to compensate for the lack of a centre block. I wired up the neck pickup to be able to cancel one of the coils with a small toggle. The roller bridge it came with has seen much better days, so I'm installing a new roller bridge I bought to make the Bigsby work better.

The other is a Vantage I picked up cheap ($80 IIRC) a few years ago, from a guy who had it as his "project" guitar. There seems to be a lot of guys who have big plans for their project guitar and simply never get around to it. I refinished the thing and redid the wiring. As follows:

Master volume
Bass cut switch for neck pickup
Neck tone control on/off
Neck tone control
Bridge tone control wired up "Peavey T-60 style". Pans from single-coil, through both coils, to both coils with treble cut.
Bridge pickup phase reverse
The guitar can be used as a "normal" dual humbucker with master volume. The neck bass-cut is not dramatic, but *is* noticeable. More or less like switching from a 12" or 15" to a 10" speaker, rather than any sort of attempt to fake a SC sound. Switch 3 is nice for going between muted and bright neck, without having to adjust the tone pot. But the real magic involves control 5 and switch 6. Putting N+B out of phase (all coils on, no neck bass-cut) gets the usual thin nasal tone with a volume drop. But when the neck bass-cut is on, the volume is restored for phase-reversed, the nasalness goes, and you have a completely different and _very_ usable N+B sound. Being able to pan from one coil to two coils on the bridge pickup expands the variety of phase-reversed sounds. A very surprising outcome for me was that when ONLY the bridge PU is selected and its tone control is rotated to the single-coil position, flicking switch 6 selects either the coil closest to the bridge OR the one on the other side. The surprise for me was hearing just how different the two coils in the _same_ pickup sounded. _Completely_ different personalities that you don't even have to pay close attention to notice. I wouldn't expect a similar contrast in a neck pickup, but the two coils of a PU by the bridge sense a different pattern of harmonics.

It's probably more switches than I ideally like to have, but it's a VERY tonally flexible instrument. I think, but am not sure, the pickups are Schaller. Been a while since I unscrewed them from the body. But if so, I'm assuming the instrument predates Larry DiMarzio "patenting" dual-creme pickups. Nice axe. Comfortable to play.


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

mhammer said:


> Here's two I didn't mention previously. One is a damn good copy of a Mosrite Combo that a former workmate gave me. It's a semi-hollow with a very thick top to compensate for the lack of a centre block. I wired up the neck pickup to be able to cancel one of the coils with a small toggle. The roller bridge it came with has seen much better days, so I'm installing a new roller bridge I bought to make the Bigsby work better.
> 
> The other is a Vantage I picked up cheap ($80 IIRC) a few years ago, from a guy who had it as his "project" guitar. There seems to be a lot of guys who have big plans for their project guitar and simply never get around to it. I refinished the thing and redid the wiring. As follows:
> 
> ...


My head hurts, there's way too many switches! This is a guitar for those synth players and their big brains!


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

mhammer said:


> View attachment 389272


i've had a couple of those, wayyy back in the past. they're very cool guitars. i think you're the only guy i know who would (or maybe even could) make those mods, but i like it. not really a guitar for a dark stage, but in a studio would be awesome


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Thanks. The nice thing about it is one can simply ignore two of the switches (neck bass-cut, and neck tone-cancel), and use it as a 3-knobber V/T/T with a phase reverse. In principle, not really much different in complexity than a Strat with a push-pull Tone pot, or toggle for getting one of the combinations a 5-way switch doesn't normally get.

Normally I do NOT like guitars that rely on too many switches. I have a S-S-H Tele that uses 3 toggles to engage pickups, and I really don't like it. I remember when B.C. Rich guitars were all the rage, my reaction was like Ti-Ron's: *too* many switches. But what I like to go for is juuuuuuusst a little more possibilities with a minimum of frittering around. The neck tone-cancel switch is simply a convenience, and not a requisite. I may actually just convert it to a switch to alter the tone rolloff. As for the neck bass-cut, realistically, that function can be easily incorporated into the phase-reverse switch. I've done so on another guitar. I ended up having to make it a separate switch in this instance because the switch flips the phase of the bridge pickup, not the neck. I forfeited the convenience of being able to make a usable phase-reversed N+B with one flick, but gained the option to retain the traditional nasal reverse-phase combo,in addition to the more usable one, as well as access use of individual bridge-pickup coils.


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

All of mine essentially are modded... mostly because I buy cheap guitars, or stripped down bare guitars.

2 most modded would be 

1) Squier SE (aka The Black Queen) - Black squier, rosewood fretboard, black Tusq nut, black Tusq trees, black pickguard, USA vintage style trem, gotosh locking tuners, and the GFS Brian May style pickups. So instead of a 5-way switch and 3 knobs, I have 6 switches for on/off and phase control for each.

2) Cort G254 (Lamborghini "Arancio Borealis" Orange) - Was just a neck and body. Put some Fender/Schaller black tuners on it, Wlkinson 2-point trem, and it had the cut outs for HSS. I put in mini-rails into the single spots, and a G-Rail... Warman version of a P-Rail. Had a 5way selector, vol/tone, and I added in a mini-toggle to select which half or all of the G-Rail, and a push/pull tone for phase control. 

Wiring nightmare for both... small wires, small space, lots of connections.


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