[pilgrim]

I appreciate that most players want to personalize their guitars, just as many teens do their cars. It is important to feel you have bonded with your guitar.
May I suggest that before you "customize" your guitar you learn from someone who knows BEFORE YOU START. Stew Mac has some neat lessons.
There have been some awesome mods and dressing up of guitars by
many members here. I, in over 50 years have seen some that were destroyed by customization. I personally feel that a guitar even the cheapest one, has a soul, if you give it a chance it will reveal it self. A guitar that needs to be modified except to set it up is not inferior and unless you know what you are doing you are not making it better, just different.
Of all the instruments I have collected, the one that stands out is a Selmer Tenor sax that a person left in a school parking lot, out of the case and a school bus ran over it. It is now 2.5 inches thick. I feel there is a real message in that sax, by the way some how the child's family got insurance to buy a new one. Guess who actually paid for the new one.
Yeah, I added a Bigsby to my Tim A. and the guy who buffed his out did a great job, I would never start even trying a project like that. He knew what he was doing.

[rhino2104]

Ouch. A Selmer Tenor? Selmer USA or Selmer Paris makes a difference there on cost (sax player here).

I do agree that each instrument has a soul and a personality all it's own. I've played a number of instruments over the few years (only 16 years here) and I've had two saxes with sequential serial numbers play completely different from one another. One was a very bright and crisp tone with some intonation issues while the other (same mouth piece and reed) have a much darker and warmer tone and no intonation issues.

[freddyfingers]

I think its like getting s tattoo. Sounds good when you and your buddies are drinking, but the next week or so........

[johnnyrotten]

Oh, the tattoo quandry... my teenage daughters tell me about the tattoos they are going to get and I tell them not to. "But dad, you're covered with them"! Do as I say, not as I do...

[pilgrim]

Originally Posted by freddyfingers

I think its like getting s tattoo. Sounds good when you and your buddies are drinking, but the next week or so........

All parents especially ministers fear the tattoo. My son came home after working in Florida and was anxious to show me his tattoo. It on his ankle and about half the size of a dime. He is on the promotion list for Colonel in the Marines and the operations officer for Wounded Warrior so I guess he wasn't quite as wild I feared.

The sax was a Paris and I have it in storage now. I still use a King or a Conn. The year I graduated from college my parents brought in about 5K they told me if I wanted special things I had to earn them. I never tried altering guitars because I was afraid I would not be able to sell them. Now I realize how much I missed.

[Handley]

I'm a minister with tattoos and two sons.

I've never customized a guitar in a way that was not reversible.

[TV the Wired Turtle]

its all how you look at life, I dont want a guitar that looks like it came off the wall at guitar center. My dad likes shiny guitars and doest even like to change string gauge (he's an old guy, 69 and plain as can be other than his silver pompadour) I'm a retired worship minister with tattoos all over me, I want everything customized. Even my wife has a cute little sunflower tattoo on her hip.

[MyBootsOnFire]

I think it's a fine line. I customize cars for a living and have for years. Unfortunately when I was first interested in them I couldn't find anyone to teach me. I had to learn by doing. I ended up ruining one or two great old cars. On the one hand I should have stuck to doing things more within my reach, on the other I never wanted to be one of those people so afraid of devaluing something I owned that I never tried.
These days I'll cut in to almost anything. The only ones I consider sacred are those with particular historic value that should probably be in a museum anyway.
I think it depends on the mod too. Adding a set of Sperzels or a Compton is miles away from other more serious mods. Same with cars. Some people stick to bolting a new set of wheels on. Then again some of us prefer to convert a relatively worthless 4 door in a 2 door coupe and lower the lid while we're at it. People shouldn't be afraid to try but there's a lot to be said for not biting off more than you can chew.

As or tattoos, I'm 12 years removed from the day I got my first and don't regret a single one. Research, get input from the more experienced, plan ahead. Good rules to live by on any mod, body, car or guitar.

[genuine36]

Originally Posted by MyBootsOnFire

I think it's a fine line. I customize cars for a living and have for years. Unfortunately when I was first interested in them I couldn't find anyone to teach me. I had to learn by doing. I ended up ruining one or two great old cars. On the one hand I should have stuck to doing things more within my reach, on the other I never wanted to be one of those people so afraid of devaluing something I owned that I never tried.
These days I'll cut in to almost anything. The only ones I consider sacred are those with particular historic value that should probably be in a museum anyway.
I think it depends on the mod too. Adding a set of Sperzels or a Compton is miles away from other more serious mods. Same with cars. Some people stick to bolting a new set of wheels on. Then again some of us prefer to convert a relatively worthless 4 door in a 2 door coupe and lower the lid while we're at it. People shouldn't be afraid to try but there's a lot to be said for not biting off more than you can chew.

As or tattoos, I'm 12 years removed from the day I got my first and don't regret a single one. Research, get input from the more experienced, plan ahead. Good rules to live by on any mod, body, car or guitar.

Completely agree with ya there. I just jump into my first full custom car build. Little off topic but i turned my 1936 4 door chevy master in a chopped, channeled, bagged sedan delivery. We make mistakes but thats how certain people learn. I can say my efforts are paying off.

[freddyfingers]

Well, i confess. I have done excessive modeling to my Blue Hotrod. I did, dare I say, remove the pick guard, and even installed a compton. I know, I know, how will I ever be able to reverse this process? I loose sleep all the time.

[G-Whiz]

I bought a guitar only to mod and make into something else. I had a Pro Jet already and bought the Electro Double Jet to make into exactly what I wanted. I didn't want to mod the Pro because I already had that connection with it, so it's not like I'm doing this project to something I have an emotional interest/connection in, although when I get the project done, I will be very close to this guitar since I will have stripped it and rebuilt it from the ground up. I have been doing all my own guitar repair since I started playing like twelve years ago. This is the first major mod job I have attempted. I feel with the experience I have doing my own repairs, mistakes learned from, etc., that I am capable of finishing this job with near perfect results. That said, as in the title of this thread, it does pay to think. If at any point you feel you might mess something up beyond repair, take it to someone. I thought about this project and everything involved for like 2 months before I even decided to do it. Waiting to be able to afford the guitar gave me a couple more month to think about it. Sure, my project has had a few setbacks and things I couldn't have even predicted/prepared for, like the binding crumbling and falling off from only being touched with a sander. These setbacks are what they are, only setbacks. I will still get the project done, and it will look and play great. I don't think one should condemn all mods. I just started doing this to hone my skills and practice and learn from my mistakes, plus have a guitar that's exactly what I want when I can't afford to have one made from a custom shop/luthier.

[calvin lee]

no matter how destroyed a guitar is, if you can't make music with it, you're just not creative enough.

(but don't destroy your guitars)

[G-Whiz]

Originally Posted by calvin lee

no matter how destroyed a guitar is, if you can't make music with it, you're just not creative enough.

(but don't destroy your guitars)

As long as the electronics and strap buttons work and it tunes and intonates, the rest is just aesthetics.

[rhino2104]

Originally Posted by pilgrim

The sax was a Paris and I have it in storage now. I still use a King or a Conn. The year I graduated from college my parents brought in about 5K they told me if I wanted special things I had to earn them. I never tried altering guitars because I was afraid I would not be able to sell them. Now I realize how much I missed.

Ouch. Glad you saved it though. My alto is an American built in Elkhard, IN. My soprano is a Wurlitzer (I think it's a Martin Stencil with the Wurlitzer name on it) and my bari is a Taiwanese made pro model that is actually an incredible instrument. It really floored me when I played it the first time.

I don't have any tattoos personally but that's just because I plan one out and end up changing my mind later. I don't do any kind of irreversible mod on anything on an impulse on anything. It's all well researched and planned out before I even attempt it.

[Synchro]

For me it comes down to reversibility. Of my five Gretsch guitars four have been modified. The G6122-1959 is stack as a rock and likely to stay that way. The bridge base is angled so that a rocking bar bridge intonates correctly so a Compton probably wouldn't work. It also has a Chet style wire handle on the Bigsby. My other Gretsch guitars all have Compton bridges and wire handles. My 6120N has Alnico Filtertrons and the pots, switch and jack have been upgraded to CTI/Switchcraft. I also but a set of locking Grover's on this guitar but they are a drop-in fit.

All mods are reversible, non-scarring and, for the most part come down to taste. I like solid bridges and Chet wire handles.

[ReverberatingDream]

I just heard about a survey which revealed men with tattoos drink 44% more than those without and women with tattoos drink twice as much as those without.
I wonder if they reversed the survey at that point to discover that men needed to be 44% more drunk than normal to get an unplanned tattoo and women needed to be twice as drunk to get an unplanned tattoo. But alas I never heard anything about that! I've considered a tattoo, perhaps some day in future, when I drink more, but right now I'll stick with jewellery. Besides, I can't have a tattoo and be allowed in a traditional Japanese onsen.

Back to guitars, I own the coolest stickers (IMHO, haha), some of which I bought specifically to put on my Fender Cyclone...and I just couldn't do it. And it's just a frigging sticker!!! It's too beautiful. If/when I own a Gretsch without a metal plate on the headstock, a sticker is going there.

The most "customization" I'll ever do is add the Bigsby to my Anni, perhaps dye a fretboard down the line, and I don't think that even qualifies. Though in the back of my mind I have a picture of a spare Fender Cyclone getting copper paint, a hot rail and a P90 and custom pickguard...hmmm

Best advice ever - THINK FIRST! Good one, pilgrim.

[TV the Wired Turtle]

Originally Posted by MyBootsOnFire

I think it's a fine line. I customize cars for a living and have for years. Unfortunately when I was first interested in them I couldn't find anyone to teach me. I had to learn by doing. I ended up ruining one or two great old cars. On the one hand I should have stuck to doing things more within my reach, on the other I never wanted to be one of those people so afraid of devaluing something I owned that I never tried.
These days I'll cut in to almost anything. The only ones I consider sacred are those with particular historic value that should probably be in a museum anyway.
I think it depends on the mod too. Adding a set of Sperzels or a Compton is miles away from other more serious mods. Same with cars. Some people stick to bolting a new set of wheels on. Then again some of us prefer to convert a relatively worthless 4 door in a 2 door coupe and lower the lid while we're at it. People shouldn't be afraid to try but there's a lot to be said for not biting off more than you can chew.

As or tattoos, I'm 12 years removed from the day I got my first and don't regret a single one. Research, get input from the more experienced, plan ahead. Good rules to live by on any mod, body, car or guitar.

Okay I'm driving over.. I got a 4 door 54 century and I need the rear C notched!

[MyBootsOnFire]

Originally Posted by TV the Wired Turtle

Okay I'm driving over.. I got a 4 door 54 century and I need the rear C notched!

Bring it on over! We'll have to take a picture with it parked next to my 50 Special. Although i always thought it was ironic that mine's called a Special when it was a base model and it was the Roadmaster that was in fact special.

[pilgrim]

I knew some of you would respond to this post. You know I lost my family in a car wreck and started looking for a wife a year later. I am a minister and dated a lot but didn't sleep around. I finally found a lady who wouldn't even talk to me. Needless to say, I finally asked her to marry me and she had two children. We had a long engagement, but one Sunday we were at a nice restaurant and I made the statement I was glad my dating days were over cause I was starting to thing I was gong to have to date women with tattoos. The kids giggled but I let it pass. 27 years ago on May 16th I found out why the kids laughed. So I guess my son inherited his "tattoo need" from his Mom and being in the Marines from me. You guys are all the best group I ever found on the web. Thanks and at 65 I have destroyed more than guitars and yeah, some regrets.

[G-Whiz]

Originally Posted by pilgrim

I knew some of you would respond to this post. You know I lost my family in a car wreck and started looking for a wife a year later. I am a minister and dated a lot but didn't sleep around. I finally found a lady who wouldn't even talk to me. Needless to say, I finally asked her to marry me and she had two children. We had a long engagement, but one Sunday we were at a nice restaurant and I made the statement I was glad my dating days were over cause I was starting to thing I was gong to have to date women with tattoos. The kids giggled but I let it pass. 27 years ago on May 16th I found out why the kids laughed. So I guess my son inherited his "tattoo need" from his Mom and being in the Marines from me. You guys are all the best group I ever found on the web. Thanks and at 65 I have destroyed more than guitars and yeah, some regrets.

That's a touching story, pilgrim. It really puts a lot in perspective. Even though it was years and years ago, I know you still feel pain every day of your life. My sincerest support goes out to you.