Modding Guitars

[Mark L]

I'm terrified of fiddling with guitars

I can change strings and raise & lower the action on electric guitars. And that's it

Today I did something monumental - I lowered the action on my acoustic guitar! Having watched a how-to vid on Youtube, I got myself some sandpaper and set to work

And guess what? It worked! My acoustic now plays like a dream

Do you do much modding?

[UstadKhanAli]

No.  If I had a thrasher guitar, I'd do it, but my guitars are really nice and I don't wanna mess 'em up.

[Mark L]

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UstadKhanAli wrote:

No.  If I had a thrasher guitar, I'd do it, but my guitars are really nice and I don't wanna mess 'em up.

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Well, my acoustic is a very nice guitar. Top of Tanglewood's range when I bought it about 5 years ago

But the action has always been uncomfortably high, and I was too embarrassed to take it to a repair shop (I'm easily embarrassed)

So I finally took the plunge and did it myself. And was amazed that I actually did a good job

[Phil O'Keefe]

It depends on the instrument. I can do setups (action, intonation, truss rod, etc.) on pretty much any of my instruments, but one of my friends is a master builder in the Fender Custom Shop, so I let him take care of anything tricky, or if I want them set up extra nice.

As far as electronics, I can do myself. Different switching configurations, new pickups - anything of that nature is easy enough for me to do that I normally would never hand it off to someone else. I've even done some refinishing and some other stuff, but I've never done anything as complex and crucial as a re-fret job, although Dennis once offered to teach me how. I may take him up on that someday.

 

[Anderton]

My personal rule:

If it involves solder - okay

If it involves wood - not okay!