So what would you change about your favorite guitar?

[kwakatak]

I know that everybody has at least one guitar they love, whether it be theirs or just something that they've been GASing for. Still, I refuse to believe that there's no "perfect" guitar out there and that even those who love their guitars wish they could change one thing that couldn't necessarily be done aftermarket.

 

So how about it? What are your favorites and what do you like the least about it/them that you would change if you could?

 

I'll start with a few:

 

My favorite in my ownership is of course the wonderful Larrivee OM-03R that was gifted to me by a wonderful bunch of online friends. I've put it to good use over the past few years and I'm sorry to say that it hasn't remained in pristine condition. Still, I baby it as much as I can and have "tweaked" it so that it feels like part of me and it responds in such a way that I don't focus on the guitar itself so much as what's coming through my fingers and by way of the guitar back to my ears. That being said, there are times when I wish it had a little more bass and I wonder how it would feel if it were at least a 1/2" deeper.

 

My other favorite - and I have a LOT of those - is the Martin HD-35. The tone just wraps me up and envelopes me in another world and the ideas in my head seem to sound so much bigger coming out of the soundhole. That being said, when I open my eyes I look down and see that cheezy white plastic binding. I often wonder how maple or koa would look in its place. Heck, I'd be happy if the binding would prematurely age to the wonderful yellow color that the white plastic binding on my Tak darkened to after 37 years. I don't think I could wait though.

[Steadfastly]

This is what I would do to my Ibanez AG-75. It's a great guitar as it is but to customize it for me, I would do the following.

 

1: A wider neck

2: An extra pickup in the middle and perhaps change the humbuckers to P-Rails

3: I would add a Bigsby

[kwakatak]

That's a start, but I think at least 2 of those things could be done - though are probably not cost-effective to do. Heck, maybe all 3 could be done if the AG75 has a bolt-on neck. I was thinking more along the lines of what couldn't be done with that particular guitar that you just had to adjust to.

[gitnoob]

I'm not going to pick any favorites. I love them all like they are my kids, and I accept my kids as they are. Mostly.

 

But I'd make some cosmetic changes on my 000-15S -- replace the tuners, remove the decal rosette, and add some old 17-style rosewood binding. Wouldn't change the tone or feel at all.

 

I'd shave the braces a bit on my Larrivee parlor, and probably reduce the soundhole size a bit. They stupidly made the air cavity resonate right around B, making the B sound pretty nasal.

 

I've already made most of the mods I wanted to make for my Silver Creek: new neck profile, new neck finish, got rid of the headstock overlay, lightened up the bracing, and changed out the tuners. Now it just needs the body refinished.

 

My Martin 0-16NY would be ideal with a slightly more narrow nut width -- maybe 1-13/16" rather than 1-7/8".

 

And I would rebrace some of my old ladder-braced parlors, making them X-braced. A project I might actually do.

[Steadfastly]

 

That's a start, but I think at least 2 of those things could be done - though are probably not cost-effective to do. Heck, maybe all 3 could be done if the AG75 has a bolt-on neck. I was thinking more along the lines of what couldn't be done with that particular guitar that you just had to adjust to.

 

 

Unfortunately, it's a set neck. I'm presently looking to get a hollow body with a bolt on neck or a 12-string electric and convert it to a six string. If you really wanted to, you could replace the fret board with a wider one and customize the edges but it would end up being a little "sharp" around the edges.

[Hudman]

Better tuners and a cool pickup system.

[fastblueheeler]

I would want my name inlaid on the neck.

[gull12]

Not a thing. I love it just as it is.

[larry50]

My current favorites are my Martin OM-21 and my Gibson J-45. Wouldn't change a thing on either of them.

[katopp]

Well, my current sweeties are my Binh spruce/maple dread and my Martin D35.

With the Martin, I only have one issue: it should age beautifully. The white Boltaron binding is glowing white and the top is still too young looking. Yes, I could have opted for an aged toner top, but those aren't available here. So, it's sit and wait.

With the Binh, it's all cosmetic, too. Being a sort of a prototype project a few things went astray. The font for my initials on the headstock is wrong - fixed with the Koa build. The headstock is unbound - fixed with the Koa build. The Paua-Abalone ring around the soundhole is a mil too thin and the contrasting rings are too far away - again fixed with the Koa build.

So, apart from some unimportant niggles, I'm a happy camper.

[totamus]

My sweetheart is the D28 that I bought new in 84. I can honestly say that there isn't a thing I would change. That is because I have made any changes that I felt were needed. I had the neck profile reshaped to match a Taylor neck, put in a Fishman pickup system and an "armrest". The nut and saddle are bone, the action is perfect (for me). The finish has years of marks and dings that are all good memories. I play it almost exclusively, although the Yamaha L5A gets some play as well. The Yamaha has also had the neck reshaped...

[Freeman Keller]

If I could I would change the pins and strings

[kwakatak]

Granted, new strings and a saddle can really change the "character" of a guitar's tone but I'm talking about fit and finish beyond what you'd get from your run-of-the-mill $50 setup. New tuning machines can both look pretty and improve how well a guitar stays in tune, but these are pretty simple fixes that do not alter the

 

Going a little further I've seen people have sound ports added to their guitars. Others have hand-buffed the satin finish on their "inexpensive" guitars to a semi gloss and even a high gloss. There's also been talk of shaving braces on a finished guitar or sanding down a neck profile. All that seems a little drastic to me though since that would void any manufacturer warranty.

 

No - I'm talking about the kind of stuff you wish had been done but wasn't, couldn't or at least probably shouldn't be done to an existing guitar. I'm talking about stuff like replacing necks, bridges, fretboards, etc. or adding another string or two to make a 7 or 8-string; - stuff that requires actual surgery not just "outpatient" stuff. What then? Do you accept it or succumb to GAS and look for something "better?"

[Glenn F]

'Favourite' changes from day to day, and from mood to mood. On my 'best' acoustic guitar, my Lakewood, I'd change nothing. On my 'best' electric, my Lennon Casino, I'd want better upper fret access. Other than that, it's a fantastic guitar.

[Freeman Keller]

Neil, I had my tongue firmly in cheek when I said that. As you know I have both had aftermarket changes made to my two Martins (some people are agast that I would consider moding a Martin, but I can promise that it had dramatic results). The D18 has been thoroughly hot rodded - new bridge plate, scalloping, and oh my gawd does it kick butt now.

 

I have also changed tuning machines on several guitar (Gotohs on the old Martin and a Yamie, some vintage reproductions on an old Dobro). I've replaced cones in two of my resonators which again, had dramatic changes. I didn't like the neck profile on the Stella clone so I took a rasp to it. I buffed the satin finish on a Taylor, futzed with string spacings and setups and different materials for saddles and pins and strings (and tried to be semi-scientific about it).

 

I've tried to learn from each and every guitar that I've played what I like and don't like, and that gets factored into the ones that I build. My two go to guitars are pretty close to ideal for daily play - my 000 six string has the wide flat neck that I like for slide, long scale for tuning down, deeply scalloped for response. It is a slot head for mojo and I love the bearclaw and color of the spruce. The only thing I would change about it would be different binding - the ivoride is just a little too white.

 

The OM 12 string was built because I didn't care for my D12-28 - so again, I built it with a wide flat neck for slide, longish scale for down tuning, smaller body for reponse. Bracing was a compromise to try to get a little more life out of the top. I'm happy with the bling and binding, but I would have built it as a slothead if I could have found the tuners (they are now available and I've built slothead 12's since then). The only thing that I would change right now is the tuner washers - they are too big and look ugly on the headstock.

 

My tricone could be my only resonator - wide flat neck (which my Duolian doesn't have), balance between bark when I dig in and mellow when I play mellow. There is absolutely nothing I would change about it.

 

But the funny thing is, after all of that work I'm still a crappy player

[FretFiend.]

If you have things you would change about your favorite guitar, you have the wrong favorite guitar.

[fastblueheeler]

 

If you have things you would change about your favorite guitar, you have the wrong favorite guitar.

 

 

This!

[Jimmy Chaos]

I's change the whole guitar. For a Taylor 110!

[Samilyn]

I dearly love both my gits. One is not favored over the other. The only change I ever wanted, I've already done, which was to install p'ups on both of them.

[poppytater]

I just got the one, so I guess it's my favorite. I'd like to change it into a Guild D-55.

[Tartanlad]

Id like to change ma guitar fir a Martin what model of Martin ?

 

Any who cares Nice sounding guitars Martins a reckon..

 

But seriously i payed a gd few-bob for the Willie Nelson p/guard and was thinking about

new gold coloured tuning heads on the Alvarez i have but left that for now

best with a set-up the Alvarez i have as guy sold it sais it hadnt been set-up

 

so thats more-so needy..As for the Seagull i have also a set-up although it is easier to play i feel

BUT im wary as to where to tke them ?

 

As always a guy/s whom may try their luck when not very much work needs done

can say this also was wrong with the guitar so we needed to do such a job ? ..

 

Though a guy whom was a slight aquaintance of mine whom was in the band from

early 80s "Big Country" had a well known song anyone may remember ------> (Fields Of Fire )

 

he now works in a small shop which sells and fixes sick guitars / violins you name it etc

he also does set-ups so possibly shall tke ma Guitar to that small shop in the town where

a both was born and also stay..

[Chordchunker]

No design changes I can think of.. I wish the "New-ness" would wear off, but thats about it.

[gitnoob]

 

I'm talking about stuff like replacing necks, bridges, fretboards, etc. or adding another string or two to make a 7 or 8-string; - stuff that requires actual surgery not just "outpatient" stuff. What then? Do you accept it or succumb to GAS and look for something "better?"

 

 

You're planning to build you own guitar, right? I think that all guitars have something to teach you, and guitars that need major surgery can teach you things that will help you build well. At least, that's my hope. I don't plan to start a scratch build until I've got a good handle on how guitars work, and I've rebuilt a few Frankensteins first.

[recordingtrack1]

I just replaced the original stock tuners on my Yairi with 18:1 Grover tuners. Yes, I know, but it is a 1985 model and the original tuners are falling apart. Really made an obvious difference in tune-ability ( is that a word?). $42.50 shipped on ebay.

A little graphite paste in the nut slots and new PB Elixirs and man, I'm making music. Cool!!!

[panhandler]

I would change my Hagstrom parlor into cash.