anyone ever been afraid...

cm01

… to tinker with a guitar that you love and that plays great?

I've got a killer Mattos Rat Rod that's basically a single pickup Cabronita and it's a phenomenal guitar … however 2 things would make it perfect for me - the addition of a neck pickup and bigger frets.  But I'm worried to get it modded in case it totally alters the feel of the guitar .. has anyone regretted modding a great guitar or an I just over thinking it all? 

p90fool

Well I ordered a Firebird 1, a neck pickup and switch and a router on the same day.

The router turned up a day late so I had a bit of time with it as a single pickup guitar.

Now it has two pickups it's exactly what I needed and works well, so no regrets, but it did lose a little bit of magic on the way, which may or may not be psychological. 

Bod1

If the two mods would make it perfect, then go for it.  A guitar is an organic thing, that's why most guitarists convince themselves they need multiple options. 

I've modded lots of guitars, some successful, some not so much, but how will you know what works unless you try.

WezV

The frets will change the feel and the neck pickup will tame the guitar a bit.  

They are both mods that give significant change, doesn’t mean it will be bad 

octatonic

I've learned that if it works for you then don't fuck with it.

impmann

p90fool said:

Well I ordered a Firebird 1, a neck pickup and switch and a router on the same day.

The router turned up a day late so I had a bit of time with it as a single pickup guitar.

Now it has two pickups it's exactly what I needed and works well, so no regrets, but it did lose a little bit of magic on the way, which may or may not be psychological. 

Is that the JoBo Epi version?

The single pickup puts me off that guitar and I’ve had similar thoughts...

ICBM

Don’t ever irreversibly modify a guitar you love... it can only go one way.

If it’s something you only like, or don’t really like, then get the router out.

DrBob

Is that the black one that was up for sale in here a while back ? That’s a killer guitar

stickyfiddle

octatonic said:

I've learned that if it works for you then don't fuck with it.

Yeah this. 

I put bigger frets on my Paisley Tele, and while it's still awesome, and in many ways an easier guitar to play, it doesn't have quite the same character it used to, which I'd had ~10 years to get used to. In this case it just needs a solid fret dress to bring the fret height down and it'll be perfect again, so no issue long-term.

Worse was the 2 Casinos I added Bigsbies to. The first one was good but a little dull pre-bigsby. It got much better and more lively with the bigsby fitted - all good. The second one was a much better more resonant guitar when it had the stock tailpiece, and the bigsby just took a fraction off the sparkle it had. I'm not sure if it was the weight or the different string geometry that did it, but it was a shame. 

stimpsonslostson

octatonic said:

I've learned that if it works for you then don't fuck with it.

Good advice professionally too! 

clarkefan

WezV said:

The frets will change the feel and the neck pickup will tame the guitar a bit.  

They are both mods that give significant change, doesn’t mean it will be bad 

@WezV how do you mean the addition of a neck pickup would tame it?

p90fool

impmann said:

p90fool said:

Well I ordered a Firebird 1, a neck pickup and switch and a router on the same day.

The router turned up a day late so I had a bit of time with it as a single pickup guitar.

Now it has two pickups it's exactly what I needed and works well, so no regrets, but it did lose a little bit of magic on the way, which may or may not be psychological. 

Is that the JoBo Epi version?

The single pickup puts me off that guitar and I’ve had similar thoughts...

Yep @impmann that's the one. It's a fantastic single pickup guitar but that's not something I can gig, hence the mods I did. 

If I'm totally pragmatic about it and ignore the neck pickup it's still exactly the same guitar it was before, I think a lot of the magic attributed to single pickup guitars (apart from possible magnet pull on some) is that you can set your amp up for just that pickup with no compromises. 

I needed a usable backup guitar and fancied a Firebird, but you can't get a two pickup Firebird with a through neck and banjo tuners outside the custom shop, so no regrets from me, it's a great guitar.  

p90fool

Forgot the pic...

http://i68.tinypic.com/296ltv6.jpg

Babones

Very nice.

crunchman

clarkefan said:

WezV said:

The frets will change the feel and the neck pickup will tame the guitar a bit.  

They are both mods that give significant change, doesn’t mean it will be bad 

@WezV how do you mean the addition of a neck pickup would tame it?

I'll jump in if that's ok.  The pull of the magnets from the neck pickup can dampen the string vibrations a bit.

I think there is a school of thought that says the lack of a neck pickup is why Les Paul Juniors and Fender Esquires sound so good.

I've played one or two Esquires that just had something really special to the tone.  I like the extra options that the neck pickup gives on a Tele, but I am wondering about an Esquire, or maybe a Tele modded with a neck pickup that has lower string pull.  I think gold foil pickups are meant to have low string pull.  Need to research it a bit.

axisus

I had a great strat neck from Warmoth and it had a bone nut that was working OK but damaged and didn't look good. I had it replaced and somehow the neck seemed to lose its mojo. 

impmann

p90fool said:

Forgot the pic...

http://i68.tinypic.com/296ltv6.jpg

Wow...

GAS attack...

zepp76

I bought all the bits to upgrade my 70's trib Les Paul (Monty's mini humbuckers, Faber bridge and tailpiece, locking tuners and strap locks). I'm not sure whether it's a fear of changing the guitar or if it's just pure laziness that has stopped me from doing it so far, I think it's more laziness if I'm honest! I still have a Strat that needs doing to!

cm01

octatonic said:

I've learned that if it works for you then don't fuck with it.

Hmmm I think this pretty much sums it up and it’s what I’ve been thinking to be honest 

it’s such a great guitar I’d hate for it to lose any of its mojo and I can live with the frets

I'm sure I’ve asked this before but has anyone had good results from using an EQ pedal or something similar with a single pickup guitar to mimic a neck pickup?

Oh yeah, this thread needs a pic!

https://imgur.com/gallery/SKjRlqr

WezV

crunchman said:

clarkefan said:

WezV said:

The frets will change the feel and the neck pickup will tame the guitar a bit.  

They are both mods that give significant change, doesn’t mean it will be bad 

@WezV how do you mean the addition of a neck pickup would tame it?

I'll jump in if that's ok.  The pull of the magnets from the neck pickup can dampen the string vibrations a bit.

I think there is a school of thought that says the lack of a neck pickup is why Les Paul Juniors and Fender Esquires sound so good.

I've played one or two Esquires that just had something really special to the tone.  I like the extra options that the neck pickup gives on a Tele, but I am wondering about an Esquire, or maybe a Tele modded with a neck pickup that has lower string pull.  I think gold foil pickups are meant to have low string pull.  Need to research it a bit.

That’s pretty much it.

if the guitar seems lively now, expect to lose a bit of that.  For many, the extra tonal options are more than worth it

57Deluxe

I leave 'as is' unless is a right Dog and anything done to it would be an improvement.

The  - "I wonder if I..?"  - doesn't happen in my world as if I want something sounding/looking dramatically different, I save up and buy it additionally.