Guitar Modifications
From Mod Mania
There are numerous reasons why people choose to modify a guitar, one such example is turning a otherwise useless guitar (often useless in the modifiers eyes such as the Stratocaster and Superstrat) into something that is deemed functional. Guitar mods are made fairly simple now as online tutorials are found in abundances, parts are also acquired with ease from music stores or even online from www.ebay.com or specialist luthier suppliers such as www.stewmac.com or http://www.luthierssupplies.com.au/.
Guitar modifications usually mean; Hardware: bridge, tuners, necks, etc, or Electronics: pick-ups, pots, etc. A particularly popular mod is to make your guitar look old and used, this appeals to some people as it gives the guitar its own “mojo”, it’s usually applied to the Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster. Some people are really good at this mod and have made a business out of it.
Major guitar manufacturers such as Fender, ESP, PRS, all have a custom guitar build option, it’s the manufacturers way of selling modified versions of their product line, this option is always expensive, and I think this is what has made guitar modifying a big worldwide community. Because of the want to have specific things but having a giant price tag attached to it, people are motivated to buy parts and spend the weekend in the shed modifying their guitars, this option costs less but is open to more errors, thus the use of communities.
Guitar communities are usually separated into 2 groups, people devoted to one type of guitar and people who are interested in them generally not caring about a particular type of guitar.
http://www.jemsite.com/forums/ is an example of the devoted type of community. It is a community originally devoted to the Ibanez JEM which was Steve Vai’s signature guitar but has since expanded and now encompasses all Ibanez guitars. The Ibanez JEM being a signature model does not come cheap, the base model comes in at $6000. The JEM is just a modified Ibanez RG, the RG series guitar comes in fairly cheap at around $800 for the mid range models. Steve’s guitars were custom made by a guy named “JEM” before Ibanez decided to create him a signature model. The creation of the signature guitar has helped the wider community to replicate it as the website includes the specification. The jemsite forum has comprehensive guides on how to replicate the many JEM models. The members also support each other by answering questions and providing guides to help others complete the mod if they are interested. The only JEM to date that hasn’t been almost flawlessly copied by these guys is the limited edition “DNA series” which used Vai’s blood in the paint.
The other type of community is the general guitar lovers, the people who don’t specifically target the one type of guitar to mod or collect. http://www.guitargear.net.au/discussion/index.php is a large scale Australian guitar community. They predominantly target Australian made guitars, amps and effects, but they do have a section about “Gear from Abroad”. The mod section of this forum is top notch, it is supported by professional luthiers. These luthiers are reputable and usually give tips and pointers or validate a mod once it is posted.
Guitar mods aren’t limited to the guitar itself, most people modify the guitar in order to get a certain sound out of it, this leads to effect pedal and amp modifications.
Effects pedals are very simply modified, the most common mod is a true bypass, true bypass means the signal is sent straight through the pedal without crossing the circuit board, this provides the use of a pedal when needed but send the “pure” clean signal through to the amp when the pedal isn’t needed. A guitar pedal I have is modded by a company called “Analogman” http://www.analogman.com/, I have an Ibanez Tubescreamer TS9 which has been modified to have the same specs as the Ibanez Tubescreamer TS808. This modification makes the less expensive TS9 quiet literally the same as the TS808.
Similar to the effects mods are the amp mods, the most popular amp mods are to swap out the valves in a valve amp, or to change amp modules in a solid state amp. This effects greatly how the guitar sounds in the end, but most people tend not to play around with amplifier internals.
People who modify guitars or effects and amplifiers, can sometimes be famous for their mods and start their own production line, an example of this is Reinhold Bogner, he became famous after modifying Eddie Van Halen’s amplifiers and now has his own company who design and produce amplifiers.
Companies have long since realized that guitarist’s modifications of their products can create new markets for them. Today many of the most expensive guitars are what are known as Artist Models or Signature Series guitars. Simply put, these guitar companies have made deals with popular artists to recreate their guitars and sell them, and the artist’s get money and a constant supply of guitars, and a company who will make any modification they want for them. But many of these guitarists then take their own Signature Series guitars and modify them more, which are then sold as more expensive models of the original series.
