Selling Modded Guitar

thegummy

A question to you all - when selling a guitar that has been electronically modded, would the potential buyers always prefer the electronics to be restored to original or would they possibly prefer keeping the mod?

For example, I've changed the switching to add more choices with a 5-way switch rather than 3-way - should I restore it to the original way before trying to sell it?

What about if the schematic was exactly the same but I'd, for example, swapped the cheaper Alpha pots for higher grade CTS pots, would anyone still prefer the original pots to better quality ones doing the same function?

Thanks.

JDE

In my experience it depends on the audience. On here, pots and switch upgrades are generally seen as a positive. Pickups, switching options, trem replacements etc are totally dependent on the buyer. Totally subjective but I, for example, don’t like 4 way switches on Teles and I don’t like 3 way switches on Strats. It doesn’t really really bother me unless you’re not putting a Warpig humbucker in 60’s ES175. 
On eBay, people tend to prefer bone stock guitars. This is possibly because people that only sell on eBay do things like “convert” a 7 string to a 6 string by just swapping the nut, or replacing the middle pickup on a guitar with a sausage and other such idiocies. 

Golden rules:
Keep any parts you remove.
Don’t fuck about with vintage guitars unless a part is so old it needs replacing. If so, see rule above.

Final word from someone that has bought and sold too many guitars, and I know it’s not relevant to what you’ve asked, but in my experience the biggest barrier to a potential buyer is to flat-out refuse to ship the guitar. 

thegummy

JDE said:

In my experience it depends on the audience. On here, pots and switch upgrades are generally seen as a positive. Pickups, switching options, trem replacements etc are totally dependent on the buyer. Totally subjective but I, for example, don’t like 4 way switches on Teles and I don’t like 3 way switches on Strats. It doesn’t really really bother me unless you’re not putting a Warpig humbucker in 60’s ES175. 
On eBay, people tend to prefer bone stock guitars. This is possibly because people that only sell on eBay do things like “convert” a 7 string to a 6 string by just swapping the nut, or replacing the middle pickup on a guitar with a sausage and other such idiocies. 

Golden rules:
Keep any parts you remove.
Don’t fuck about with vintage guitars unless a part is so old it needs replacing. If so, see rule above.

Yeah I think I'd definitely change the switching back to stock options and I do still have the old parts but kind of makes more sense to leave the higher quality components in it unless I find that buyers prefer original.

Not vintage, it's recent so no worries with that.

JDE

If I were you, I’d do as you say. Revert back to stock switching, leave the pots etc as they are. Include the old ones and it’s up to the buyer if they wanna put them back in. I would bet that nobody would bother, but it looks good on the sale advert.

Cols

General rules for guitar mods/upgrades is that you’ll never reclaim the money on resale.  At best it might make it easier to shift (e.g. upgraded pots, switch), but you’ll not be able to charge a premium.  At worst (if it’s an idiosyncratic mod) it can actually damage the resale value of the guitar.

Full disclosure - all my guitars are modified in some way.  It’s a matter of personal taste.

ICBM

thegummy said:

A question to you all - when selling a guitar that has been electronically modded, would the potential buyers always prefer the electronics to be restored to original or would they possibly prefer keeping the mod?

For example, I've changed the switching to add more choices with a 5-way switch rather than 3-way - should I restore it to the original way before trying to sell it?

What about if the schematic was exactly the same but I'd, for example, swapped the cheaper Alpha pots for higher grade CTS pots, would anyone still prefer the original pots to better quality ones doing the same function?

I would leave it as it is. Extra switching could be attractive to some buyers and is unlikely to actively put anyone off, if the options are sensible and it’s done neatly.

Upgraded pots are a selling point, don’t put lower-quality ones back in - especially as you will presumably have enlarged the holes to fit CTS ones.

guitars4you

Good upgrades should be what they suggest - It will depend on the guitar to a large degree and also depends on the next potential customers desire and understanding for such upgrades

p90fool

I would be more likely to buy a guitar which has the exact mods I would have done anyway, but as a buyer I'll pretend I would've preferred it unmodified. 

King85

If you have the old bits and are able to reverse the mods yourself you could put in the advert that you'd be happy to revert it to stock if the buyer desires.