Am I the only one that prefers to buy stuff “stock”?!!

skullfunkerry

chrisj1602 said:

Reminds me of an eBay listing that I saw recently.  I’m sure it is upgraded to the seller but to me he’s destroyed the guitar of my dreams...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303562037019

Jesus Christ...  

SimpleSimon

riffpowers said:

I’ve been down the modding route a few years ago , but for a long time now I mostly prefer things stock . 
So in my mind even if a guitar has been “upgraded” it’s not worth as much as a stock item .. 
There are exceptions, but not many. 

I wondered if I was alone in that way of thinking ??
M

No your not, if something is modded i tend to move on, if i want a particular guitar i want to base my experience on it being factory spec. I've never bothered changing pickups in any guitar, usually the amp can get me the sound i'm after. There is too much bullshit on the internet these days comparing this to that. Most people cant tell the difference anyway. I also think spending too much time modding takes valuable playing time away. Sure i see the benefit of upgrading a set of korean epi pups to Bare Knuckles but the gains are pretty insignificant otherwise. Plenty of Artists started out and got deals using average gear, Its how and what you play on it that counts.

LastMantra

I've modified cheap guitars partly for fun and learned a lot about how they work and how to set them up properly. 
The guitars I have now are stock.

crunchman

It does depend on what the guitar is.

If it's an older Mexican Fender Strat that originally came with ceramic pickups and the horrible trem block, then alnico pickups and a decent trem block would definitely make it more appealing to me.  I wouldn't pay much extra for that though.  Probably only a quarter of the what the pickups and trem block would cost to buy.

On a higher end guitar, changes won't add any value, and may even devalue it - unless it's something ridiculous like original PAFs.  Even then, the seller would be better off selling the pickups separately.

RaymondLin

crunchman said:

It does depend on what the guitar is.

If it's an older Mexican Fender Strat that originally came with ceramic pickups and the horrible trem block, then alnico pickups and a decent trem block would definitely make it more appealing to me.  I wouldn't pay much extra for that though.  Probably only a quarter of the what the pickups and trem block would cost to buy.

On a higher end guitar, changes won't add any value, and may even devalue it - unless it's something ridiculous like original PAFs.  Even then, the seller would be better off selling the pickups separately.

Speaking of Mexican Strat...how do I tell mine has the original trem block or not?

SteveRobinson

RaymondLin said:

Speaking of Mexican Strat...how do I tell mine has the original trem block or not?

It has PW29 (or somesuch) moulded into the casting at one corner.

adam1990

Depends on what the guitar is and what the mods are for me, If it's a Fender custom shop or a Gibson I would want to buy it stock.

If I was looking at a more standard issue guitar American standards, MIJ, MIM's then I wouldn't mind as long as no new holes had been drilled and the price wasn't the guitar plus mods. 

Blueingreen

Totally depends on the specific example.  I don't do a lot of mods, but an improvement is an improvement.  I've refretted a few guitars with bigger frets, for example.  I intend to put locking tuners on a couple of my guitars, and I'm considering changing the electronics on a couple to add versatility. 

I'm realistic about the effect on value. I have a Suhr Classic that I put 6000 frets on.  I knew perfectly well that taking off stainless steel "heavy' frets that came as stock and putting on non-SS 6000s would make the guitar harder to sell and likely reduce its value.  But I have no intention of selling and the change improved the guitar's playability for me. 

It would depend on circumstances but I see no reason why I might not pay more for a guitar a seller had modded in a way that I thought was an improvement.

 

Musicwolf

I don't normally do much by way of modding but I have an exception - my US Strat.  It's had a few tweaks but they are all reversable and I have kept the original parts.  I would value them as follows;

Strap locks - no increase to the value of the guitar / approx. zero resale value sold separately

Fender locking tuners – a genuine upgrade (as they are Fenders) but almost no increase in value to the instrument / some value sold separately

Shortened trem arm (a la D Gilmour) – negative value to the tune of approx. £12 for a replacement

HSS Bareknuckle pickups on pre-wired scratch plate – very little, if any, added value on the guitar / I’m sure that I would get more by putting the originals back and selling the BKs separately than I would the other way around.

Total added value – bugger all.

midlifecrisis

The closest i get to modding is putting new strings on. I have replaced pickups, switches and sockets if they are problematic but otherwise i cant be arsed. I am looking at getting a duesenberg les trem to fiton my epiphone 335, but this doesn't require making any holes and is easily removable should i decide.

stonevibe

For me it depends completely on the guitar and the price. As if it was inline with what I like, I will consider modded guitars.

slacker

I generally buy stock. I bought a les paul classic with high gain pickups. After 9 years I decided to have paf copies and 50s wiring.that was 7 years ago and I'm happy with the guitar. I don't intend to sell in it soon.

rossi

I have downgraded my Vintage VN99 Zip .I stuck on a 9.99 foil pickup which has improved it no end until the tape falls off .i

RaymondLin

SteveRobinson said:

RaymondLin said:

Speaking of Mexican Strat...how do I tell mine has the original trem block or not?

It has PW29 (or somesuch) moulded into the casting at one corner.

I don't think it is stock, without taking it out I can't see any markings.  Sorry for the colour cast, I was using my TV as the light source !

SteveRobinson

Yes that looks like steel, not the cast block I'd expect.

I could be out of date on specs though.

RaymondLin

SteveRobinson said:

Yes that looks like steel, not the cast block I'd expect.

I could be out of date on specs though.

It's a 2008 Roadworn so an old model.

The guitar came with Custom Shop pickups (instead of Tex Mex), tweed case (should be a gig bag), mint pickguard (instead of cream).  Fretboards feels rolled and feels like it has some professional work done to it, the saddles don't look like others I find online either so I am thinking the trem block too may be upgraded too.

LastMantra

Roadworns came with steel blocks. Mine did anyway.

Cranky

I would only buy a guitar if it was stock or if the stock parts came in the deal.  That way I can at least restore it to stock and sell the mod pieces.  Upgraded tuners or saddles don't bother me, though.

That said, I am the original owner of one modded guitar for which I'll shortly be listing the stock pickups and pickguard.  But that's only because I really disliked the stock pickups and I'll never sell the guitar anyway for personal reasons.

thegummy

JT96 said:

I agree as upgrades are always subjective. Upgrading to locking tuners and a super hot Humbuckers in the bridge pickup of a Tele might be an upgrade to a stock MIM for one player, but be further away from what a pop guitarist would get from a stock model.

For this reason, statistically it's more likely you'd like a stock guitar than a modified one because the stock one is designed by experts to be appealing to a lot of people whereas the mods are done specifically for one person's taste.

But other than statistically speaking, I don't understand why anyone would prefer stock to modded for that reason itself - it's completely arbitrary.

I genuinely can't think of a reason to prefer that a guitar you like the specs of came that way from the factory.

DrJazzTap

ICBM said:

It's not just you - it's a widely accepted fact of the market that any guitar is worth no more, and in some cases less, with mods - no matter how good the replacement parts... and especially so if the mods are irreversible, even if only cosmetically (eg machineheads needing new screw holes). Even really good replacement parts tend to only retain the value instead of reduce it.

That doesn't stop people trying to sell their upgraded guitars for the cost of the guitar plus the cost of the replacement parts, but I'd be a bit surprised if even one has ever sold for that.

The only exception would be something like a Harley Benton upgraded with Bareknuckle pickups. The chances are someone will buy that for more than the guitar would normally worth... probably so they can take out the expensive pickups, fit some cheap ones, and sell the guitar on thus getting a cheap set of Bareknuckles .

It's exactly the same train of thought with modded cars. Unless it's completely bespoke or high end custom shop. Fitting a new set of aftermarket speakers (does anyone do that anymore?) and a new stereo or a set of wheels won't increase the value of the car. And in some cases it can give the impression that the vehicle  might have been ranted.