Describe your biggest waste-of-money mod project

[NoahL]

I bought a G&L ASAT Classic Tribute model for $325 new -- a steal. Then decided, "Make it like a G&L Bluesboy [neck humbucker]." I wanted a thick, warm tone, so I got a GFS Fat PAF. It cost at least another $125 to have the guard and body routed for the pickup and the wiring done, plus a setup. Sounded shitty and there were issues between the 6k bridge and the 16k neck pickups. Took it to another guy, who rippped out the pots and stuff and charged me another $100 to put high-quality pots/cap/switch/jack in. Still sounded poor, because that GFS pickup is not meant for a maple-necked Tele-style guitar, even a thinline like this one. So the guy sold me on Fralins -- P-92 and overwound Blues Special. Strangely, the pickups took forever to arrive, and when they didn't sound like the luthier had promised, I called Fralin and he said he had no record of selling an overwound Tele bridge pickup to this luthier at that time. Did the guy just give me some regular Fralin from his stock? Regardless, the guitar did end up sounding nice -- but not like what I had in mind. It was brighter and spankier than I wanted. And here's why: ASAT Bluesboys have rosewood boards and Seth Lovers in the neck, not maple and P-92 single-coils. I could have found a used US Bluesboy for $700 and been happy. Instead I think I spent nearly $900 (holy shite!) and ended up parting with the guitar for $500. I learned lessons about not trying to turn one guitar into another, about how neck and body wood affect tone, about why it's better sometimes to just buy what you want upfront. The silver lining is it made me decide to do my own mods from then on. So I'm wasting less money. But still wasting it, for sure. ;-)

[jrw32]

I spent $200 to have a PRS wide-fat neck shaved down to Wide-thin specs. Sadly, I still couldn't get along w/ the neck after months of trying. I
sold it for about $400 less than what I paid. Ah well, live & learn.

[mertzy]

All of them

[D.G.]

I've modded guitars till they've died

[NoahL]

Originally Posted by mertzy

All of them

LOL!

[germs]

So far my money pit is an '82 Gibson Sonex 180 Deluxe. Pup's went microphonic, so instead of having them re-potted - I ripped 'em out, stripped the body and decided to make something more...

Re-painted from black to sonic blue (rattle can) body and neck and now I'm stuck till funds come back...still need pickups, hardware, etc. b/c all the old stuff was pitted and shot. Trying to be true to the original but "hot-rodded"...

[macatt]

I started modding guitars beginning with my first electric in 1963; a Lindel. I was 15 and really made a mess out of it. It was a mess brand new:-)
After that I managed to destroy a "58 Les Paul jr and after that, seriously devalued a "67 Ric 12 string that I bought new.
But like a trouper, I carried on and finally got the hang of it. Learned how to play pretty well along the way too.

Since then:
All my modded guitars have turned out great. But, not always on the first or second try. For instance:
My custom built Tele has had three necks on it in the last year that I've been putting it together. The winner is a USACG Tele maple neck with a Jimmie Vaughan profile. The body and neck sing together.

My "71 Strat has also had three different necks over the years. I've gone through many pickups too and have found the right pup for the right position on the right guitar. (combinations of Fender, Van Zandt, Seymour Duncan, Fralin and Don Mare)

Other improvements include bridge/tailpieces (Callaham, Wilkinson, Glendale) and the more aesthetic and convenience type mods like tuners, pickguards etc.

You have to really love the journey but any guitar can be vastly improved.
The biggest improvement is matching the neck with the body, followed by the pickups, the bridge/tailpiece and electronics (pots, switch, cap).

I did spend a lot of money over time dialing in my various guitars but it was well worth it.
Remember, the tone is mostly in the neck. And sometimes one neck may sound not so good on one body but great on another.

S Mac

[Mitch T]

I spotted a very nice looking early seventies Ibanez Les Paul, offered for about 350E IIRC. Planned on just making it playable (tuners, nut, pots) and just keep it for fun, looks and sentiment. Big mistake, I'm a player, not a collector, I should know that by now...
So I searched for good secondhand pickups, Bareknuckles, bought some tuners, got my tech to make a nice bone nut, replace the pots and install push/pulls for coil split and phase switching. Put me back about 400E. After that, it was an incredibly versatile guitar, but overall it was still way too bright. Hollow top on those old Ibbies... I tried selling it, didn't work out so I traded it for a very nice looking Shoreline Gold Fender CIJ Jaguar which had been modded for P90's.
Pups weren't that good and some of the wiring was wrong so I decided to order a set of Fralin P90s, overhaul the electronics, ordered a nice pearloid pickguard. Total, set me back about 250E.
And no matter how I tried, the guitar sounded thin all the way. It looked absolutely great but that sound, man...
Ended up selling it for slightly less than 600E.
Bought back a very good looking AND good sounding CIJ Jazzmaster for slightly more than that. That guitar was FINALLY totally worth modding a bit so I got it a pot job (250k's), a new nut and a Mastery Bridge. Absolutely wonderful.
Then an ex-girlfriend works it over with a knife, God knows what it's going to cost me to have it repaired and refinished

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

Having my beautiful Les Paul Custom routered out to install a Kahler tremelo back in the 80s It killed that guitar!

I thought that buying a second guitar with a trem would have been a crazy idea!

[ducatisteve]

I am lucky that I have not gotten myself too deep in the hole when it comes to mods-gone-wrong. Worst that ever happened to me was my first pickup swap. Tried to just throw a Hotrails into a cheap Samick Strat copy. Coupling the horrendous solder job with the really cheap stock 250k pots produced a recipe for the worst sounding guitar ever. It didn't help that my "rig" was a cheap modeler into a Johnson 15w SS amp.

But hey, I was like 14 and got sound out of a new pickup on my first try. Solder joints are much cleaner now, and electronics are much better paired. As a matter of fact, I continued to mod that guitar to high heavens, and it's still sitting right here, playing and sounding great! Still have that loaded pickguard/monstrosity in the closet too. I should probably just give it away.

[audiodrome]

The most money that I've blown on a "mod" was trying to find the perfect vintage Bigsby B6 to match my Gretsch 6120DSV. The idea was that the aged metal would tone down the high gloss finish of the guitar. I thought I had found a real nice 1950's model ($300) which was beautifully aged only to find that the "spring cup" had been shaved off so the spring didn't sit quite right. Then I found another 1970's model ($200) which was absolutely perfect. It was perfect in the sense that the original shine had been dulled down but it wasn't beat up at all and it matched my guitar perfectly. When I went to install it I found that it rested slightly crooked on the body causing it to vibrate so I had to shim up one side. Now everything looks and works great but between the two vibrato tailpieces and the work involved it costs me about $550 just for a damn Bigsby!

It seems that everytime I tried to customize my Grestch I ran into problems. I purchased a vintage NOS Bigsby compensated bridge and when my guitar tech went to install it he found that the base arc didn't match the contour of the 6120 body so he had to build up the briddge with a piece of rosewood. Now I'm finally done and everything looks great and sounds great so all's well that ends well.

There's one more mod I'm contemplating but this one could be a nightmare. I'm thinking about having the polyurethane finish removed and replaced with a lacquer finish. I may have to think about that one a little more...