Thinking of some mods

[AC5]

Hello everyone,
about six months ago I bought a Washburn HB35, which turned to be a really sweet axe. Even though it is a Chinese made guitar, it is well worth the money I paid for it (about 400 bucks).

Anyway, I was now thinking of some mods on this guitar.
First of all, I wanted to change the stock pickups with something better. I was thinking about some Gibson Classic '57, but I'm looking also for something else.

Then, I was planning to install a Stetsbar Pro II vibrato arm. This one in particular took my attention since it doesn't involve drilling holes into the body of my axe, plus it seems quite reliable from what I've read.
Lastly I'm going to change my poorly made plastuc nut (only fault of a great giutar) with a graphit one.

Do you guys have any suggestion about all this?
Thanks in advance!

 

[AC5]

*plastic *graphite
Sorry for the typos.

Anyone with some advice?

This is my guitar. Unfortunately I haven't been able to take better pics.

 

[rummy]

I guess start with what you don't like about this guitar rather than just swapping things out. Nice guitar, btw.

 

[Madguitrst]

The nut is a good idea.
How are the tuners?

Only suggestion for PUs I'll give is a Duncan Jazz for the neck.

I wouldn't put a vibrato on it (is there a center block?) and I wouldn't put too much money into mods, personally.

Nice guitar, BTW.

 

[AC5]

How are the tuners?

The tuners are Grover ones, I don't think there's any need to change them.

There is a center block. For the Stetsbar, I'll have to think about it, as it's quite expensive and I'm not sure it's worth it.

For the pickups, thanks for the advice. I guess I'll have to check many of them before making a decision.

 

[guitguy28]

Do you like the sound of the stock pickups? If you do, why change them?

I swapped out the pickups in my MIM Strat and Les Paul because I was looking for something specific in terms of changing the sound. I did my homework and found pickups that would work for me in each case.

On the other hand, I bought a cheap Tele copy and was happy with the pickups in there already, so I felt no need to change them.

 

[gevans378]

Years ago I acquired a Hamer Echotone with Duncan designed pickups. I put Classic 57s in it and have never looked back. Its one of the few guitars that has survived my penchant for buying and selling guitars on a somewhat regular basis.