I’ve Lost That Modding Feeling…Whoa…That Modding Feeling…

smitty_p

smitty_p

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Don’t know what’s happened, y’all.

I used to rip things apart; swap parts; literally cut, drill, and route into my guitars and other stuff … and call it fun.

Now… I’m contemplating a minor pickup swap in my Jackson. I have the parts. I don’t need to buy a single thing. Just need to do it.

But, whereas I want the change…I just don’t feel like doing it.

Weird, huh?
 
smitty_p said:
Don’t know what’s happened, y’all.

I used to rip things apart; swap parts; literally cut, drill, and route into my guitars and other stuff … and call it fun.

Now… I’m contemplating a minor pickup swap in my Jackson. I have the parts. I don’t need to buy a single thing. Just need to do it.

But, whereas I want the change…I just don’t feel like doing it.

Weird, huh?
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That poop gets old, Man...

I found that my habits of modding took me away from practicing and playing. I have to be very disciplined and not get distracted...especially now that I'm teaching.
 
Nah dude, I don't think it's weird at all. I used to mod all my guitars to within an inch of their lives, but one day just went cold turkey on modding because it was distracting me from actually playing them. I think I went 5 or 6 years without doing anything more than switching out some plastics, but then last year I had a pot go tits-up in one, so had to replace the wiring...and the urge to do it crept in just a little bit. Recently I changed out the tuners on two guitars, and I had another pot go bad so I am about to gut that guitar and replace everything in it along with a bunch of other parts. I hope that scratches my modding itch for a good long while but you never know, man, you never know. Enjoy the "time off" while you can.
 
For 3 years I was in an amp building frenzy. I just couldn't stop. The thrill of finding a hobby that excited me after so many years of searching. I have now built six (many thanks again and again to @CoyotesGator and @T-Rex for their endless patience). I have another 2 in the planning stages. But like you, I've hit a wall. I think I've just exhausted that well of desire and it needs to fill up again. Fortunately, my attention has been drawn to my new found muses; the Tele and LP. I can finally hear what I've built and appreciate both them and all the guitars they were built for. Distraction can be a good thing sometimes.
 
I modded 3 of my guitars because they were all equally crappy when i got them. Either cheap hardware or electronics, sometimes both. But i never touched either of the Gibsons because they seemed to be just right from the time i got them.

Modding was fun, tinkering around and turning a pile of crap into something pretty wicked and much more powerful. But i really have nothing left to mod or desire to now lol
 
Clockworkmike said:
I modded 3 of my guitars because they were all equally crappy when i got them. Either cheap hardware or electronics, sometimes both. But i never touched either of the Gibsons because they seemed to be just right from the time i got them.

Modding was fun, tinkering around and turning a pile of crap into something pretty wicked and much more powerful. But i really have nothing left to mod or desire to now lol
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Really, the only reasons I have modded Gibsons is when a pot goes bad or, in this recent example, to replace the Gibson Deluxe tuners, which I hate, with something that has a higher ration and more mass.
 
gball said:
Really, the only reasons I have modded Gibsons is when a pot goes bad or, in this recent example, to replace the Gibson Deluxe tuners, which I hate, with something that has a higher ration and more mass.
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For realz.

I did a full-circle mod in my 2014 SG.

I got the wild hair to swap magnets in the ‘57 Classics in that guitar. So, first I swapped to A5 magnets. Then I swapped again to UOA5 magnets, then I swapped to A4 magnets. After about a year I swapped back to the original A2 magnets!

I don’t regret doing all that because it was educational and enjoyable at the time. But, in the end, it turns out I prefer the sound from Gibson, after all!
 
smitty_p said:
For realz.

I did a full-circle mod in my 2014 SG.

I got the wild hair to swap magnets in the ‘57 Classics in that guitar. So, first I swapped to A5 magnets. Then I swapped again to UOA5 magnets, then I swapped to A4 magnets. After about a year I swapped back to the original A2 magnets!

I don’t regret doing all that because it was educational and enjoyable at the time. But, in the end, it turns out I prefer the sound from Gibson, after all!
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I got away from Gibson, only because I kept getting bad ones. I'm grateful you guys didn't go through that.
 
I'm more into restoration on vintage gear but my custom shop les paul's were to dark sounding had custom made PAF pickups
made and wired 50's happy my Gibson explorer had SD pickups in it they sucked put a early set of Gibson pat# pickups fixed
Now my Peavey HP2 is dark sounding will change the pickups in the future they read 12.32 neck 14.69 bridge will go 7.3k to 8k range.
Same issue with the Fender Wolfgang guitar 15.3 neck 13.0 bridge over wound pickups sound like mud to me.
 
smitty_p said:
Don’t know what’s happened, y’all.

I used to rip things apart; swap parts; literally cut, drill, and route into my guitars and other stuff … and call it fun.

Now… I’m contemplating a minor pickup swap in my Jackson. I have the parts. I don’t need to buy a single thing. Just need to do it.

But, whereas I want the change…I just don’t feel like doing it.

Weird, huh?
Click to expand...
Nope. I get it. Forever, I’ve enjoyed working on my cars. And like you…. One day it just wasn’t as much fun. Got a project I started on my Vette three summers ago that I haven’t finished. And can’t get the motivation to do so.
 
67plexi said:
Now my Peavey HP2 is dark sounding will change the pickups in the future they read 12.32 neck 14.69 bridge will go 7.3k to 8k range.
Same issue with the Fender Wolfgang guitar 15.3 neck 13.0 bridge over wound pickups sound like mud to me.
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That’s along the lines of the pickup swap I was contemplating to do my Jackson - go to a lower wind combo. I have the pups and materials. I just kinda don’t feel like actually doing it, even though I’m sure I’ll like the result.

Maybe I’m just burnt out from the whole house purchase/selling thing, and all the work I expended getting the old house market ready.

I dunno…
 
I know what you mean. The selector switch in my Strat broke while I was changing pickups. I pulled a cheap switch out of a Squier mini Strat, and installed it as a temporary fix.

I ordered a new switch, and received it a couple of days later. It's been sitting there for weeks, because the cheap switch is working just fine, and I don't feel like swapping it.
 
Ebidis said:
I know what you mean. The selector switch in my Strat broke while I was changing pickups. I pulled a cheap switch out of a Squier mini Strat, and installed it as a temporary fix.

I ordered a new switch, and received it a couple of days later. It's been sitting there for weeks, because the cheap switch is working just fine, and I don't feel like swapping it.
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play it like you stole it; it works.
When it poops change it, nothing wrong with that.
 
smitty_p said:
That’s along the lines of the pickup swap I was contemplating to do my Jackson - go to a lower wind combo. I have the pups and materials. I just kinda don’t feel like actually doing it, even though I’m sure I’ll like the result.

Maybe I’m just burnt out from the whole house purchase/selling thing, and all the work I expended getting the old house market ready.

I dunno…
Click to expand...
I go through that too.
I think it is just what is on my mind / priorities.
 
Well, this is an interesting premise.

I think that perhaps, as we grow and 'season' as musicians, we learn about all the fads and latest crazes, and by now, we've collectively tried a lot of different things and just stick with what works.

I do know for certain that I burned myself out on guitar mods, and I really learned a lot, but it was not a fun journey for me. The only positive for me (in buying 5 new, flawed Gibson's between 2017 and 2019) was the education that it gave me and taught me to recognize poor neck angle, misplaced frets, irreparable intonation problems and noise issues.

At least now, I'm able to make all my own repairs and I am frequently hired to help some of the local shops and warranty techs with repairs and adjustments. A few years ago, I was paying top dollar to have this work done for me, so the independence alone was worth it.

I've learned a lot about live sound too.

What you hear in a quiet room you will never hear in a live mix, so most of that is just wasted time and money.

I posted a MP3 of my YelloStrat DiMarzio Neanderthal 16.5k passive back-to-back with my EMG81TW and the difference between the two is almost indistinguishable with headphones and zero difference in a live mix...and the funny thing is, this pisses people off rather than enlighten them, because it shatters the "gear matters" marketing strategy.

What's the difference between a Passive DiMarzio Neanderthal and an EMG 81TW???

Nothing really...even clean they sound alike. Have a listen:

Listen to Hellraiser EMG81TW Vs YelloStrat DiMarzio Neanderthal 02 - 15 - 2021 by Von Herndon on #SoundCloud
soundcloud.app.goo.gl

Hellraiser EMG81TW Vs YelloStrat DiMarzio Neanderthal 02 - 15 - 2021

Quick Sound clip Comparison Hellraiser EMG81TW Vs YelloStrat DiMarzio Neanderthal 02 - 15 - 2021
soundcloud.app.goo.gl soundcloud.app.goo.gl

ANY subtle differences between them vanish completely in a live mix, even played dead clean.

Lesson Learned: be careful what you listen for, you might just hear it...

Below is the screenshot from the two clips you just heard:

20210215_205657.jpg

At a certain point, the mods won't change anything, so why keep doing it, unless less you are fixing a problem???

I have people who honestly think buying a Gibson or a Fender will make them a better player. When I tell them that practice is the only thing that will make you a better player, you can see that your statement goes against millions of dollars of marketing hype.

I earned a living for 7 consecutive years in a studio - working everyday - and playing 4-5 nights a week, even during the 2020 pandemic, and while I am sure there are people who play at least that much - maybe even more - I don't often meet them, and yet, these fellows who play for recreation will try and preach to you how this piece of gear will make a real difference, but when you've played this much - and helped other bands dial in their sound by request - its hard to stay silent during all the bullshitting.

Yes, everyone has a right to their opinion, but it boggles my mind to see how much money people waste following these recommendations - and nowhere is this more evident than in the field of instruction.

On my DoubleNeck, I personally wasted a small fortune on Thro-Baks, Virgil Arlo's, and vintage PAF's searching for something that just isn't there. In the end, I used some Gibson 490 humbuckers I got from @ChasFred and they sound as good as a $2,000 set of Virgil Arlos.

I ended up giving those pickups away because you can never seem to make your money back on music purchases.

Lesson learned: the pricetag/name tag don't mean poop.

Now, I did decided to go with the Jimmy Page 21 Tone Harness in my Les Paul, because I got the chance to play an LP that had the harness and I really did find the variety of tones very useful, but that's probably the last "modification" that I plan on making.

I've downsized a little too.

I gave a Adrian Smith Jackson San Dimas to a young fellow who wanted a guitar, but couldn't really afford a good one. Sometimes I think that if there's truly anything I can be proud of, it's helping others along this musical journey.

@spectre ended up with my 1987 Fender Squirecaster and now he's got a guitar that he really likes and that's a good feing too.

For me, I discovered that mods wasted money and since I am income driven, that was the sole factor that made me put on the brakes.

But still, I'm up early every morning working on licks and scales, doing everything I can to be a better player.

Teaching so helps the teacher, because it makes you want to become even better at the craft so people can get more out of the time they spend with you.

Maybe I've just gotten to the point where I want to modify the player, and not the gear???

Work has a way of finding me...

I got asked by a SoCal band called "No Surrender" (formed 30 years ago) to fill in for them on the 24th of July, which might turn into a full time gig.

I'm also forming a band with a visually impaired guitarist as another side project, which is really exciting and fun.

Life is good...

Wishing you all the best...
 
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