Hot-Rodding Used Electric Guitars

The electric guitar is probably the easiest musical instrument to modify. The Fender Stratocaster seems to be the origin of modification because of the ease of disassembly and reassembly. Pickguard and knob changes have been easy mods since the Fenders came into being. The 1970's ushered in the popularity of hot rodding guitars and replacement parts. The most famous of the mod squad has been Edward Van Halen and the legendary Frankenstein guitar.

With the economic crisis, used musical instruments and parts have become very inexpensive. Used guitars in very good condition are very affordable and import models are dirt cheap. Though there has been a resistance to buying imported guitars, some are of high quality. Buying a used import is not supporting the foreign companies any more, it is supporting Americans that are trying to make it through hard times. Personally, I feel better helping a struggling musician than contributing to Fender, who has almost doubled prices in hard times.

It is easy to find a used MIM Fender Stratocaster that costs half the price of a new one and might even be considered vintage. Ebay, Craigslist and many other sites as well as vintage music stores and pawnshops offer excellent examples. Many of these guitars are fine to be played as is. For me the joy is seeing the misfit instrument as a place to start building my own. Though there are parts to build guitars from scratch the used guitars can be more economical.

Economical quality choices I like are Mexican Fender Stratocasters, Old Charvels, and the Peavey T-series to name a few. With improvements in manufacturing, just about any instrument that suits will work though. Guitars that need a visual facelift can easily be done with a pickguard or knob change. New pickguards can be bought for as little as ten dollars. Knobs can be changed for under ten dollars.

For tone, the replacement of pickups can be changed to improve on the guitar's sound. In addition to upgrading pickups a true customization of tones is possible through pickup choice. This is my favorite change. My favorite combination is a Seymour Duncan Alnico II in the neck position with a Seymour Duncan 78' E.V.H. in the bridge. Though they sound good together, my favorite part is being able to switch from a hot bridge to a bluesy neck with a flick of a switch.

Combinations of single coil and humbuckers and different manufacturers create switching and tones not available on the rack. Top shelf Fender single coil sets typically run about a hundred and fifty bucks. Humbuckers of the highest quality from Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio,Gibson and EVH run from seventy to one hundred fifty dollars. The pickup is often the most critical component of electric guitar tone. The price for upgrading the pickups is small when compared with what is realized. Most of the major pickup manufacturers have tone charts on the websites to find the perfect tone for you.

Rebuilding guitars started of for me as a way to make a cheaper instrument into a really good one. As my musical journey has continued it has become a hobby. The more I play with it I am able to find new things that are interesting and different from others. The first guitar that was supposed to be the perfect one, yet I have found new sides to music I didn't know before. My wall is full of custom guitars that have cost me less than one Gibson Les Paul. The best part is that I know I have the only one.