Best Modification you have ever done, to any guitar?

[Dave1234]

I did something I had been meaning to do for a long time; I changed the stock tuners in my SG special to Grovers. Best thing I ever did.....more sustain, stays in tune, even when getting a bit OTT with bends. Simple, but oh so effective.
Anyone else made a simple mod that just worked better than you ever thought it would?

[twangking]

Changed the pickups. Brought a whole new life and voice to my telecaster.

[Leo1951]

Installing a Dimarzio Evolution in one of my Kramer SuperStrats.

[charlie chitlin]

Put finger grease on the strings...as often as possible.

[GigsbyBoyUK]

Neck blend on Strats for neck and bridge in series.

[burtonfan]

The mods I've done here are just for looks. A way to personalize two of my guitars.

On the '52 Hot Rod I added a leather pickguard, angled slot control plate with knurled knob, and a pin-up girl neck plate.

The Jag I posted two months ago. It was a project to commemorate 30 years since my 1st gig in 1982 (at which I played a borrowed Jaguar). It's a Fender Japan Jaguar HH Special I snagged off ebay. I painted the pickguard white, added old school control knobs, a pinstripe, removed the bridge pup cover, and an "82/30" sticker a friend designed for me. I had a local jeweler engrave the logo in the neck plate as well. The final touch was the '12 on the back of the head stock.

Here are some pix!

[burtonfan]

And The Jag pix.

[Telemarkman]

Doing the wiring update on my '52RI, and not least, changing the pickguard on my MIM 60's Classic from a 3-ply mint to a 1-ply white!

[jammers5]

Originally Posted by Dave1234

Anyone else made a simple mod that just worked better than you ever thought it would?

Changing the bridge on my FSR Black Paisley to a Wilkinson Compensate Brass Barrell one made a big difference to the sound o the guitar.

J5

[Toto'sDad]

I modified a nice mandolin once by transferring ownership to someone who could actually play it. Seemed like a successful mod.

[jamieorc]

Hands down best tele mod was Bill Lawrence / Wilde Microcoils.

[el cheapo]

A good setup!

The bottom line is, a guitar has to be playable or you won't play it.

For me, the most important part of that is usually a new bone nut. My fingers are short and fat, so wider string spacing helps a lot. I just replaced the original nuts on my best sounding tele, and my acoustic. Now my best sounding guitars are getting played a lot more!

[charlie chitlin]

Yeah...a good set-up...definitely.
And either the Fezz/Ted mod or treble bleed are critical for me because I almost never use pedals.
When I twist the vol knob, it's really important that the tone doesn't change drastically.

[wired to go]

Straplocks on ALL my guitars.

[Tony474]

Most successful mod I've done is dead simple and I've applied it to several guitars - get hold of some Micromesh (hi-tech abrasive material) and flat down the gloss on the neck to a satin finish. Improves playability very considerably. I've also used it experimentally to give a slight roll to the edges of one rosewood board. The result was encouraging but I'm a bit nervous about doing the same to other guitars, because unlike the finish mod it's irreversible.

A 4-way switch mod in one Tele has worked well for me, though I've left my others stock for now.

[Toto'sDad]

Hmm, actually installing a Cavalier "Lion" pickup by Rob DiStefano really improved my 2011 AS Tele quite a lot. That's an honest to goodness mod not requiring any owner transfer. Plenty of good stuff, none of the bad. If you like twang but don't like ice pick, it's a good choice.

[Telemarkman]

Originally Posted by el cheapo

A good setup!

A good setup is cruxial, but I wouldn't call it a mod though ...

[Uncle Joe]

Changing the bridge on my MIM Cabronita to an American Standard hardtail.

[musicalmartin]

Learning to to play it.After a few months I gained a small but significant upgrade ,the chord A .I later modded out the A to a D and even an E .I stopped after that as I didnt want to guild the lily.

[chippertheripper]

Originally Posted by charlie chitlin

Put finger grease on the strings...as often as possible.

This is the obvious winner, but to play along: rolling the fb edges. The rounder, the better.