Is it sacrilege to mod a custom shop Tele?

While it is your guitar, and modding is how ya "dial it in" to your needs... I always find it interesting.. when speaking of custom guitars.. parts casters or the like, often there is a fevered discussion about a peripheral consideration... the re-sale value...

It's an easy extrapolation to use the same logic when discussing mods... because often in these forums guys will post photos of a listing they are considering purchasing... accompanied with queries about any possible changes, and how they impact the real value of the guitar...

or another way to look at it . . . a completely untouched 50's era tele can bring tens of thousands of $$$. but make one change and that number often gets divided by 2...

So my question would be are "you" considering making a change simply because you bought a new Screw Gun or Solder tool, and wanna see 'em work, or is there a real void in the functionality of the guitar that must are rectified before it becomes a real performer..

r

 

Who was that wealthy eccentric who bought a bunch of pieces of priceless art, then "modernized" or idealized the women depicted in the art?
You know, got out some oil paint and put red lipstick on a woman's portrait from the 17th Century? Or added or subtracted by some means from a sculpture from 300 years ago?

Modifying a "finished" FCS or other Custom guitar, the prized work of a craftman or craftsmen, is IMO like that.

 

This but, regardless of 'when does a mod turn it into a Partcaster?' discussion that may follow, pleeeeeease don't change the body!

 

I won’t own anything I can’t modify. There would be better candidates at far cheaper cost.

 

Route/hack it for humbuckers, preferably DiMarzio super distortions, spray paint it black so you can’t see the damage. Id est, don’t ask, do it and play it You're the one who gets to live with any regrets lol.

I can’t give you any better advice without pics.

 

My $0.02... be sure it not just a gain thing where an in-line transparent buffer doesn’t satisfy the tone. My tele’s almost always need some gain before the amp to get good tone. If pedals don’t do it, keep tweaking pups until you’re happy.

 

I'd go with some Guitar Fetish Super Hadron Collider pickups with the 32kohm windings and the Black Hole Isotope magnets...hitting an E chord will cause nearby TV's & monitors to flicker momentarily....they say it sends such a strong signal you don't need a cord, but if you use a cheap one it might melt.[/QUOTE]

Yes, practicing your soldering with a CS. Learn from the best!

 

You’re perfectly sane. I think every custom shop Tele needs a Hot Rails.

 

It’s not sacrilege to mod anything if it’s your guitar. Whether it’s sensible or even (gulp) ethical to mod a particular instrument is between you, your tech, and whatever musical deity you choose to worship, if any.

 

It's there to be played, if it isn't getting that play, then change the pickups, or sell it. Personally if it were mine, I would change out the pickups, a guitar of that calibre would be out of my league, but if I owned it I would certainly go down the pickup change route and hang on to the originals, just in case you sell at a later date.

 

True dat, but only 12.73 % of TDPRI members have thought it through.

 

TELECASTER MOD CHALLENGE
Buy a new Telecaster you really like. Any modification and you are out. Last unmodified Telecaster left standing wins!

 

If the guitar is so nice you are agonizing over changing out the pickups, sell it and buy one you have no qualms about modifying.

 

Personally, I wouldn't spend Custom Shop money to get a guitar that I know I'm gonna futz with anyway.

But I like to shop for parts and bodies and necks and do the paint and stuff myself.

 

This is sort of like that Seinfeld episode where everyone competes to see who can go the longest without [blank].

I’m most like Kramer and slap my money on the counter in the first 5 seconds and shout “I’m out!” before everyone else has even settled on the terms of the bet.

The only guitar I own that still has stock pickups is my G&L because no one else makes jumbo MFD’s!!

Do what makes you feel best.

 

I know exactly where your coming from.

AND I say mod away, keep the pickups so you can put it back how it was if required.

I bought one of these for an absolute steal a few years ago. I find the neck a bit thin but otherwise LOVE the sound.

https://www.vintageguitar.com/19545/vintage-v52-icon/


Unreal in Open G for Slide (black crowes etc.) It has a certain bite to the pickups that is just great.

I have since "upgraded" to a 50's Baja. I was (and still am) a bit disapointed that while sounding and playing fantastic, it doesn't have the bite these supposedly "cheap" Wilkinson pickups in the V52 Vintage have.

I am yet to decide if it is worth an upgrade or what the options actually are. The Baja pickups get a huge, good rap.

In the meantime I am bouncing back and forth between the two. I am also considering a replacement neck on the Vintage....

 

There is a real chance that once you start swapping pickups, it becomes a bit of a merry-go-round.
I'm in the middle of another swap on my 8502 (yup, sacrilege), but it's been fun.
I'm almost there!
Made the mistake of going too far away from a trad tele sound, and I was also just a bit over it for a while. But a great Tele is in your heart forever, and will come back.
Sometimes just a tweak and a change will make you appreciate it more, and even if you revert back to stock, you'll know for sure why you love it.