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That is the question re: refinishing and/or upgrading so-called rare and/or vintage axes.
I fall somewhere between yea and nay. For the most part I believe that if it's your ax and said mods/upgrades make you a better player for it, so be it. Fuck the naysayers.
There are extenuating circumstances and I get that uber-rare or historically valuable pieces should be given due consideration. You don't go swapping the neck off of Eddie's FrankenStrat (even though Eddie did) or repaint Lynch's tiger ESP or drop a Kahler in one of Page's Les Pauls. But the blanket poo-pooing of mods and or upgrades and the elitist attitude about stock guitars always puzzled me. If the mod makes it better playing for your needs, what of it? I've seen peeps lose their ever-loving minds at the mere mention of changing the p'ups on a Custom Shop ax. I've gotten into all-out internet shouting matches over wanting to repaint vintage axes that were all tore up and beat to shit. Shit, even if they weren't but it was a color or graphic that brought on waves of nausea in you, who cares? Good riddance.
I dunno. In the end, enhancing the playability of an ax, along with making it uniquely your own seems valid enough reason for changing a guitar's features and appearance.
Thoughts?
I fall somewhere between yea and nay. For the most part I believe that if it's your ax and said mods/upgrades make you a better player for it, so be it. Fuck the naysayers.
There are extenuating circumstances and I get that uber-rare or historically valuable pieces should be given due consideration. You don't go swapping the neck off of Eddie's FrankenStrat (even though Eddie did) or repaint Lynch's tiger ESP or drop a Kahler in one of Page's Les Pauls. But the blanket poo-pooing of mods and or upgrades and the elitist attitude about stock guitars always puzzled me. If the mod makes it better playing for your needs, what of it? I've seen peeps lose their ever-loving minds at the mere mention of changing the p'ups on a Custom Shop ax. I've gotten into all-out internet shouting matches over wanting to repaint vintage axes that were all tore up and beat to shit. Shit, even if they weren't but it was a color or graphic that brought on waves of nausea in you, who cares? Good riddance.
I dunno. In the end, enhancing the playability of an ax, along with making it uniquely your own seems valid enough reason for changing a guitar's features and appearance.
Thoughts?
I can especially see it when one has been drug to hell and back and had the shit beat out of it. Some guys are like that with older milsurp guns. Even if they've been sporterized and you restore it back to its former glory they get all bent out of shape. I don't have a problem with upgrades, especially if they can be returned back to their original state.
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