To Mod or to Buy? Does Upgrading a Cheap Guitar Actually Makes Sense
To Mod or to Buy? Does Upgrading a Cheap Guitar Actually Makes Sense · Source: Jef Stone
Every guitarist hits this crossroads eventually. You have a budget-friendly guitar that you’ve outgrown. Maybe the pickups sound like they’re buried under a heavy blanket, or it drops out of tune if you so much as look at the tremolo bar. This week, I look at whether it makes sense to upgrade cheap guitars.
Content – Does Upgrading a Cheap Guitar Make Sense?
To Mod or to Buy?
I’ve modded or upgraded many guitars over the years, and as a guitarist, I like tinkering with my instruments to see what I can get out of them. I started as a kid with little money, but I wanted more from my guitar, so I gradually upgraded and experimented.
Like many guitarists, the urge to ‘upgrade’ guitars still hits me from time to time, so I wanted to discuss some of the ways that make sense and point out some of the pitfalls of modding guitars.
The temptation to drop £200 on a set of premium Seymour Duncan or Bare Knuckle pickups is strong. But is it worth putting high-end parts into a low-end instrument, or should you just save that cash and buy a better guitar altogether?
Here is the honest truth about when to break out the soldering iron and when to start shopping for a new guitar.
When You Should Absolutely Mod Your Guitar
There are certain times when it makes sense to modify a guitar, and I have attempted to break these down into a few specifics. Ultimately, you’ll know what you want from your own guitar, so your reasons may differ from mine (I don’t need microtonal frets or 17 strings, for example).
The “Bones” are Good
This is my golden rule of modding. If the neck feels incredible in your hands, the fretwork is relatively level (no dead notes or sharp edges), and the guitar resonates well acoustically, it is a prime candidate for upgrades.
A cheaper instrument can still have good bones, so I try not to let price tags fool me into thinking I need another, more expensive instrument, when sometimes all I need to do is upgrade a few components.
The Telecaster above has been modded more times than I can remember, and these days looks very different, as you can see below. In between these two photos, it has had multiple colours, had 4 different necks, and more pickup and hardware changes than can be counted on two hands.
Do Want a Highly Specific Sound?
For example, if you want a Stratocaster with a high-output humbucker in the bridge and a vintage-voiced single-coil in the neck, you might not find that configuration off the rack in your price range. Modding lets you build your dream spec sheet and tweak your guitar to taste.
Sentimental Value
If it was your very first guitar or a gift from someone special, selling it isn’t an option. Upgrading the hardware ensures it stays off the wall hanger and in your active rotation. I have a few guitars that I will never part with, but I occasionally tweak them and update parts.
Do You Want to Learn Guitar Maintenance?
Modding is a good way to learn how your instrument actually works. Wiring a new output jack or swapping pickups teaches you valuable DIY skills that will save you hundreds in luthier fees over your lifetime. If you mess up the wiring on a £150 Squier, it’s a relatively cheap learning experience.
I learnt a lot about guitar setups and maintenance this way, but I also destroyed a lot of very nice guitars. I’ve stripped screws, burnt finishes with hot soldering irons, and ruined frets many times.
However, I have also taught myself many valuable skills over the years, so it all balanced out in the end.
When You Should Just Buy a Better Guitar
There are certainly times when modding a guitar is just not worth the effort, the time, or the money.
For example, if the neck is warped, the truss rod is maxed out, or the frets are notoriously uneven and cause severe buzzing, stop right there. A £300 set of boutique pickups will just make your fret buzz sound clearer. Fixing severe structural or fret issues at a luthier often costs more than the guitar is worth.
Sometimes we mod guitars, trying to turn them into something they aren’t. If you have a Telecaster but you find yourself trying to mod it to sound and play like a shred-tastic Ibanez, you are fighting the instrument’s nature. Just buy the Ibanez.
Finally, you must accept a harsh financial reality: mods do not increase the resale value of a cheap guitar.
If you put £200 worth of hardware into a £150 guitar, you do not have a £350 guitar. You have a £150 guitar that you will probably have to sell for £100/120. If you plan on selling the guitar in the future, save your money for an upgrade.
What to Upgrade First
If you’ve decided your guitar has “good bones” and you want to proceed with upgrading, this is the order in which you should spend your money (in my opinion) for the highest return on investment. I’m not talking financial return here, I’m talking about making your instrument reliable and functional.
- The Nut: A cheap plastic nut is the number one cause of tuning instability and tone suck on open strings. Swapping it for a Graph Tech, bone, or TUSQ nut is a cheap upgrade (£10-£20) that yields massive results. Pay a luthier to fit a bone nut if you aren’t confident enough to do the job.
- Pickups: Swapping muddy, microphonic ceramic pickups for quality Alnico single-coils or humbuckers will drastically lift the metaphorical blanket off your amp.
- Electronics (Pots and Switches): Cheap volume and tone pots get scratchy and fail easily. Upgrading to full-size CTS pots and a quality Switchcraft switch makes the guitar feel premium and reliable.
- Tuners: If your guitar slips out of tune quickly (and you’ve already fixed the nut), a drop-in set of good-quality high-ratio, or locking tuners makes string changes a breeze and adds tremendous stability.
The Rule of Thumb
If the total cost of the hardware you want to buy is more than 60% of what it would cost to buy a mid-range guitar with those specs, hold off on modding and start saving for the new guitar.
Modding a cheap guitar is a fun journey, provided the instrument feels great to play in its raw, unplugged state.
It’s an exercise in personalisation (I just had to add green Space Invaders to my Ibanez) and, for some, potentially a crash course in guitar electronics. However, if you are fighting a poorly built neck or hoping to sell the guitar for a profit down the road, keep your soldering iron packed away and head to the guitar shop instead.
Finally, I would also highly recommend finding a good guitar technician or luthier, as most affordable guitars can really benefit from some simple modifications, like a new nut and a setup, to make them really shine.
Be sure to read our Guitar Accessories: Essential Upgrades to Improve Your Guitar article for more useful tips and examples of upgrades you can do to your favourite guitar.
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