Introduction:

Customization is something I love to do.  It not only serves to make visual changes to an instrument, but also allows for the kind of changes that encompass personal taste, like replacing a Tune-O-Matic bridge and tail piece on a Les Paul with a Kahler or Floyd Rose tremolo.  It's best use is to improve an instrument, like shoring up a neck joint to make the neck fit tighter, and improve the sustain and playability, or adding a locking nut and fine tuners, in order to get rid of tuning problems, and swapping out some mediocre pickups for something more gutsy...

Within the links to the right I will discus customization.  It may help if you look at all of the sub topics, as there are many misconceptions and downright wrong information on what changes to an instrument effect its sound, and how, circulating the Internet and even in print.  Something you may have heard that requires changes to the electronics, may in fact be achievable otherwise, or both, depending on what it is you are looking for.

Custom versus original:

The most important thing to remember about custom work, is that customization always replaces factory original, wherever applied.  In the collectors market customization is almost always frowned upon, even if it offers great improvement, unless the instrument belonged to a well known famous player, where customization can even add value, if that player is known for having a specific customization done to their instrument.  It is 2015 at the time I write this, and a brand spankin' new Gibson Les Paul may be of lower quality and made with less pride, than a 1964 Silvertone from a Sears catalog!

In the players market, customization may prove to be more desirable, as many factory made instruments have shortcomings that scream for improvement, like nuts made of plastic, dirt cheap hardware that is destined to fail sooner rather than later, and the list goes on and on.  What's even worse is that now every manufacturer has a "Custom Shop", where they take the same crap from the assembly line, and paint it a "Rare color", or put in some different pickups, and charge twice or even five times more for it, and many people are falling for it!  Here at that does not fly, and customization is for real.  You get to choose the what and why, and if you are not sure exactly what, but know why, I can help, and am really in to it.

Where I stand on customization:

Personally, I prefer clients that are players that want the best from their instruments, rather than collectors who want original everything above all else.  With players I can solidify my name in the industry by showing real skill and understanding of the craft, where with collectors I am forced to suppress my better judgment.

Here is a scenario I had to deal with:  Someone wanted me to remove the deep fret indentations he had worked in by only playing C, D, and G for the 30 years he had owned his 1958 telly.  He did not want new frets because they did not come with the guitar.  He did not want me to level the entire fret board until even either, as that was not the fret height it came with.  I could not weld in the low spots without setting the instrument on fire!  There was nothing left in order to correct the problem, and he was hoping for me to perform a miracle, so I gave him his only option:  Play everything but C, D, and G for another 30 years, and it will even itself out!