5 Things to know BEFORE you mod your first guitar 

Good Advise - 1 thing I always stress is, tailor your instrument to yourself as a player do not sound like every other musician out there because you may have been afraid to do something, However, forget resale value for regular guitars your stuff isn't as much as you think its worth and don't mod vintage instruments or actual collector items(and I am not talking about signatures, real collector guitars where its like a Gibson Mod Shop or something where they make less than 10 of). Don't take Signature guitars off the Table either, a quick look on Stratosphere can net you parts that normally would be considered only produced for something like a Fender Custom Shop order, like take for instance the H.E.R. Strat its a traditional 21 fret that if you like the look of you can head over to stratosphere get it for a decent price and change the hardware up(mine I swapped in a set of True Velvet Dimarzio pickups used the aluminum silver back plate and pickguard but changed the colors up to black hardware and a black Tusq nut, I also dropped in an Obsidian Wire SSS Gilmour wiring harness, 920D also makes excellent harnesses if you want to cut down on solder work. Morello's Aerodyne body Strat is also a great mod platform HSH body route with an extra cavity for a 3 way switch. Ritchie Kotzen's Telecaster makes a poor choice just because it is already a hotrodded Tele so if you buy it other than throwing maybe some locking staggered tuners and changing up the wiring a little I am not sure what more you would do to it but you do get an Ash body with Flamed Top with a nice burst for instance, the neck to it is very thick, another Route is the SE line from PRS they are great to start out with but later as you get better but may not have the money to actually buy an S2 or Core model you may way to consider upgrading the electronics. Also don't forget Fender sells the Deluxe series Body and Neck for both strats and teles its a great starter platform for modding while getting good stuff for a decent price.

Great tips! Very helpful and clearly explained

Good tips!

patience is probably my biggest issue lol.