To customize, or not to customize?

[cpmusic]

Taking a cue from Bagelsgirl, I've started thinking about making one or two small personal changes to my 615.

As I've noted 10 or 70 times hereabouts, this Taylor was built in 1983, more or less placing it in the "vintage" category; I've got some kind of dark but visible pictures on the gallery, at the bottom of the 600 series list. I'm not worried about its value as a collectible (it's a player's guitar that I'm never going to sell), but I don't know if I should leave its plain-vintage look intact or try for just a little jazz.

One of the first things I thought of was replacing the tortoise pickguard with a clear one, but I'm 99.9% sure that there's a strong tan line, so that's probably not a good idea.

The original tuners are either Schallers or knock-offs finished in chrome, and I'm thinking that gold ones would look nice. If it were possible to get them with rosewood buttons, that would be very cool, since the bridge, fretboard and headstock veneer are all rosewood. (I think ebony would look odd.)

Finally, though I'd need to have somone do it for me (probably Taylor) I'm thinking of a new MOP Taylor logo to replace the original stencil.

Any thoughts or ideas? Thanks!

[TheTaylor310]

Hello~

It would be nice to redress your 615. Why not??

I would love to gussy up my 310 with ebony tuner heads and ebony headstock w/ abalone Taylor logo. Of course, money is the primary issue, so thats gonna be out for a whilst... well, maybe i could afford the ebony heads...

That all depends on yourself. If you really want to change the look of you 615, i suppose you owe it to yourself

[stevemc]

I think it's great to customize a guitar that you intend to keep the rest of your life. It make it much more personal for you. Just bear in mind if you ever do decide to sell or trade it years down the road, it will hurt the value. Things like truss rod covers, tuner knobs and pickgaurds make it easy to return it to the way it came from the factory if you ever want to. I really like what Bagelsgirl has done with hers.
SM

[PaulLePine]

Not too long ago, I was in a store that had a few interesting used instruments. There was this one old Gibson that had a small brass plate with the owner's initials engraved... glued right to the top on the lower bout!

[DHN]

The ebony tuners and clear pick guard can be installed without any permanent impact on your guitar. In other words, if you ever have remorseful feelings, you can switch back to the old tuners and pick guard and no one will ever know.

Of course, putting a clear pick guard in place of the current tortoise one will probably show the "tan lines." However, I suspect that if you place the clear pick guard perfectly over where the original pick guard was, it will look fine. In fact, the lighter portion under the pick guard may look like an effect from the clear guard as much as the lack of UV exposure. Although the color may never match, the portion under the pick guard will darken and get closer to the rest of the top.

As for the tuners, you can buy the ebony pieces separately and attach them to your current tuning machines. Even if you replace the entire tuners with gold hardware, you can always go back to the originals, as long as the new hardware doesn't require you drill new holes.

With regard to the MOP logo, I'm not sure how it's applied. I suspect that if you are able to make that modification, it will have a lasting effect, but I'm not sure.

From your initial comments, it doesn't sound like you personally will mind that your guitar is not all original. So who cares? As long as you're happy. Besides, 2 of the 3 things you mention can be done and reversed without penalty if you have a change of heart later.

[JW]

Make it your own man! Imone of those guys that cant leave well enough alone. If its really rare I leave it alone everything else is open to change. JW