Yeah but e is the characteristic note of g dorian for all those sweet sweet blues and fusion licks, what if you wanted it but wanted it but up really really high?
Sure, but if we are talking about value or perceived value of something out of the box, I’m not sure the fact that you get to do more work after the fact adds to bang for buck value per se. We are also talking about the general pool of people who likely don’t necessarily enjoy it, or have the means to do it.
For me, and if I were to look at it with the above perspective, I would prefer not to do more work I didn’t have to, under most circumstances regardless of my proficiency at it. If it was something I got into knowing that up front, like a really rough around the edges kit guitar, then fine, it is what ever it is. but if this is an out of the box value thing, I would just prefer not to worry about as much as possible.
I should probably just make a new post about this, but do you have a particular source for guitar tech knowledge? A YouTube channel or anything of that ilk? Despite playing for decades I’ve never really delved into that side of the instrument, and I’d like to change that.
I know you didn’t ask me, but my response would be that it really depends on what aspect you want to learn. There’s a lot that requires different skill sets, and there are a lot of opinions out there about what the best way is to do them. My advice is to pick a topic, like say fret dressing and leveling and then go to many different sources for perspective, be it blogs, YT vids, forums, books etc. often you may find an agreement on the broad perspective, but varying degrees of what best practices are.
For the even minuscule electrical work required in an electric guitar, I wouldn’t go to any luthier for it if you wanted any deep understanding. That said you don’t really need much of an understanding at all so long as you can follow a basic paint by numbers pictorial diagram most manufacturers provide and have basic soldering skills you probably wouldn’t have too much trouble. If you want to know the whys there are other resources better suited for that.
Absolutely everything you need to know about guitar repair/maintenance you can learn from Ted Woodford and Tanya Shpachuk’s respective Youtube channels.
In my experience, virtually anything not involving a router or a neck reset on an acoustic guitar can be done at home with a few tools.
For basic (and, not so basic) setup stuff, I learned a TON from the guides on Rich Harris’ Ibanezrules.com website, the setup tutorials there. There may be better guides now, but 20+ years ago it was a goldmine of info.
Just bought an Indonesian ibanez RG body off the bay for 100 and change. It weighs over 7lbs for just the RG shaped body, minimal piece count, and I’m guessing made out of peach blossom, Nyatoh (insert mahogany doppelgänger) etc… This body is pristine, but will be destroyed in the name of science and I will post what I’m doing to it here. I have to say that the craftsmanship on it is quite good. If not pristine! Surpassing what you would have found on nicer higher priced instruments 10 - 15 years ago. Cookie cutter sure, but the QC is there. Is this value? Absolutely! Given comparative inflation rates cheaper than what you would have bought the same guitar for 10 - 15 years ago. Will someone still think it is a cheap POS and inferior because of its msrp? Absolutely!
I really feel conflicted and bad for what I am about to do with it.