Before even watching: Absolutely yes. I treated my HB35+ to a Göldo Les Trem 2 with a roller bridge, a GraphTec nut and a String Butler, doubling its value. Then I thought "why stop there?" and gave it Schaller locking tuners and Seth Lover PAFs by Seymour Duncan as well, doubling that value once more. And I have never ever regretted it because the HB35+ is such a solid instrument to begin with. Worth every penny. But it's not about the financial value. It's about having the features that you do not get on any pre-fab guitar. I would never get a PAF fitted 335 for a thousand bucks. And certainly not featuring a usable trem either. I would be stuck with some wonky Bigsby, so tinkering is the _only_ way to get a guitar like the one I threw together. And a good friend of mine loved it so much that I gifted him my first one when I was half way through modding and got myself a new one to mod the hell out of. I consider that a success.
You are indeed correct in your analysis of finding something with that feature set for anywhere near that money. You know what else is really fun about modifying guitars? Just the entire process. I love messing with things, I am a tinkerer, I enjoy trial and error. There are many people that can't be bothered with any of that and just want a finished product immediately but to me there is a satisfaction to building things on my own and piecing together the ideal instrument. It's what I've done with quite a few guitars and I've saved a lot of money as you have doing it that way. Very kind of you to gift that other one to a friend, you're a really good guy for that... the world needs more people like you.
@@AudiomoMusic Ha ha yeah, I'm in my fifties and havn't played much lately but couldn't resist the green one. (If it ever turns up) I bought an Epiphone Wildkat a few years ago and did all sorts of mods to it. I didn't play it much and sold it. I don't think it was any better after the mods really.
Any uppdate to it now? im thinking of a 35 the non plus, and eventually down the road switch out the humbuckers to a single seymore SH 5. are u happy with the non + ?
@@SheikMMO I still have and like the hb 35. Mine has a stable neck, is comfortable to play and sounds good. But I also like the Epiphone Dot which has a mahagony neck and maple sustain block. With the hb 35 it's the other way round. That makes a difference in sound in my case. But each piece of wood is different. The Dot has a cast bridge.
@@heinrichpeffenkoffer4894 i see, yeah i was thining about getting Epi Dot, but ima go with a HB35 at first and mod it to my liking eventually and probly , furter down the road get an Epi 335 model, or Starcaster once im done with the HB 35. tyvm!
I modified my Epiphone LP Jr, but that was just to practice working on guitars. I like it, but at the end of the day, it'll never be anything more than a cheap Epiphone. The modular construction of a Fender though means that I could keep my Tele forever and just change parts as and when it suits me. I wonder if a Mexican Fender is perhaps the best guitar to modify. High end enough to provide a good starting point, but not so high end that it would feel blasphemous to swap out parts or have it refinished, etc.
If you take nothing away from my videos, I pray it's that you never buy Mexican Fender so long as Fender Japan exists. It's not even close how much better they are and they are right in the same price range at this point.
@@AudiomoMusic Oh sure, that's fair. My Tele was something like £400 in 2009, the current Player model is nearly £600. If I was seriously in the market for another guitar I think I would go Japanese if I could find what I wanted. That way I'd have a Fender from each factory. 😉
The mexican guitars from 2000 to the mid 2010s were such good value and IMO priced right where they should be. Now they are so highly priced it kind of takes the entire appeal away to me knowing I can easily source Japanese versions of the same models.
I got a deal in a shop on an ibanez asv10a £242 the relic look isn't for everyone but I like it and I can leave it out, maple front, back and side mahogany neck ( which is FAT! ) rosewood fretboard and the pickups sounded great I bought it on the spot, I liked it so much I got the higher spec one the Asv100fml on Facebook market place they are great guitars the asv's have a much bigger rounded neck profile...they honestly sound great.. semi-gloss feels good too, you may laugh at me but Id put it up against a Gibson.
I've been shopping for an Ibanez semi hollow for a little while now, I'm just waiting for the right one. I had the chance to buy a really high end made in Japan one a few weeks ago and for whatever reason decided against it because I kind of want to try one of the lower ones first. The big necks are appealing to me and I didn't love the small neck on the Harley Benton version to be honest
I wouldn't touch the electrics on a semi .I've normal solids .Been an expience .Tuners are a dodle if you get the right ones .Screw holes and bore .Had fun though
It's just a lot of work and caution for something I don't think is really needed on a guitar like this. modding is fun, but electronics on a true semi-hollow? no thanks unless something actually shorts or malfunctions.
Think about this: check out the really crappy tone on the intro to Satisfaction by the Stones. Think about the really crappy guitar sound on You Really got Me Now, by the kinks. These HB's are way better than the guitars all of the legends had, period. Music is about emotion, not tone peeking. It's 3 chords and the truth my brothers. Get an HB, spend time with it, and yourself, plug yourself in, find the magic. If you cannot find it with an HB, you just can't find it anywhere. The Beatles made Sergent Peppers on two 12 track machines. Think about that. These HB 35's are a good enough tool to express your soul... if you have one.
Yep, I think around this time last year I made a video playing a 400 dollar partscaster I built and mic'ing a 8 inch speaker practice amp with a sm57 then throwing it onto a rough mix and saying stop making excuses, you can really record with anything and find a use for it!
I don't ever think of reselling. I fix them up to play and to have fun.
Before even watching: Absolutely yes. I treated my HB35+ to a Göldo Les Trem 2 with a roller bridge, a GraphTec nut and a String Butler, doubling its value. Then I thought "why stop there?" and gave it Schaller locking tuners and Seth Lover PAFs by Seymour Duncan as well, doubling that value once more.
And I have never ever regretted it because the HB35+ is such a solid instrument to begin with. Worth every penny. But it's not about the financial value. It's about having the features that you do not get on any pre-fab guitar. I would never get a PAF fitted 335 for a thousand bucks. And certainly not featuring a usable trem either. I would be stuck with some wonky Bigsby, so tinkering is the _only_ way to get a guitar like the one I threw together.
And a good friend of mine loved it so much that I gifted him my first one when I was half way through modding and got myself a new one to mod the hell out of. I consider that a success.
You are indeed correct in your analysis of finding something with that feature set for anywhere near that money.
You know what else is really fun about modifying guitars? Just the entire process. I love messing with things, I am a tinkerer, I enjoy trial and error. There are many people that can't be bothered with any of that and just want a finished product immediately but to me there is a satisfaction to building things on my own and piecing together the ideal instrument. It's what I've done with quite a few guitars and I've saved a lot of money as you have doing it that way.
Very kind of you to gift that other one to a friend, you're a really good guy for that... the world needs more people like you.
Do you know what replacement nut will fit the HB-35?
Great down to earth advice!
Couldn't agree more, makes sense what you say.
Thanks John, the older I get the more I wish I had someone like me pleading with myself when I was younger to stop blowing money on things like this!
@@AudiomoMusic Ha ha yeah, I'm in my fifties and havn't played much lately but couldn't resist the green one. (If it ever turns up) I bought an Epiphone Wildkat a few years ago and did all sorts of mods to it. I didn't play it much and sold it. I don't think it was any better after the mods really.
great stuff dude
Thanks Steve, glad you enjoyed it
That was a totally "In your face" bit of info there...😄
I'm looking at the thumbnail of this and I immediately am laughing to myself, I probably edited this horribly in that aspect 🤣
I didn't mod anything and like it as it is (a 35 without plus).
The bridge seems to be steel. A magnet sticks to it.
Any uppdate to it now? im thinking of a 35 the non plus, and eventually down the road switch out the humbuckers to a single seymore SH 5.
are u happy with the non + ?
@@SheikMMO I still have and like the hb 35. Mine has a stable neck, is comfortable to play and sounds good. But I also like the Epiphone Dot which has a mahagony neck and maple sustain block. With the hb 35 it's the other way round. That makes a difference in sound in my case. But each piece of wood is different. The Dot has a cast bridge.
@@heinrichpeffenkoffer4894 i see, yeah i was thining about getting Epi Dot, but ima go with a HB35 at first and mod it to my liking eventually and probly , furter down the road get an Epi 335 model, or Starcaster once im done with the HB 35.
tyvm!
I modified my Epiphone LP Jr, but that was just to practice working on guitars. I like it, but at the end of the day, it'll never be anything more than a cheap Epiphone.
The modular construction of a Fender though means that I could keep my Tele forever and just change parts as and when it suits me.
I wonder if a Mexican Fender is perhaps the best guitar to modify. High end enough to provide a good starting point, but not so high end that it would feel blasphemous to swap out parts or have it refinished, etc.
If you take nothing away from my videos, I pray it's that you never buy Mexican Fender so long as Fender Japan exists. It's not even close how much better they are and they are right in the same price range at this point.
@@AudiomoMusic Oh sure, that's fair. My Tele was something like £400 in 2009, the current Player model is nearly £600.
If I was seriously in the market for another guitar I think I would go Japanese if I could find what I wanted. That way I'd have a Fender from each factory. 😉
The mexican guitars from 2000 to the mid 2010s were such good value and IMO priced right where they should be. Now they are so highly priced it kind of takes the entire appeal away to me knowing I can easily source Japanese versions of the same models.
I got a deal in a shop on an ibanez asv10a £242 the relic look isn't for everyone but I like it and I can leave it out, maple front, back and side mahogany neck ( which is FAT! ) rosewood fretboard and the pickups sounded great I bought it on the spot, I liked it so much I got the higher spec one the Asv100fml on Facebook market place they are great guitars the asv's have a much bigger rounded neck profile...they honestly sound great.. semi-gloss feels good too, you may laugh at me but Id put it up against a Gibson.
I've been shopping for an Ibanez semi hollow for a little while now, I'm just waiting for the right one. I had the chance to buy a really high end made in Japan one a few weeks ago and for whatever reason decided against it because I kind of want to try one of the lower ones first. The big necks are appealing to me and I didn't love the small neck on the Harley Benton version to be honest
I wouldn't touch the electrics on a semi .I've normal solids .Been an expience .Tuners are a dodle if you get the right ones .Screw holes and bore .Had fun though
It's just a lot of work and caution for something I don't think is really needed on a guitar like this. modding is fun, but electronics on a true semi-hollow? no thanks unless something actually shorts or malfunctions.
Think about this: check out the really crappy tone on the intro to Satisfaction by the Stones. Think about the really crappy guitar sound on You Really got Me Now, by the kinks. These HB's are way better than the guitars all of the legends had, period. Music is about emotion, not tone peeking. It's 3 chords and the truth my brothers. Get an HB, spend time with it, and yourself, plug yourself in, find the magic. If you cannot find it with an HB, you just can't find it anywhere. The Beatles made Sergent Peppers on two 12 track machines. Think about that. These HB 35's are a good enough tool to express your soul... if you have one.
Yep, I think around this time last year I made a video playing a 400 dollar partscaster I built and mic'ing a 8 inch speaker practice amp with a sm57 then throwing it onto a rough mix and saying stop making excuses, you can really record with anything and find a use for it!
PERIOD 🙏🏼
Ima mod the fak outta my st-20 that I got over 10 years ago.
Strip it and spray paint it. You won't do it.
@@AudiomoMusic Gonna get a nice set of pick-ups for it. And change the tuners.
Holy shit dude I can’t tell if you’re 16 years old or in your 30’s
Haha! Well, one of your guesses is correct. I've always looked much, much younger than I am. Blessing and a curse.