I just picked up an odd guitar, a Gibson ES-333 from 2004 that the previous owner did a number of upgrades on. The original bare pu’s were replaced with ’57 classics; the tuners were replaced with the Gibson Deluxe, and he even had the silkscreen logos replaced with pearloid inlay, which at just the right angle you can see isn’t perfect. About the only things he didn’t change was the satin finish and of course the label.

Certainly this is not the best idea in terms of cost, he should have just gotten a satin finish 335 in the first place saved a good bit. For me this turned out to be a good way to get the tone & look I’ve wanted with a really nice neck profile at a reasonable price.

So if this were a piece with real value instead of a high volume dressed down unit, would it be crazy to make these changes, even if they are upgrades from the maker?
Here are a few pics along with one of my old Realistic that I started out on…
http://s187.photobucket.com/albums/x130/Jerrocity/ES-333/
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