There are a number of things that I think of when someone asks me to do mods on there guitar... Tone, Versatility (tonal range), and playability...
Tone: When I think of tone I think of the combination of pickups and strings... There are tons and tons of pikcups on the market to get all kinds of tones... So based on what kind of music you like to play... pickup selection is always pretty critical. People like different things in their pickups... as well as strings. Strings play a pretty big role in tone as well. If you want fat tone you get bigger strings... Generally smaller strings give you a more trebly light tone... So string selection plays a role as well...
Versatility: When I think about versatility I think about how I can get the most out of a single guitar... I try to think how I can get more tones out of the guitar by the means of electronics... whether it be coil tapping, switch wiring, or onboard distortions or overdrives... I try to think how I can get the most tonal options... creating the most versatile guitar that I can...
Playabilty: When I think about the playablity of a guitar... I think about the setup... which includes the action, trem setup, truss rod setup, pickup height, intonation and so forth... The setup for a player that plays a lot of dropped tunings will be a lot different than someone who plays either dropped d or standard tuning... and even more different for someone who ONLY plays in standard tuning.... Playabilty may also include some other gadgets that make the guitar easier to play... like trem setters, hipshot drop d tuners and so forth...
There's a lot to think about. So think about what YOU want out of your guitar and look around www.stew-mac.com they have a ton of stuff on that site. You might see some stuff that you haven't seen before. Good luck
