Doh! Modding vs. Selling

Myself, never modded.  I couldn't solder if my life depended on it.

I would never modify anything I owned, as it will ruin the resale value.

I've even found that the work of professional modifiers only gets back about 20-30% on the dollar. Any non-professional DIY work normally decreases the value from a stock unit.

Much better trading it in on something different, more cost effective way to change a system's sound, IMHO.

mod!

(I’m a manufacturer, so I should probably not be saying that)

As for resale value ~I Don’t Care~.

If making the music pound requires swallowing a grenade, then I’ll swallow a grenade.

Whatever it takes.

Best bang for the buck is mods.

Stock is for losers. (humor!)(jk!)

Modified gear is the last stage a hardcore music fanatic (that requires the best gear) goes through.

And they find it to be the best thing they ever did, even if it sometimes does not work out.

The sooner you get there, the better off you’ll be.

And you’ll stop swapping out gear, and stop buying stuff that is only a hair better than the last.

So it’s resale price means nothing in the context of serving the music.

But..one has to have the will and the drive..and the skills to do so.

Ie,a while back... I changed the back struts on my car, by myself, with a broken arm, in a cast. there was no way I was going to pay some guy x times as much as was deserved for the job, for something I could do just as well myself. Even if, due to the broken arm, It took me 4 times as long as it should have.

Stubborn as F...beat on it until it works, not satisfied unless it is world class or better. That kinda attitude. Modifying is for that kind of person. It is a very long drawn out process to get to the right spot, with mods, so the dedication must be complete.

Essentially, modifying gear is valid but is is a rarefied space and then the finished items, if ever resold, require the right buyer.

The essential point, is that modified gear is generally not like a Honda civic where a kid strapped a turbo on a stock Honda motor ...and it's destined to explode soon...but it can be. The mods have to be done by the right person in the right way, for the right reasons. And that takes decades of experience to get to. So, Jim is correct, the resale value plummets.

But, if the difference, for you... is crap sound vs sound that makes your butt swing, then the equation is complete. If the music really means something to you... ie, music, not audio nervosa, then modded gear can make sense.