Dude, good luck with the new axe! Update us and let us know how it went! BTW, how much modding was necessary?
R...
No modding at all, actually. Straight from the box it was unplayable, though. The strings were dragging the frets from about the 12th fret up, and the pickups were actually touching the strings... All with the bridge set about as high as it would go...
Basically it was assembled, not set up. The neck straightened nicely w/ the truss rod. I lowered the pickups to a reasonable height, adjusted the bridge saddles (height / intonation).... experimented w/ a neck shim, but it turned out to be unnecessary....
The strings that came with it were very "clanky" to my ears, so I replaced them, too.
It took me a while, but that was more a factor of work / life intrusions than the amount of stuff needing done. I did
not upgrade the electronics, did
not add any sheilding. But all that seems to be pretty good. Last night was the first time I've played it through anything more than my pratice amp, though (Fender Frontman B60).
I thought it sounded pretty good, as did our Worship Leader,
I'm looking forward to playing it Sunday!
It has some "fit & finish" things that I presume are normal SX issues. The pickguard around the neck pocket, the area where the pickguard and control plate match up (or don't match up)... but that's cosmetic...