Yeah, i'd have to agree with you there; I have this superstition about modding guitars myself (or taking a stock guitar and modding it), mostly because it's hard to find a guitar with an ebony fingerboard, with the bridge style I want, etc.
I have too many things on the guitar that I know what i want, if that makes sense; The accessories are changing a bit, but the main parts are still the same, though.
As far as the best musicians part, yeah i can see your point Pony; to me though, jazz musicians are the ones that do that for me. they make me say "wow, how did he think of that?" Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, a small percentage of George Benson, Allen Holdsworth, Jerry Garcia, all make me say "Wow, that sounds nice!".
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Dave Gilmoour, Eric Clapton, some Jimmy Page, some Hendrix, etc, make me think the same.
You could say that i have multiple musical personalities (much like the fact that i have multiple online chat personalities. Sorry about that, by the way).
Get this: The Eagles are playing in Madison in a few weeks or w/e, seat price? $120 bucks. I think that's a bit steep, myself. What do you guys think?
~Incidents