Guitar mods for sure, and then -- sort of stupid -- but I got this cheapy battery powered amp that plugs right into the guitar jack, no cable needed. It sounds like crap, haha, but it's so convenient when you just want to grab your guitar real quick for to practice for 5 mins or try out a new riff playing in your head. I have it desk-side and grab it 2 or 3 times a day to just play around (and take a break from work!).

I'm personally meh on smart guitars, but I have an old-school analog aesthetic. Gimme an electric guitar, a bare bones tube amp, and I'll add and swap pedals to my liking over time. A smart guitar seems like it locks you in and adds more things to break.

@Jeremy Livingston haha, what's that saying about great minds?

@Mike Seaton they're attached similar to a Strat, directly onto the pickguard rather than the guitar body, so yeah, screws go top down through the pickguard and then into springs that create back pressure, and lastly into the flange on the humbuckers themselves. I got the blue version of threadlock, which is nonpermanent, and will give a it a try this weekend. I'll grab some photos once I have it opened up!

@Jordan Oster Ah! Good call. That didn't occur to me. I'll dig around to see if I have some nuts that fit.

@Billy T Scrapper 😆

Damn, William, why you got tempt us like that?! Haha, I just thinned out the herd by selling 2 guitars that weren't really my style to another local musician, but I picked up a used Firefly HSS strat for real cheap that I'm upgrading pickups on, so I really don't NEED more at the moment. 😅

I have NOT done this personally, but yeah, lining the pickup cavity with foil is a pretty common technique. Single coil pickups tend to pickup 60hz buzz from the electricity coming out of the outlet (60hz in the US, at least!), particularly in older houses/clubs/venues that aren't grounded properly. I've also noticed, fluorescent lights and TVs/monitors tend to add noise. This is NOT typically a problem with humbuckers since they're wired to be noise cancelling, although I've seen a lot of folks have noise issues with active humbuckers. Similarly, a Strat-type guitar w/ a 5-way switch and 3 single coil pickups is typically wired to be noise-cancelling in positions 2 and 3. All that is to say, if you find your guitar is picking up a 60hz hum, go for it. If not, I wouldn't worry about it. Good article here from StewMac, and they sell the copper tape (or as @Tommy Thompson said above, you can find cheaper options on Amazon or Ebay). https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-ideas/online-resources/learn-about-guitar-pickups-and-electronics-and-wiring/single-coil-buzzkill-the-why-and-how-of-electric-guitar-shielding/