Mods, on very old guitars, are almost unavoidable. That's why you see original parts going for thousands of dollars on Ebay etc. Often times a pickups has been

Mods, on very old guitars, are almost unavoidable. That's why you see original parts going for thousands of dollars on Ebay etc. Often times a pickups has been re-wound, pots have been swapped out, or what not. If you own a bone stock burst these days, you'll take it to luthiers that specialize on this kind of stuff - but back in the 70s, people didn't really give it much thought. Sure, they were valuable and collectible already back then, but not to the degree we see today - so people just modded / repaired them without much thought. If some celeb has owned a guitar, then there's some inherent "bonus" on that - or at least, the value won't drop. Now, if it's some regular Burst with no celeb history, that has new pickups and tuners - then that's probably going to take a good hit on the price.