Around 6-8 years ago my son bought me one of those cheap Baretta's for $120 as I wanted a guitar I could change tuning easier than on my floyd guitars. I also wanted it to be a backup in case I broke a string during the worship set at church (we play 3-5 songs in a row, there is no time to replace a broken string until after the service).
Here is what I did to it to make it a very good, reliable guitar:
- Changed the tuners to locking tuners
- Upgraded the volume pot
- Swapped the pickup to a Dimarzio Evo
- Installed strap locks.
That was all stuff I had laying around except for the volume pot, it cost $15 I think.