duh. but the question you want to ask yourself. would you want to mod your so called "expensive" gibson? or would you rather leave it as it is. its like buying a farrari and taking out its engine and putting in a proton engine. but if you got some cheap ibanez and did that its understandable. but not on a more costly guitar. the whole point of getting a high end guitar is cause you like its tone and the way its set up. why bother changing it.
are you a dumbass or a dumb ****?
Would like to think both but nvm.
Allow me to present to you a simple analogy.
There are different types of people who buy gibsons. Some buy gibsons to
collect while others buy gibsons to
play. Most of the time if the players are not too happy with their guitars, they will usually end up modding it. Collectors usually refuse to touch their guitars beyond anything that's stock (in fear of diminishing the value of the guitar).
There are also players who refuse to touch their guitars beyond stock condition as they have the "collector mentality". But some players cannot live without a mod like a coil split as it allows them more tonal variation (single coilish sound from a split humbucker or out of phase switching, which Jimmy Page used btw). Anyways if you swap out the pickups on a guitar, its also considered doing a mod on the guitar. Most people will usually mod their guitars to a certain extent to suit their preferences and style. Unless you tell me you own an actual vintage 1956 Les Paul Gold Top worth 250K (i think?). Otherwise small mods are more or less considered the norm and it will not severely diminish the value of the guitar concerned.
its personal preference but i think you are generalising the "stigma" that most snobs and beginners have when they first buy an expensive guitar. If you have that personal preference, by all means do stick to it but forcing your personal mantra down other's throats is just plain wrong. Your analogy of "some cheap ibanez" is also flawed as on the other side of the coin people will look at it as "hey its only a cheap ibanez, body and neck also like shit, mod so much for what? also waste money only". There are always two sides of the coin one should look at before establishing what's really true and your view in my opinion is too one sided to count for anything.