Hmm.....I've never really thought about it. I don't think it would bother me too much, but I can see how it would others. I mean, would you go to an out of shape personal trainer?

yes, I agree. I don't necessarily need "heavily" modded, but I do look for a piercer with piercings.

I had that experience too. Turns out the "piercer" was primarily a tattoo artist, and just did piercings on the side.

Trust your instincts! If the piercer is not as passionate about piercings as I am (you are), why bother?

I do tend to feel more comfortable around modded bod modders.

But really, it's more instinct than anything else. Even if they're wearing a business suit and pocket protector, if they give off that right 'vibe' I'd trust them with the needle.

I just think that mods and that 'vibe' usually go together.

I agree with you and Cloud i'd definitely think twice about going to a piercer that has no visible piercings. I don't like to judge either..but jeeze if you're going to do that line of work atleast display a piercing or two to show your love for the art.

I don't think it's so much "love for the art" as "hey I KNOW how this feels. I know something about taking care of these. I know what it's like living with a fresh piercing."

I use this, "Dance with the guy what brought you" In my case it is that I will only be pierced by one gal, as I have been stung before. If you have any doubts pack up your tent and ride into the sunset as fast as your horse will gallop.

I don't see the need for piercers to be modded, although it is certainly nice. You wouldn't distrust a dentist who has never had a cavity, would you? You wouldn't distrust a surgeon who has never had to have surgery, would you?

sorry, don't agree. dentists and surgeons demonstrate their commitment and experience through finishing years of schooling. Piercers, sadly, need other ways to show passion and commitment to their industry. And it takes a lot of passion and commitment to become a superior piercer, rather than just a hack. There's no formal schooling, so experience has to count.

Umm....

I only have one visible piercing, and no tats, but I've been active in the body mod community for over 10 years. There are others like me, that, for reasons of their own, practice their art discretely.

My point is this: I could, if I had so chosen, be a very good piercer. Mods are nice, yes, but there's more. Clean, intelligent, clearly knowlegable, and a solid body of work carry the day for me.

Also, a lot of mods do NOT a piercer make. I know a guy with a ton of piercings, tattoos, and 3 brands.

Am I gonna let him near me with a needle? No way! He says he's certified but he currently works digging holes for the power company.

"certified"? no such animal. certificated, perhaps.

I had a great piercer who only had his lobes pierced and some ink, but he was great.

I prefer to utilize services from people who have experienced the product/service first hand. Like hairdressers - I refuse to let anyone with ugly hair touch mine.

I prefer tattoo artists to have lots of ink.

My tattoo artist had no visible ink and she did wonderful work.

The shop's aftercare instructions were questionable but it healed alright so I can't complain. Only thing that went wrong was my PJs stuck to it and it caused some discoloration which isn't too obvious so I haven't bothered to get it fixed. That's hardly the shop's fault and they offered to fix it but I didn't have time, I live 200 miles away.

I prefer that they have some mods, but I guess not too many. I guess it seems like if they get too many, they almost seem freak-show like...I guess it seems like they aren't as clean if they have too many.(at least, that's my view...fry me if you want)

There you go, perpetuating a myth about heavily modded people on a piercing forum!

well, the question was posed, do YOU feel more comfortable if your piercer is heavily modded.

There's obviously a range of comfort zones here.

and Tubaguy, I know what you mean. Not dirty, exactly, but I look for passion, rather than obsession.

As I said, fry me if you want...
I guess the way I am, and how I like to know how things work, I want to be able to think "okay, this piercing they have here goes through this skin..."

i never really thaught about it too much befor but i have one piercer and he's heavily pierced and tatted he's done all my tats and piercings excepted one ( i was out of state) and he had alot of piercings and i don't know what i'd do honestley i don't like to try to judge on looks but in all honestly i probably wouldn't let a unmodified person pierce me, and i know i will never let anybody but my piercer dan pierce me again ever!!!!! it's a comfort thing i think!

My first piercer was named Nicole...I don't remember her having any visible piercings, which is probably incorrect, but the point is, she was certainly not heavily modded.

Her shop was, by far, the cleanest, most professional operation I've ever seen, and she was trained at The Gauntlet in San Fran, which was, at the time, the gold standard.

It doesn't matter to me. I asked my piercer if he had any genital piercings when I got my PA, he said he had one in the past but removed it. this was at at piercing salon not a Tattoo parlor.

i've never thought about it before. I don't think it matters to me as long as the place is clean, people are professional, and the person doing the piercings seems knowledgable on the subject. The way I see it is just because they have alot of piercings doesn't mean they know what there doing. Hopefully someone else pierced them and they didn't try piercing themselves to learn because that just raises to many questions...or at least in my mind.

Well lets see, apparently I have more piercings than one of the piercings at my shop. However, Id gladly let her pierce me anytime anywhere on my body. Ive also gladly let an apprentice pierce me. The owner of the shop I used to go to only had visible ear piercings and there werent alot of them. Actually now that I think about it none of the people who I encountered at that shop were visibly heavily modded.

Im with Bash on this. They dont have to be heavily modded but they do need to be intelligent, clean, knowledgeable and able to show me some good work.

That said I am comfortable enough with my piercers that if they had no mods Id still let them pierce me. Being comfortable with the one who wields the needle is important

Exactly. It's not like these piercers are practicing on themselves. How many piercings/tattoos a person has is irrelevant to their skill. I don't care if a person is covered head to toe in tattoos and piercings or doesn't even have earrings. As long as I think they're professional and know what they're doing, they're fine by me.

My piercer has stretched lobes and that's it. I think he has ink but I couldn't tell you what/where (maybe a sleeve?). It doesn't bother me cos I know he's good.
I agree that it has no relevance.

I think it has relevance with tattoo's, becayse it's a taste thing. "Discrete" was the buzz word for mine, so I would worry whether a very heavily modded artist would have a different definition of discrete. But that's not an automatic no, it would just be somthing I bear in mind.

My piercer has retired all his piercings. I thought it was wierd at the time, but he's good and so i don't care. He was being nonstereotypical, it's generally a good thing. I was also satisifed that he wasn't a "mod for the mod's sake" type. Which is illogical, but there you go.

Cloud has made a very good point about passion and commitment, and I agree with that, but you have to allow for variations in individual tastes...heavy and/or visible mods aren't for everyone.

I'm tempted to say that passion and commitment are givens with piercers, but that's not always true. Still, they're not in it for the money...makes a body wonder.

Cancel what I said earlier-ish...
I'm considering going to a guy for my PA that does a freak show as another job

I don't know really. My piercer is older, has no tattoos/piercings, yet is very experienced. See, in Illinois, you don't need a license, or by law any kind of training--my guy worked at the local hospital for 20 years as a nurse, and used to have a shop in Wisconsin, where you need a license. He has all of his certificates framed in his office and he wears a lab coat, like a doctor. The chair he has is like a dentist's chair. I feel extremely safe with him.
BTW, I go to Kenny Weinstock, of Out on A Whim piercing, in a suburb of Chicago.

Is that wild berry incense?

He looks awesome. *grins*

It really doesn't matter to me. Pineapple is heavily modded. Not everyone is, though. One of my piercers has a regular day job where she covers up her mods. The other two are more modded, visibly, not not so much that I'd consider either heavily modded. Heck, I probably have 4 times the number of piercings that April has, but she's my piercer of choice, usually. It's never really been a factor, I guess. I've not considered it one way or the other.

They are all fairly tattooed, though. I just don't really care that much is what this comes down to.