[the18thtee]

While I agree with gguruusa about the kitchen having a "clean" version of the carrier customizations built in, I have always found it a good idea to flash to stock before loading a new rom, and I, as well as others, have had problems which were fixed by flashing to stock then flashing to a new rom. I will admit that in no way can I prove that flashing to stock first was the only reason that the problems were fixed, but the question I have is "Why Not?" Flashing to stock and going through all of the activations brings your phone back to the way it was originally (when almost everything worked). Then, loading the new rom with the built in carrier customizations is all you need to do! I am probably one of the few who have found it necessary to flash to stock before flashing a new rom, and for most people it is unnecessary, but there is really no negative effect other than the extra time it takes.