Can the hardware interface in a model be changed?

edit

I'd like to test different controllers on a robot model, is it enough to edit the URDX/Xacro <transmission>/<joint>/<hardware_interface>? Os are there model-specific parameters that one should take care to update when changing the interface type?

For instance, I'm trying to use effort_controllers/JointPositionController to control a NAO robot, but the models/description account for JointPositionInterface. Will parameters such as <mechanical_reduction> cause any issues when using different controllers?