90s Legacy Hardtail

Hi all,
I’ve been negotiating for this Champaign gold sparkle hardtail, ash body, rosewood 12” fretboard. Someone suggested that the gap between the pick guard and bridge looks fishy. The seller is firm on his price and I’m a bit worried about not being able to get my money back out if I don’t love it; never bought sight unseen before and I don’t have money to spare. What do you think, look all good? Is it crazy to spend $900usd before tax and shipping on this one? Here’s the old Reverb link; it was listed for a long time. Thank you SO MUCH in advance.
https://reverb.com/item/3565619-g-l-leg ... ne-sparkle

I've seen other hardtails with a gap. I believe the hardtail pick guards were cut by hand at the time. It is certainly not as good a fit as my Legacy Special hardtail from 2002. My pick guard wraps around the bridge with almost no unsightly gap. The bridge pickup has been changed on the Legacy you are looking at. Hard to tell with the other pickups. The other pickups could be G&L or Seymore Duncan's which were used on the early Legacy. I'm surprised the Legacy fits in a Fender case. Usually, the G&L are too long for most Fender cases.

If you want to see a picture of mine, you can look here:

viewtopic.php?f=47&t=13024

What should I do???

Pros:
90's 3 bolt neck with micro tilt
Unique color
Above average condition for age
Harder to find saddle lock bridge

Cons:
Non original case
Bridge pickup changed
Unknown on what else changed in the electronics or neck/middle pickups
Poor fitting pickguard (although it may be original)

Only you can decide if the price is worth it. Do the pros outweigh the cons for you? I would ask more questions about the electronics. Is the PTB tone control still intact? Is the seller confident the neck and middle pickups are G&L? Do they have the G&L logo molded in the plastic?

Thanks, very helpful!

Seems like a lot to pay for an almost ordinary guitar. Pick guard does luck funky and the fact that someone has been messing with the pickups would make me wonder about the whole guitar.

Just my 2 cents but there are so many Legacy's out there, even Specials for much less I would steer clear of this one.

Tom

Thanks so much, seems to be the majority consensus here and on the gear page. Any thoughts on the saddle lock? I am very interested in it, but I do worry a bit about switching to a top loader. Right now my main guitar is a 76 music man stingray I, hardtail string through with fat barrel saddles. I love the brass saddles and the whole design concept of the saddle lock; but will I feel the loss of the string through and break angle? Am I better of getting a df legacy and blocking the trem??

I agree that you can find a better deal if you keep looking. I thought the asking price was high given it has been modified and doesn't have the original HSC. As for the saddle lock bridge I love them! All my G&Ls except for my ASAT Classic S have them. I've had no issue with the break angle.

So keep looking... Hardtail Legacy's do show up on occasion. No that color,, I haven't seen that often. I never thought I'd see an ASAT Z-2 to for sale and eventually I found one. So my advice is wait it out till you find what you want.

Cheers, Dan

Thank you, wise words. I would like to try the saddle lock. Like I said the concept of squeezing together all of the saddles, plus the foot on the bottom, seems like it would resonate through the body so nicely. How different could the feel really be compared to the string through?

Don't let the top load saddle lock bother you. It works great. Would you consider an S-500 with saddle lock? There is a beautiful one for sale in the G&L buy-sell-trade Facebook group. It is a deluxe (no pickguard) with flamed maple top.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1621065514657180/

I thought about the S-500, but I think I want an ash body and just a classic single coil strat neck pick up.

The AlNiCo pickups in the Legacy will definitely give you that classic vintage tone. The S-500 can cover a lot of different tones, but it won't quite get you to the vintage AlNiCo tone.

Ya, I need a Legacy. Wouldn’t mind a hb in the bridge though.

There is a Lake Placid Blue Legacy on eBay with a saddle lock bridge.

I’ve messsged that seller a few times. No response.

Finally got a hold of him! But he doesn’t want to ship up to Canada. Moving on.
Do you all know if it’s possible to get specs from G&L on an older 3 bolt Legacy?

Finally got a hold of him! But he doesn’t want to ship up to Canada. Moving on.
Do you all know if it’s possible to get specs from G&L on an older 3 bolt Legacy?

Look in our Gallery for the Album: Ad Slicks and Memorabilia. There are catalogs and pricelists which have the factory specifications.

You might also contact G&L PRODUCT SUPPORT.

Hope this helps.

Thanks!