Just arrived - my first "Leo Era" guitar!

I'm over the moon with this recent ebay purchase... a 1988 SC-3! ...Leo era G&L's are difficult to find in Australia, and I've always wanted one for the collection. This one has a few dings, but it came with the trem arm & original case! The setup is perfect & the tone is sweet & sparkly... distorts nicely too. Can't keep my hands off the thing! (my wife is getting jealous)
It now lives in Tasmania (perhaps the SC-3 furthest away from the G&L factory!)

Nice score, good looking guitar

Congratulations on your find.

I've been playing a G&L guitar for more than 10 years but it was only late last year that I got my first Leo era guitar. And it also happened to be an SC-3, an early 1990 model. The neck is just perfect and it is now one of my favorite guitars to play, and it sounds sweet.






Kit

They really are sweet guitars... playability is spot-on perfect, and there's something tonally very special happening with the maple body & MFD pickups. Doe's anyone know what kind of maple they used for the bodies? Is it the same maple as on the necks, or a softer variety? ..."Sweet" is definitely the right word!

Thats a beauty. Congratulations on a great looking guitar

They really are sweet guitars... playability is spot-on perfect, and there's something tonally very special happening with the maple body & MFD pickups. Doe's anyone know what kind of maple they used for the bodies? Is it the same maple as on the necks, or a softer variety? ..."Sweet" is definitely the right word!

I am really curious about the body wood too. After I got my SC-3 I went to put it in the registry. When it came to specifying the body wood I just guessed that it is maple since I heard they have maple bodies. I also took the neck and pickguard off and the bare wood looked like maple to me. But in the registry for SC-3s from the few years around 1990 I see guitars registered with body wood variously listed as swamp ash, mahogany, maple, alder and poplar, so I'm really confused as to whether my guitar definitely has a maple body. Perhaps others more knowledgeable about the SC-3s can give us more history about what woods were used for these great instruments.

Kit

They really are sweet guitars... playability is spot-on perfect, and there's something tonally very special happening with the maple body & MFD pickups. Doe's anyone know what kind of maple they used for the bodies? Is it the same maple as on the necks, or a softer variety? ..."Sweet" is definitely the right word!

The Maple used for G & L bodies is not the same maple as used for necks. The body maple is Big Leaf Maple, which is common in the maritime regions of the Northwest US and west Canada. It is much softer and less dense than the hard maple used for necks. Google Warmoth guitars. They have a good description of tone woods, including Big Leaf Maple (Western Soft Maple).

Tom

Please tell me that guitar is like on a pillow or something . Might be the silliest guitar picture I have ever seen though. Congrats?

After admiring the curvier waistline on the SC-3, ...my Legacy looks like she needs to go on a diet!

congrats on your sc3. i've found the necks on the 3rd, pickguard version, to be a bit fuller than the earlier ones, which tended to be on the thin and thinner side. i have a couple of early sc's and the necks are all over the place but the sc3's are always thin for some reason. but then again many of us like em that way. i prefer the earlier slab bodies but the pickguard versions have their own vibe and sound and are very nice guitars. and a few pics to add to the mix. though no grill shots unfortunately.

black, pickguard version. what tim calls the darth vader look. although this is the semi-vader



this is the full on darth look 2nd generation style (courtesy of the Buffalo Bros. site):



and you gotta love a burst! 2nd generation sc3 maple goodness

They really are sweet guitars... playability is spot-on perfect, and there's something tonally very special happening with the maple body & MFD pickups. Doe's anyone know what kind of maple they used for the bodies? Is it the same maple as on the necks, or a softer variety? ..."Sweet" is definitely the right word!

Congratulations on a scoring a great guitar. As much as I like white, especially naturally antiqued white like yours, it's astounding I don't own one. I'll have to do something about that.

One of our seldom seen resident experts, Gabe D., has maintained for years that the MFD's sound best in maple bodies. I must say that I like my maple-bodied G&L's best of all. So, I think that you might be on to something here. You're going to like the way you sound; I guarantee it. Enjoy.

The SC-3 neck is thinner than my Legacy, but It's certainly not "ruler thin" on this one. What is the fretboard radius on the SC-3's? ...I've only played 12" radius Legacies before, but assume its possibly 7.5"?

The maple body / MFD tone combo is truly dazzling... I'm truly lost for words! Does anyone know why G&L phased out using maple bodies? ...From doing a little research, it appears Leo used it quite a bit on many of his classic G&L's.

Ah... I just stumbled onto the history of the Trinty, (By Tim), and noticed they chose a maple body for it (based on the SC-3)! I wonder if maple will ever make a permanent comeback? (or keep it for sweet "specials")

Don't forget Malnut

I wonder how Maple bodies would go with Z-coils? I noticed there's only a couple of Maple-bodies Comanche's in the registry?

Yup, them white SC-3's are mighty tasty!

I see Tim in a good mood!

Tim's SC-3 BBQ photo is truly unforgettable... I love the cardboard flames! (I'm a cardboard based animator myself, so I'm deeply impressed ...It's an image that's burned into my memory for life!)

:banana: I'm over the moon with this recent ebay purchase... a 1988 SC-3! ...Leo era G&L's are difficult to find in Australia, and I've always wanted one for the collection. This one has a few dings, but it came with the trem arm & original case! The setup is perfect & the tone is sweet & sparkly... distorts nicely too. Can't keep my hands off the thing! (my wife is getting jealous)
It now lives in Tasmania (perhaps the SC-3 furthest away from the G&L factory!)

Ah ha! I was furiously bidding against you on that beauty in Brisbane. I was pretty bummed that it got away, but in the meanwhile I've picked up a first gen SC3 so I'm happy. Your guitar looks fantastic, congrats.

Yea, there were a few vicious bidders towards the end... I stalked it like a gazelle! I've been after either a vintage SC-2 or an SC-3 for a while now & this one fits the bill nicely! (Congrats on your new SC-3 too!)

Thanks. It's a partner to my SC1, which I bought off Robert Poss from Band Of Susans.

It's such an amazing guitar that I had to find a backup, and being that I wanted some more pickup options I thought the SC3 would fill the bill.

I've always liked the pickguards Poss added to his SC-1's. (What a great catch in itself!)
What colour is your new SC-3? I love the SC vintage white look... they really have aged to be classy ladies!

Good to hear there is a lot of love for the SC-3. I just got a 1990 SC-3 from a friend for a good price. Its black with maple neck. I was worried it would be redundant having a 1993 Legacy but the SC-3 is a different animal in a good way. Does anyone know if these are the same MFD pickups as the S-500? I've heard they are slightly lower output. If so I'd be interested to know how they differ tonally from the s-500 pickups?

According to ggjaguar's website, the SC-3's had Skyhawk pickups in them up until around 1990, then they started using S-500 pups instead. I'm assuming the Skyhawk pickups were the same as the Nighthawk pickups, which ggjaguar describes as "pickups with a lower DC resistance and lower magnet gauss."

This is the SC3 I picked up. As you can see it's been through the wars a bit, but for the price I got it for, I don't mind. It also came with the original G&L hardcase which I'm really happy about.
It's got an Ibanez Flying Fingers Super 80 humbucker in it which I can sell to an Ibanez collector, so I'll get half my money back on that! I'm going to put a Seymour Duncan P-Rail pickup into it as I've got one in another guitar and in P-90 mode it sounds really similar to the MFD in my SC1. Plus I'll be able to get heaps of pickup configurations with this set up.

I've seen that one for sale somewhere recently (where I forget) ...It really has a nice individual look to it. It's been refinished well & the look of the bucker certainly has a little something original about it! Congrats on the score!

I really like the SC-3, but I prefer the PTB tone controls of the S-500.

Nice guitar!

Bill

I've seen that one for sale somewhere recently (where I forget)

I had her in the MP before she sold on ebay...nice to know she's still in the 'family'.

Play in good health,
Elwood

Ha, awesome! I can't wait for her to arrive. Hopefully this week. Thanks Elwood.

Hi Elwood. The SC3 arrived. I love it, it's a great axe. Thanks for packing it so well.
I've written about it on my guitar blog: http://www.guitarnerd.com.au/?p=1803

Good to hear there is a lot of love for the SC-3. I just got a 1990 SC-3 from a friend for a good price. Its black with maple neck. I was worried it would be redundant having a 1993 Legacy but the SC-3 is a different animal in a good way. Does anyone know if these are the same MFD pickups as the S-500? I've heard they are slightly lower output. If so I'd be interested to know how they differ tonally from the s-500 pickups?

Check out this post I just added to the Knowledgebase: S-500 single coil size pickups on early 80's model.

Hope this helps.

Hi Elwood. The SC3 arrived. I love it, it's a great axe. Thanks for packing it so well.
I've written about it on my guitar blog: http://www.guitarnerd.com.au/?p=1803

Sweeet!

I had alot of fun playing her and I'm happy to hear you will too.
It was a pleasure working with Tim to get the guitar to you, I can tell he's a great guy.

I agree about the sound of the ibanez bucker per you blog, it has a nice bite with that maple .
Your so right about the neck being custom shop quality, a real depth to the figuring and that perfect rock solid vintage feel.

Did you have work done on the frets ( or maybe even replaced) ? I can't imagine what happened in the past with the first fret .

Thanks for the update,
cheers