Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:30 am
Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:56 am
hush wrote:Hi all,
I am now the proud owner of this S-500
This is my first Strat style guitar and I'm glad I went straight for a G&L. I'm quite impressed by the feel of the neck.
However, it's a bit of a mystery to me has the electronics are not those of a S-500:
- There's no mini toggle or push/pull pot
- It has standard tone knobs (tone 1 : controls treble on middle pickup, tone 2 : controls treble on neck pickup)
- Hence, there's no PTB (Passive Treble and Bass)
- The pickups have non ajustable poles and are noisy on single coils
The answers I've found with the documentation and by searching this forum:
- Serial : CLF42865 (plastic decal)
- Number on the inside of the back plate : 6072 629
- Made in USA with COA
- Created : between June & August 2006 (if I compare S/N with others in the registry)
- Bi-Cut Neck that feels Plek'd and seems to be a No 3 60's style oval (no shoulders, not flat/pointy in the middle)
- Sperzel locking tuners
My questions:
- Is it a custom job : An S-500 with a Legacy pickguard & pickups? If it is, it doesn't start with CLF0 because it was built in mid 2006.
- Are the pickups still MFD? I'm getting a lot of noise on singles, but this is my first single coil. My rig is usually quiet.
- Is the body Alder? I've looked at types of wood and grain patterns online and it doesn't seem as agressive as Ash or as murky as Basswood.
- Is the neck indeed a No 3 60's style oval?
I'm reticent to check the neck/body for dating as I've just gotten a fresh setup and from what I gather G&L stopped stamping the necks in 2005.
If it is an S-500 with a Legacy pickguard, that doesn't make much sense to me. Why not just get a Legacy?
Craig, if you could get the specs on this one, I would really appreciate it. I'd like to know what I have before considering modding the electronics.
Thanks all for your input.
Wed Jul 19, 2017 11:25 am
- Bi-Cut Neck that feels Plek'd and seems to be a No 3 60's style oval (no shoulders, not flat/pointy in the middle)
Wed Jul 19, 2017 3:45 pm
Thu Jul 20, 2017 6:27 pm
Thu Jul 20, 2017 6:37 pm
hush wrote:Thank you. I'll do a little more digging and I'll post my findings.
The neck is a #1 in the G & L sense. In terms of shape it appears to be a #3 in the sense of Fender neck profiles : http://www.fretboard.com/fenderneckclarity.html.
I feel a bit short changed feature wise, since the S-500 has more switching options, ajustable poles and PTB. However, I got the guitar at a good price and in essence what matters to me is the maple neck, it's feel and the Alder body. I can always change the electronics.
Can anyone give me the resistance of the CLF-100? Is it in the ballpark of vintage spec 60's Alnico 5?
Thanks
Sun Jul 23, 2017 5:57 pm
Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:43 am
Tue Jul 25, 2017 2:00 pm
Tue Jul 25, 2017 5:12 pm
Tue Jul 25, 2017 8:30 pm
hush wrote:That's why I'm a little miffed. I feel I'm missing out on some nice features. However, I'm getting a nice sound out of the guitar and it's a quality instrument (@dalto). My concern is that if I were to convert it back to a true S-500, I'd have to find a pickguard with the proper electronics (toggle & PTB), not just the MFD pickups and there's none on the G&L Online Store.
Wed Jul 26, 2017 7:22 am
Fri Jul 28, 2017 5:27 pm
WitSok wrote:The S-500 pickups will fit your pickguard. You could drill a hole for the mini-toggle expander switch or put a push/pull on the volume. Otherwise you can get an oem replacement pickguard from Chandler.
Beautiful guitar btw. Cheers Dan
dalto wrote: It shouldn't be impossible to wire it back to it's original state if you want to. It will probably be more expensive than selling the guitar you have and replacing it with a traditionally setup S-500 though.
dalto wrote: If you like the way it sounds why not keep it the way it is? The MFDs in an S-500 are a lot different then those alnicos probably sound. Unless you are searching for that S-500 sound you might end up with a guitar you like less than the one you already have.
Crusher wrote:If I were you, I would keep the exact configuration you've got and buy a new pickguard with pots, pickups and wiring to get the S500. If you ever wanna go back, you can always put it as it was without too much hassle. Reverting it back by soldering and configuring is a pain, especially with the 5 way (trust me, it's easy to destroy it... and soldering / unsoldering it always leave scraps). That's just me though.
Crusher wrote: Just an advice too, S500 is not for everyone, you gotta try before I think - though you can get a pretty convincing legacy alnico sound by lowering volume and bass. I really really really love MFD to bits, but the sound is quite distinctive and there is nothing similar to it. To be honest, best thing is to have both, but well, I'm more of a humbucker guy, and I will probably mod my S500 with F100 pickups at the bridge and neck, so the last suggestion might sounds wacko coming out from me - but I am still afraid to drop 500+$ for a wild guess, because I like it the way it is right now but it "could" improve it or maybe not (just like you). Finding a place that is having both guitars on their shop is pretty hardcore, so it's a wild guess. But concerning the single coils, it just doesn't fit half of what I usually play. Color me stupid but the S500 is the best jazz / blues guitar I've ever played - the bottom on this guitar and warmth is just amazing when you play finger style. It's just about the presence : nothing beats a good humbucker for dirtiness
But really, buy yourself a new pickguard, it will cost you around 40$ on chandler. Might as well dot it that way. And what is good about those kind of guitars with the pool routing : you can always put something else in it without any problems, just 10 screws (if I recall correctly) and soldering the jack.
Cheers mate!
Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:46 am
Sun Aug 06, 2017 4:43 pm
Tue Aug 08, 2017 1:51 pm