Wiring a Legacy to a S-500 Pickup Configuration???

I have read places that it can be done, but how hard is it (I have heard it isn't "that" hard, but no one has done it themselves). So I was wondering if any of you knew how I could rewire (and add a push pull pot rather than drilling a whole in the pickguard) to my USA Legacy to have the same pickup configuration and treble/bass cuts as the S-500? I have looked everywhere for directions on how to do this, what I would need, etc. Any chance you could let me know how to do it? I would GREATLY appreciate it.
Thanks so much,
Paul

Hi Paul,

Yes, it is a very easy mod to turn your Legacy wiring into a S-500. I did this to a Legacy pickguard a few months ago because I didn't like the toggle switch on the original S-500 wiring.

I chose to make my volume knob the push/pull switch to get the extra pickup configs. To do this you'll need to buy a 250K audio taper DPDT pot to replace the volume pot currently in your Legacy, and you'll need to wire in the new pot the same way it currently is.

The trick is to run 2 extra wires from the neck and bridge solder points on your 5-way switch to the top and middle solder points on one of the DPDT vertical channels. It doesn't matter which wire goes to the top or the middle.

In this config, when you pull up on the volume knob, you'll always have the bridge pickup ON when you select the neck pickup and vice versa. When you select position 2 or 4 (the in between ones) you'll have all 3 pickups on. The middle position still gets you the middle pickup only.

I really like the tele sound of the bridge and neck pickups together. All 3 pickups are a bit meh, but that's just my opinion!

I wish I had some pictures because explanations always sound more complex than reality. It only took me about 30 minutes to do once I had the pickguard off. Please let me know if you need more clarification.

There are picture diagrams in the Gallery: Instrument Manuals and Wiring Schematics Album, which might be of use, too.

Hope this helps.

Hi Paul,

Yes, it is a very easy mod to turn your Legacy wiring into a S-500. I did this to a Legacy pickguard a few months ago because I didn't like the toggle switch on the original S-500 wiring.

I chose to make my volume knob the push/pull switch to get the extra pickup configs. To do this you'll need to buy a 250K audio taper DPDT pot to replace the volume pot currently in your Legacy, and you'll need to wire in the new pot the same way it currently is.

The trick is to run 2 extra wires from the neck and bridge solder points on your 5-way switch to the top and middle solder points on one of the DPDT vertical channels. It doesn't matter which wire goes to the top or the middle.

In this config, when you pull up on the volume knob, you'll always have the bridge pickup ON when you select the neck pickup and vice versa. When you select position 2 or 4 (the in between ones) you'll have all 3 pickups on. The middle position still gets you the middle pickup only.

I really like the tele sound of the bridge and neck pickups together. All 3 pickups are a bit meh, but that's just my opinion!

I wish I had some pictures because explanations always sound more complex than reality. It only took me about 30 minutes to do once I had the pickguard off. Please let me know if you need more clarification.

Wow. Thanks so much! Believe it or not, I think that all makes sense. I will definitely let you know though... Again, thanks so much for helping me out. Do you own an S-500? Can a S-500 get similar Strat like tones as a legacy? I live in Wisconsin and don't have the chance to try one out, but was thinking about getting one.

Hi Paul,

Yes, it is a very easy mod to turn your Legacy wiring into a S-500. I did this to a Legacy pickguard a few months ago because I didn't like the toggle switch on the original S-500 wiring.

I chose to make my volume knob the push/pull switch to get the extra pickup configs. To do this you'll need to buy a 250K audio taper DPDT pot to replace the volume pot currently in your Legacy, and you'll need to wire in the new pot the same way it currently is.

The trick is to run 2 extra wires from the neck and bridge solder points on your 5-way switch to the top and middle solder points on one of the DPDT vertical channels. It doesn't matter which wire goes to the top or the middle.

In this config, when you pull up on the volume knob, you'll always have the bridge pickup ON when you select the neck pickup and vice versa. When you select position 2 or 4 (the in between ones) you'll have all 3 pickups on. The middle position still gets you the middle pickup only.

I really like the tele sound of the bridge and neck pickups together. All 3 pickups are a bit meh, but that's just my opinion!

I wish I had some pictures because explanations always sound more complex than reality. It only took me about 30 minutes to do once I had the pickguard off. Please let me know if you need more clarification.

I forgot to ask... what type of wire should I use to connect the new pot with the pickups? I just want to be sure that I get the right stuff

I forgot to ask... what type of wire should I use to connect the new pot with the pickups? I just want to be sure that I get the right stuff

Hi Paul,

I chose yellow wire Mainly so it stood out from all the other colours and I could easily trace my work. As far as wire gauge goes, I just bought standard insulated medium gauge wire from my local electronics shop. I didn't bother getting anything special such as shielded wire. If I remember correctly the stock G&L wiring was also just standard medium gauge.

As far as the sound of the S-500 goes, I was led to believe by all the web reviews that it wouldn't sound at all like a strat. Like you I live in a fairly remote part of the world for G&L's (Australia) so I bought a '96 S-500 pretty cheap off E-Bay to find out for myself (it's the blue one in my avatar).

I've had Legacy pickups and the standard MFD S-500 pickups in the same guitar and I'd have to say the reviews are wrong. With the bass tone control wound back to nearly zero the MFD's get very very close to the 'spank' of the Legacy pickups, albeit with more output. When you wind the bass up the MFD's get much 'meatier' than the Legacy pickups, almost into humbucker territory. I think this makes the MFD's more versatile than the Legacy pickups. But for absolutely authentic strat tones the Legacy pickups probably are best bet.

A week or so ago Craig posted up a link to a video from G&L comparing a Legacy to an S-500. To my ears the comparison is pretty accurate. I preferred the S-500! Here it is!

[youtube]fVR7zt08SK4[/youtube]

That is hugely helpful. I wish Craig could have pulled off on the treble of the s-500 to show how "close" it could get to the legacy. Alas, I will probably have to wait till I go back to California to try them both out side by side. Your guitar in your avatar looks beautiful by the way. Awesome guitar.
Thanks again for the responses... I will keep you posted on the project

That is hugely helpful. I wish Craig could have pulled off on the treble of the s-500 to show how "close" it could get to the legacy. Alas, I will probably have to wait till I go back to California to try them both out side by side. Your guitar in your avatar looks beautiful by the way. Awesome guitar.
Thanks again for the responses... I will keep you posted on the project

Glad that was helpful. That's Steve Grom, Director of Manufacturing, doing the demo, not me.

+1 on Philby's avatar