Love story/Faulty Tribute Legacy nonsense removed.

I have just joined and registered my G&L, serial # CLF27646 and entry # 14837 in the registry. You can see it here.

I have a minor technical problem on which I'd like some advice, I am hoping this is the right place to post.

I bought a new Tribute Legacy HB for a friend which was missing a capacitor. This is the place where the cap should be but isn't. It's now fixed and working, but I'd like to know if what I have done is correct, close enough or wrong. I found this diagram, which looked like I needed a 22nF capacitor. I didn't have a 22nF capacitor but I did have 2*47nF which in series make 24.7nF, which is what I used. IYHI, will the 2.7nF be significant? Does it matter in the light of the tolerances?
I also found this circuit diagram which I am hoping describes the wiring including the toggle switch, am I right?

I have a few more questions:-

Does anyone know what wood is used to make the Tribute Legacy (heavy) body? These pickies might help. I have checked the FAQ and may now be able to find the serial #, hopefully on the back of the headstock like my US Legacy.

Can anyone please tell me more about the pickups? They have G&L covers and used nice waxed cotton insulated wire except the humbucker which had the naff stuff. I can see from List of pickups used in G&L guitars that the bridge pickup is a G&L AW4370B Alnico humbucker, but I couldn't see what type are the other two pickups.

I noticed a bizarre difference between the Tribute Legacy pickup wiring and the circuit diagram. wiring has the red/yellow pickup in the middle position, black&white in the neck whereas the hand drawn wiring diagram has them the other way round. Which is correct?

The expander switch seems to connect 2 wires of the humbucker straight to earth via a soldered link from the switch to the body of the potentiometer and then via the foil on the back of the scratch plate, which doesn't (to me) agree with the wiring diagram. What am I missing? This one does the same thing with a direct wire.

Restrung with some D'Addario Strings, it sounds different to mine and it's surprisingly a lot heavier.
You can see images of the guitar here.

Best regards, Paul.

Last edited by Wilfy on Wed Aug 18, 2010 11:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

Does anyone have any idea what wood is used to make the body? This might help. I couldn't see any identifying marks/serial numbers and I don't know when it was made.
Where will I find the serial #? This question applies to both my US Legacy and my teachers Tribute Legacy.
Can anyone please tell me more about the pickups? They have G&L covers and used nice waxed cotton insulated wire except the humbucker which had the naff stuff.
Another bizarre difference is the Tribute has the red/yellow pickup in the middle position, black&white in the neck whereas the hand drawn wiring diagram has them the other way round. Which is correct?
The expander switch seems to connect 2 wires of the humbucker straight to earth via a soldered link from the switch to the body of the potentiometer and then via the foil on the back of the scratch plate, which doesn't (to me) agree with the wiring diagram. What am I missing? This one does the same thing with a direct wire.

The body wood on the Tribute Legacy HB in black finish is basswood.

The serial numbers on Tribute models are located on the back of the headstock. The serial numbers on USA models
vary depending upon the age of the instrument. They started out being stamped on the bridge and then moved to the
neck plate and then to the current location on the back of the headstock. See Serial number significance for the formats.

The single coil neck and middle pickups are same pickups used in the US model.
The bridge humbucker is the G&L Alnico humbucker made at the Fullerton factory.
See List of pickups used in G&L Guitars post in the G&L Knowledgebase, General G&L Questions sub-forum.
The Legacy HB does not have an expander switch. The switch you see is the coil splitter switch for the bridge HB.
That switch turns off one of coils of the HB, thus making it a single coil pickup.

Hope this helps.

Hello Craig,

Thank you for your reply, yes it does help. Some items I have been off discovering on my own and I have attempted to make my post more direct to encourage some of the answers you gave.

That comment about the expander switch (or lack of it) makes total sense. I am amazed that basswood is so heavy - I would like to know what wood has been used for the body of my much lighter US Legacy.

Any comments about the capacitor stuff?

Thanks again, Paul.

Hello Craig,

That comment about the expander switch (or lack of it) makes total sense. I am amazed that basswood is so heavy - I would like to know what wood has been used for the body of my much lighter US Legacy.

Any comments about the capacitor stuff?

Thanks again, Paul.

The US Legacy model will likely have an Alder body with that finish (one of the Standard finishes). Premier finishes will usually be put on Swamp Ash bodies. However, customers can special order Premier finishes on Alder body or Standard finishes on Swamp Ash body.

Well, if you bought it new, you should have returned it to the dealer you bought it from and
had them handle these faults under the Tribute Warranty. Since you modded it, you have voided
the warranty. However, you might go to the dealer and let them know what you found and that you
did your own repair on the missing cap. They might take care of swapping the two single coil pickups and
put on the correct cap for you under the warranty. It sure wouldn't hurt to try.

Hope this helps.

Thanks the info, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer.

I did buy it new from a wholesaler; When I picked it up I knew what I was buying and accordingly got it at what I considered a very keen price. The wholesaler had a Legacy Tribute signed by a famous band (so famous I have forgotten their name) in the entrance lobby so I suspect they supply UK retailers with G&L products. This is the original eBay advert.

WRT the capacitor, I am only worried whether the 24.7nF capacitance will be noticeably different sound wise from the standard 22nF capacitor fitted as standard. The capacitors I fitted were of the same type & appearance.

I was also concerned that the neck/middle pickups have been fitted around the wrong way, sounds like you agree although I don't understand why if both the neck & middle pickups are the same G&L vintage style Alnico V single coils as per the US Legacy HB it matters if they are the wrong way round. I don't understand the significance of one pickup having red/yellow and the other having black/white wiring, other than for visual identification when wiring them up.

I am really pleased that the individual components are nice quality, I have passed on all this info to the new owner. I just spoke to him and he is really enjoying it, no regrets.

Best regards, Paul.

The US Legacy model will likely have an Alder body with that finish (one of the Standard finishes). Premier finishes will usually be put on Swamp Ash bodies. However, customers can special order Premier finishes on Alder body or Standard finishes on Swamp Ash body.

To me the guitar *is* special whatever it's finish. I might want another G&L but I won't be getting rid of this one It's perfect for me. I took it down to my local guitar shop who drooled all over it and handed it back saying it was perfectly set up, nothing needed doing. Quality item.

Paul.

I was also concerned that the neck/middle pickups have been fitted around the wrong way, sounds like you agree although I don't understand why if both the neck & middle pickups are the same G&L vintage style Alnico V single coils as per the US Legacy HB it matters if they are the wrong way round. I don't understand the significance of one pickup having red/yellow and the other having black/white wiring, other than for visual identification when wiring them up.

The only issue I think you (he) would have is when the pickup selector is in position 4 [middle and bridge pickups] AND the humbucker splitter switch is on, there will be some hum because the incorrectly placed middle pickup is not reverse wound. Position 2 [neck and middle pickups] should not have the hum because the neck pickup is the reverse wound pickup.

Hope this helps.

Yes! This is *exactly* the kind of reply I am looking for, thanks. Sorry about the delay replying, been earnin' a livin'.

There doesn't seem to be hum in any switch position, so I am hoping the switch is wired correctly and the pickups are simply swapped in terms of position. If the wires have been left long enough I can simply correct the error by swapping their positions back to original.

I will need to pursuade Dominic to let me have his beloved guitar and I'll strip it, inspect it and take some really good archive photos of the back of the pickguard, fully populated with switches etc., with close-ups of the switch wiring, then I'll know if it's wired correctly.

The switch is not like the nice US one shown here, it's a naff Squier like switch - but it does work OK.

I am still hoping someone will comment on the capacitance I have fitted.

Best regards, Paul.