Help with used 90s S-500

Hello,

First post! Sorry to be that guy who drops in and immediately asks for help, but I found this forum while doing research on a used guitar I'm interested in potentially buying. It appears to be a 90s S-500. Non-original pickups and tuners, I assume, and a few other minor mixed parts. Plays and sounds great, and the price is right.

Any help determining what it is (and isn't) would be greatly appreciated!

http://photos.app.goo.gl/XDheLaZAvchWHTPV6

http://photos.app.goo.gl/7KRkA3yendTHwMbo7

http://photos.app.goo.gl/6yPfG4M1woDtvrS7A

http://photos.app.goo.gl/T6ZGxqxuPL7E4EhY9

Hi Duane___, welcome!
One of the best things about G&L guitars is their pickups.
Looks like a nice gtr, but I wouldn’t get an s500 without its mfd pickups.
Just my opinion, of Course.

I agree with Duane. An S-500 is a Strat bodied guitar with MFD pickups. Without the MFD pickups there is no reason to buy an S-500, over a Legacy, or Fender Stratocaster. Also, just my opinion.

If you make an offer factoring in the cost of G&L’s replacement knobs and MFDs (and then some,) you might have a great bargain. On the other hand it’s not hard to find an un-molested example. Good luck!

I priced out replacement parts from G&L. A set of MFD pickups and a couple knobs would run me about $250. Factoring that into the price of the guitar, I'd still come out ahead of what they seem to sell for on the used market.

One question: Is an earlier example such as this more desirable than a later one? Are there pros/cons to buying a 20-plus-year-old G&L versus one made more recently?

Thanks for the help so far!

Welcome Duane_the_tub!

One thing I noticed is that this one was built with the batch of neckplates that were embossed incorrectly. It look like a bass s/n, but stamped on a guitar plate. There are legit guitar built this way. Rather than scrap the parts they used them. I don't recall the total number, but there are only a limited number of guitar with bass format s/ns... So that is kind of cool.

I don't know that there is particularly any advantage of early vs later. You'll find fans of both. Some will prefer one over the other and you'll find people like me who like both.

I'd say if it plays well, and it is still cost appropriate considering the cost to replace the alnicos with MFDs - then I'd say go for it. Or if you just really like the guitar go for it. But as other pointed out, MFDs are what distinguish a S-500 for a Legacy or any other single coil S-type guitar.

It is a nice looking guitar btw!

Cheers, Dan

Last edited by WitSok on Tue Jan 07, 2020 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

Good catch on the serial. Someone else can chime in with more detail on new vs. old, but the big ones that stand out to me are the PLEK on newer instruments, and the elimination of 3 bolt & micro tilt. Believe early S500s/Legacies had a sharper radius on the body corners. There are a few others I've been meaning to categorize, like the headstock style (truss rod/ensconcement and pitch) and at one point they switched from the side-dots being 100% on the rosewood to half-on/half-off.

Hey Duane_the_tub

First, here your pictures:





- Jos

The S/N is legit and you can read about it here. These S/N have a range of B052000 and B055000 and yours falls in that window. It dates the guitar to be a 1995 or thereabout. The knobs that are still there are original; the S-500 has such chromed knurled knobs in contrast to the G&L Legacy which has plastic knobs. Expandeer switch is still there too and I wonder where it is hooked up properly after the pickup change. When engaged, position 1 and 5 combine the bridge and neck pickup, positions 2 and 4, all 3 pickups, and position 3 is still just the middle pickup. Easy to test.

Love it that you want to restore it to its original state!

- Jos

It's really pretty. If it works out financially, I would purchase it and put it back to an S-500 with MFD pickups purchased from G&L. You might have to change the pots and capacitors as well, as the circuit topology for the MFD's with PTB system is different than the values used for traditional Alnico single coil pickups. Not a big deal and only a few dollars for parts if you can solder yourself.

Hey Duane_the_tub

First, here your pictures:





- Jos

Thank you! Being new to the forum, I had some trouble figuring out how to post those pics. I appreciate the help.

I must admit that at this point, I'm on the fence about the guitar. Initially I was intrigued with how it played and sounded acoustically, but I'm a bit hesitant now that I know which parts have been swapped out and the work it needs to be properly restored. Given those factors, the asking price doesn't seem like as much of a deal as I initially thought. I agree that it's a beautiful guitar - I'm just not sure I want to take on this project right now, right after holiday spending and whatnot.

I am going to think it over and I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks again for all the help so far!

One other thing regarding the used parts you will need to buy. If you're patient it shouldn't be too hard to source a set of those MFD pickups in the $125 range. If you're really lucky you can find them sub $100. The current S500 pickups used in the Tribute and USA line are the same pickups by the way. It should also be fairly straight forward to wire them up using the expander switch if you're handy with a soldering iron. The wiring diagram is available here in the knowledgebase.

Here's a slightly different opinion. Most G&L fans like the MFD pickups, but some do not. I've heard from a small but vocal group that they really hate them, so it's obviously a matter of taste/opinion. I also wouldn't hesitate to buy a G&L just because someone had switched the pickups, in fact I just did it recently. I would have preferred the originals, but it's still one of my favourite instruments. I would just play it and see what you think, ideally compare it to one with MFD pickups. There are also many videos online comparing the sound of various G&L guitars.
David

Well, good news/bad news.

The bad news is that I didn't end up buying this guitar.

The good news is that I bought a much more recent one (2015) in like-new condition for the same price! All original and just absolutely stunning. What a guitar.

Thanks for all the help, everyone!