Decoding Build Information

Tue Mar 09, 2021 11:20 pm

After removing the pickguard and the neck from my recently purchased 2008 Legacy, I noticed the following build info,

Written in the body cavity:

LEG L
2TSB
RW – BE#1V
JUMBO FRETS-TGN
LT-CRME P/G
KNOBS & COVRS
LN#1
251391

Written on the neck:

Leg. RW.BE. V.NECK
TGN. R.A. #101319
Sperzel L + tuners
8/1/8
SRT (JRT?)

I've been able to decipher most of it, but the ones I'm having trouble with are the following:

Body cavity:
BE#1V
LN#1
251391


On the neck:
BE.
R.A. #101319
SRT (JRT?)


The build date: 8/1/8
I suspect this would usually be read as August 1 2008. However, as the neck is stamped Feb. 27, I'm guessing whoever wrote 8/1/8 used a different format than what is common in the US.

Is anyone able to help with this?

Re: Decoding Build Information

Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:14 am

R7-12 wrote:After removing the pickguard and the neck from my recently purchased 2008 Legacy, I noticed the following build info,

Written in the body cavity:

LEG L
2TSB
RW – BE#1V
JUMBO FRETS-TGN
LT-CRME P/G
KNOBS & COVRS
LN#1
251391

Written on the neck:

Leg. RW.BE. V.NECK
TGN. R.A. #101319
Sperzel L + tuners
8/1/8
SRT (JRT?)

I've been able to decipher most of it, but the ones I'm having trouble with are the following:

Body cavity:
BE#1V
LN#1
251391


On the neck:
BE.
R.A. #101319
SRT (JRT?)


The build date: 8/1/8
I suspect this would usually be read as August 1 2008. However, as the neck is stamped Feb. 27, I'm guessing whoever wrote 8/1/8 used a different format than what is common in the US.

Is anyone able to help with this?


Please do post photos.

BE#1V
LN#1
251391


The BE#1V indicates the neck wood type and neck profile.
BE stands for BirdsEye, #1V is the neck profile which is :
#1V - V-shaped rear (1 5/8 inch nut width, 2 1/4 inch width at body joint, 12-inch radius)
Reference post: What are the USA neck size options, past and present?

LN#1 and 251391 Indicates the line number (1) of the Sales Order (#251391) from a G&L dealer.

On the neck:
BE.
R.A. #101319
SRT (JRT?)
The build date: 8/1/8
I suspect this would usually be read as August 1 2008. However, as the neck is stamped Feb. 27,


This indicates that the original neck was replaced under Return Authorization #101319 in August 1, 2008 (8/1/8).
The Initials are probably those of the craftsman who built the replacement neck.
This also means the original Serial Number of this guitar changed with replacement neck because they used waterslide S/N in 2008.
What is the Serial Number on the neck?
Reference post: Serial number significance.

Hope this helps.

Re: Decoding Build Information

Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:44 pm

Thank you Craig, the information you provided is very helpful.

The serial # on the back of the neck is: CLF 52149

I registered it here recently and noticed the original neck was listed as ebony. Any additional information you might be able to provide is appreciated.

Is there a way of uploading pics directly from my computer?

Re: Decoding Build Information

Wed Mar 10, 2021 1:04 pm

R7-12 wrote:Thank you Craig, the information you provided is very helpful.

The serial # on the back of the neck is: CLF 52149

I registered it here recently and noticed the original neck was listed as ebony. Any additional information you might be able to provide is appreciated.

Is there a way of uploading pics directly from my computer?


The fretboard wood is Ebony and the neck wood is Bird's Eye Maple.

For posting photos, see this post: Tutorial:Posting photos.

Looking forward to seeing your photos. :searching:

Re: Decoding Build Information

Wed Mar 10, 2021 1:15 pm

Craig wrote:The fretboard wood is Ebony and the neck wood is Bird's Eye Maple.

For posting photos, see this post: Tutorial:Posting photos.

Looking forward to seeing your photos. :searching:

I would rather not use a webservice to post pics. It's too bad there isn't a more direct way for posting pics.

The neck is indeed Bird's Eye Maple, however, regarding the fretboard, the build info both from the body and neck indicate rosewood (RW), and I can confirm that visually. Was ebony perhaps the original fretboard prior to the authorized neck replacement?

Also, with the neck stamp of Feb. 27, is that an indication the original build was somewhere during the early months of 2008?

Re: Decoding Build Information

Wed Mar 10, 2021 1:37 pm

R7-12 wrote:
Craig wrote:The fretboard wood is Ebony and the neck wood is Bird's Eye Maple.

For posting photos, see this post: Tutorial:Posting photos.

Looking forward to seeing your photos. :searching:

I would rather not use a webservice to post pics. It's too bad there isn't a more direct way for posting pics.

The neck is indeed Bird's Eye Maple, however, regarding the fretboard, the build info both from the body and neck indicate rosewood (RW), and I can confirm that visually. Was ebony perhaps the original fretboard prior to the authorized neck replacement?

Also, with the neck stamp of Feb. 27, is that an indication the original build was somewhere during the early months of 2008?


From the Tutorial: posting photos:

With the update to the new Gallery
on guitarsbyleo.com, you can now upload G&L images to your own photo album and
then post them here on the G&LDP. We do ask that you limit the photos you upload to
G&L instrument images, as we do have a limited amount of disk space. For details on the
Registered Users Gallery, take a look at the Registered Users Gallery.


Hope this helps.

Re: Decoding Build Information

Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:16 pm

Thanks Craig. I've registered for the gallery and uploaded four images, the first two are of the build dates. Is there anyway to reduce their viewing size in the album? They show as huge images.

Re: Decoding Build Information

Wed Mar 10, 2021 3:30 pm

The only part of the build info I'm still uncertain about is the following:

TGN. R.A. #101319

I'm fairly sure that "TGN" stands for: "Tinted Gun Oil" and "R.A." are probably the craftsman's initials? But I'm stumped on the number.

Re: Decoding Build Information

Wed Mar 10, 2021 4:38 pm

R7-12 wrote:The only part of the build info I'm still uncertain about is the following:

TGN. R.A. #101319

I'm fairly sure that "TGN" stands for: "Tinted Gun Oil" and "R.A." are probably the craftsman's initials? But I'm stumped on the number.


TGN stands for Tinted Glossy Neck.

I mentioned the R.A. # in a previous post:
This indicates that the original neck was replaced under Return Authorization #101319 in August 1, 2008 (8/1/8).
The Initials are probably those of the craftsman who built the replacement neck.
This also means the original Serial Number of this guitar changed with replacement neck because they used waterslide S/N in 2008.


R7-12 wrote:Thanks Craig. I've registered for the gallery and uploaded four images, the first two are of the build dates. Is there anyway to reduce their viewing size in the album? They show as huge images.


In the Gallery bring up the photo and you can use the Edit Photo to do resizing.
As mentioned in the Registered Users Gallery, the photos should be no bigger that 1024px X 1300px.

Hope this helps.

Re: Decoding Build Information

Wed Mar 10, 2021 4:47 pm

Yes, that does help, thank you.

Just to confirm, does the Neck stamp of Feb. 27 indicate the original build likely happened around February but the neck replacement didn't occur until 8/1/8?

Re: Decoding Build Information

Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:06 pm

R7-12 wrote:Yes, that does help, thank you.

Just to confirm, does the Neck stamp of Feb. 27 indicate the original build likely happened around February but the neck replacement didn't occur until 8/1/8?


The Feb. 27 date is in the neck pocket, so it is the body date. The handwritten date on the neck heel is 8/1/8.
Here is your photo, which I resized:
Image
You will notice that the date stamper was improperly set up and instead of the year, it says "ANS'D". I have seen mis-stamps similar to this a few times before.
So, yes the completion date is likely around February or March and the neck replacement was done August 1, 2008.

I searched my emails for the serial number and found that a previous owner had enter an incomplete G&L Registry entry in 2020.
I contacted him and asked for photos to id the missing details. I was the one who thought that the fretboard wood was Ebony based upon
his photos.

Here are those photos:
Image
Image
Image
Image

Here are your other photos:
Image
Image
Image
You can see that this is the same guitar as you currently have.

I have emailed Memo to look up this serial number to find out the history and specs shown in the factory log.

Stay tuned.

Re: Decoding Build Information

Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:21 pm

Craig wrote:I searched my emails for the serial number and found that a previous owner had enter an incomplete G&L Registry entry in 2020.
I contacted him and asked for photos to id the missing details. I was the one who thought that the fretboard wood was Ebony based upon
his photos.

...

I have emailed Memo to look up this serial number to find out the history and specs shown in the factory log.

Stay tuned.

I can see why the fretboard could be mistaken for Ebony.

Thanks for all your help with identifying the build details.

Re: Decoding Build Information

Mon Mar 29, 2021 7:51 pm

Here are the details from Memo:

Hi Craig,
It is a 2 tone sunburst Legacy whose initial build date is 4/12/06, the original neck serial number is CLF39911 it was a standard #1 rosewood neck, the replacement neck CLF52149 is a rosewood #1 V neck.


I checked the Registry for S/N CLF39911 but it was not registered.

Hope this helps.

Re: Decoding Build Information

Mon Mar 29, 2021 7:59 pm

Craig wrote:Here are the details from Memo:
Hi Craig,
It is a 2 tone sunburst Legacy whose initial build date is 4/12/06, the original neck serial number is CLF39911 it was a standard #1 rosewood neck, the replacement neck CLF52149 is a rosewood #1 V neck.
I checked the Registry for S/N CLF39911 but it was not registered.
Hope this helps.

Thank you Craig - and Memo.