Changing PU on legacy

[did291]

I try once before changing pu on my legacy 2006, with Fender hot noiseless, and the result was so so. I put back the G&L original, and that was better but compare to my fender clone with Callaham/Fralin H/SRV special pu, they sound cheap. So, any option other then getting another set of Callaham/Fralin pu.

[Chuckfan1]

I'm gonna tell you my experience with my legacy. It's by far the finest instrument I've ever played. But I just couldn't get it to sound as good as my strat with the custom shop fat 50's. something was missing. No matter how I tweaked the PTB system it just left me missing something. Not a bad sound. Just not "stratty" enough. I thought about changing pickups. Glad I didn't. I'm gonna tell you what the problem is. It's the PTB system and the 500k and 1 meg pots. I had my legacy wired to strat specs, ditched the PTB, had 250k pots done and now it is the sweetest sounding vintage strat ever. Unreal how great it sounds. The stock pups are wonderful. Now I want to clarify a point. I think the PTB system is a great great concept and I absolutely LOVE it on the Comanche and S-500. But in my humble opinion, the legacy sounds better wired traditionally. Heck the George Fullerton Model even was.

I am in no way saying my opinion is better than anyone else. In fact , I'm reasonably certain my take is in the minority amongst legacy fans as most rave about the PTB as an "upgrade " and far superior to a strat setup. But to my ears it just isn't the case so my only suggestion is before you give up on the legacy stock pups you might want to think about what I said.

[did291]

Never was thinking about the PTB, but that is a good point. I just rewired a modern les paul type to a vintage 1957-60, and the result was fantastic. So, lots to think about.

[Greenblues]

I have a set of Bill Lawrence Keystones in my Legacy, but the PTB wasn't really compatible with those, so replaced the pots with 250k and rewired it for a more traditional V-T-T circuit with some minor tweaks to the wiring, caps and the treble-bleed. The circuit recommended by Bill Lawrence is available from the link below:

http://s1203.beta.photobucket.com/user/ ... t.jpg.html

However with this, I really missed the bass-cut control of the PTB circuit for getting rid of muddiness on the lower-strings with the neck pickup for overdrive. So I replaced the standard tone with a Fender TBX. It's doesn't sound as good as the PTB, but offers a more versatile selection of tones.

My Legacy's original pickups were Seymour Duncans, which sounded very warm and soft with the PTB. Putting a Callaham Tremolo block in lost some of that warmth, but not the softer attack, so the guitar sounded weak. Compared to the Duncan SSL-2s, the Keystone's a much "stratier" sounding; with almost an acoustic sound depending on the circuit. I've never heard cleaner sounding pickups.

BTW, I've tried Dimarzio, Mighty Mite, Gotoh and Van Zandt Blues pickups in this guitar, but all sounded one-dimensional to me, like they were really only good for one sound or style. So did the Fender SCN pickup I tried in a Tele. The only thing that could equal or rival the Keystones for a vintage-strat sound were the Vintage Vibe SS overwound to 5%.

http://www.vintagevibeguitars.com/windo ... ilWin.html

[louis cyfer]

I have a set of Bill Lawrence Keystones in my Legacy, but the PTB wasn't really compatible with those, so replaced the pots with 250k and rewired it for a more traditional V-T-T circuit with some minor tweaks to the wiring, caps and the treble-bleed. The circuit recommended by Bill Lawrence is available from the link below:

http://s1203.beta.photobucket.com/user/ ... t.jpg.html

However with this, I really missed the bass-cut control of the PTB circuit for getting rid of muddiness on the lower-strings with the neck pickup for overdrive. So I replaced the standard tone with a Fender TBX. It's doesn't sound as good as the PTB, but offers a more versatile selection of tones.

My Legacy's original pickups were Seymour Duncans, which sounded very warm and soft with the PTB. Putting a Callaham Tremolo block in lost some of that warmth, but not the softer attack, so the guitar sounded weak. Compared to the Duncan SSL-2s, the Keystone's a much "stratier" sounding; with almost an acoustic sound depending on the circuit. I've never heard cleaner sounding pickups.

BTW, I've tried Dimarzio, Mighty Mite, Gotoh and Van Zandt Blues pickups in this guitar, but all sounded one-dimensional to me, like they were really only good for one sound or style. So did the Fender SCN pickup I tried in a Tele. The only thing that could equal or rival the Keystones for a vintage-strat sound were the Vintage Vibe SS overwound to 5%.

http://www.vintagevibeguitars.com/windo ... ilWin.html

out of those, definitely the keystones are the best. now if you tried some klein, d allen, fralin pups, your opinion might be different.

[Greenblues]

BTW, I've tried Dimarzio, Mighty Mite, Gotoh and Van Zandt Blues pickups in this guitar, but all sounded one-dimensional to me, like they were really only good for one sound or style. So did the Fender SCN pickup I tried in a Tele. The only thing that could equal or rival the Keystones for a vintage-strat sound were the Vintage Vibe SS overwound to 5%.

http://www.vintagevibeguitars.com/windo ... ilWin.html

out of those, definitely the keystones are the best. now if you tried some klein, d allen, fralin pups, your opinion might be different.

Probably, but a set of Fralins costs three times as much! I haven't heard of Klein or D Allen, though. Thanks for turning me on!

[louis cyfer]

BTW, I've tried Dimarzio, Mighty Mite, Gotoh and Van Zandt Blues pickups in this guitar, but all sounded one-dimensional to me, like they were really only good for one sound or style. So did the Fender SCN pickup I tried in a Tele. The only thing that could equal or rival the Keystones for a vintage-strat sound were the Vintage Vibe SS overwound to 5%.

http://www.vintagevibeguitars.com/windo ... ilWin.html

out of those, definitely the keystones are the best. now if you tried some klein, d allen, fralin pups, your opinion might be different.

Probably, but a set of Fralins costs three times as much! I haven't heard of Klein or D Allen, though. Thanks for turning me on!

d allen is the most reasonable of all of them. i have many sets, teles, strats and buckers for a les paul. give him a call, and he'll steer you in the right direction. i also have 3 sets of fralins and a few sets of kleins, which are phenomenal. still cheaper than fralins.