Hello from Belgium!

Hi there!

My name is Robin, I'm from Belgium - EU.

I got my first and only G&L (USA Legacy) about 8 years ago and it immediately became my main, most loved and most played guitar.
I bought it second hand without any certificate nor information whatsoever and now finally comes the time I really want to find out about that guitar's story (yes, it took me 8 years ).
I don't know if this is the right place for that kind of question/request so please let me know where it would be appropriate. If this topic is the right place, I can upload photos here, tell you what I assume I already know about the guitar and ask the questions I have

Thank you in advance for your help and replies!

Last edited by Figrou on Thu Nov 30, 2023 1:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Welcome Robin!

I emailed Memo Romero at repairs@glguitars.com regarding my '08 Legacy and gave them the serial number! They'll be able to tell you everything you want to know about it! Let's see some pics of it whenever you get a chance.

Best,
Tanner

Hi Robin!

Welcome and glad to hear yer Legacy has become the main player. As you can see, great bunch of G&L lovers round here and we'll point you in the direction for answers if we can't make up one on our own. Post some pics, we love to see guitars in the GLDP family. Tell us what lead you to yer Legacy and jump in often.

Remember, "You can never have too many ASAT's"!

Thank you Tanner and Sam for your input

Well, why a Legacy and why this one? I'll have to go back over my electric guitar journey...

Back in 2004, I was 14 y.o. and I got my first electric. It was a midrange Ibanez, a cute AXS32 in Dark Red Satin finish (Ibanez take on a Les Paul Jr Doublecut with two HB and string-thru body). At that time I played mostly punk/blues rock.
As time went by, I wanted to upgrade and I began to dream about a guitar that would allow me to play faster (we all know that's the ultimate goal for every guitarist ain't it? ). So for my 18th birthday I could finally afford another Ibanez, an RG Prestige (RG2550Z, beautiful Galaxy Black finish with Smoked mirror pickguard) that I played from 2008 to 2015. Pickups were HSH so basically a superstrat. I kept my old AXS32 but, to be honest, she was resting in her bag 98% of the time.
Around 2011 I joined a band, playing mostly bluesy/Pink Floyd-y stuff. After 3 years in that band and 6 years playing the RG, I felt the need to change for, well, a "real" strat. I felt my playing had evolved and that I deserved something new and better (quality-, but most importantly, feel-wise). Of course the RG is perfectly built, it's a gorgeous made in Japan beast, but you know, made in USA axes are kinda mojo holy grails...
So 2014, I began to read stuff online about which US strat to buy. Almost every single forum I could crawl pointed the G&L USA Legacy as "the best" classic strat ("Fender Custom Shop quality for less money" kinda stuff).
I settled on this and started to look for ads, graving for a second-hand US Legacy. Here in Belgium, it was not so common (it still isn't). I mostly found ASAT's, mostly Tribute series, Legacy's seemed to be quite unpopular. And at that time no stores had G&L's in stock, not even Tribute series (not sure they actually do now). I tried lots (lots!) of US Fender strats though, but couldn't bond that much with any of them (at least none under 2000€, which was my maximum budget).
When I first saw the ad of the guitar I would eventually buy, while I'd already been looking at ads for several months waiting for a Legacy to pop up, my first thought was "meh, I wanted a natural or a classic 3-tone sunburst finish, not that glittery blue". But week after week, the ad remained online and I kept coming back at it. In my mind, little by little, that glittery blue somehow turned into the glorious LPB from which my eyes and soul could no longer turn away. And that matching headstock... and Mint Green parts... how classy! It slowly grew on me so bad I had to try that guitar. I went to the seller's and was sold immediately. Playability and confort were so darn good, neck seemed to have been made for my hand and that guitar was soooo resonant, couldn't believe that sustain, the strenghth of body vibrations through the neck to my hand. And that was obviously even before I plugged it into an amp! Downside was it is quite heavy (8.9 lbs) but man! I couldn't help instantly falling in love with it. I of course left with the guitar and a wallet only slightly lighter in the end (price was 700€ which was unexcepted and totally mad value for money). I had the opportunity to try some other US Legacy's since then, all of them were (way) lighter, and I never connected with them as much as I do with mine (it may not have anything to do with weight though, just as weight may not have anything to do with sustain, it only happens that my Legacy is both quite heavy and freakin' resonant).
So there we are, both Ibanez's are resting in their case/bag since then

And Sam, as you can see, even if "You can never have too many ASAT's" I really am an exclusive lover : when I'm in love, the one I love is the only one I need

So, based on the serial number (which is CLF40991) and after some research in the Registry, I believe my Legacy was manufactured around 2005-2006.
I think color is Lake Placid Blue or is it Lake Placid Blue Metallic? Is there a difference between those two anyway?
It came with a G&L molded hardcase, at least the guy I bought it from gave me the hardcase so I can only assume it came with it in the first place.
I assume previous owner also made some changes : original tuners got replaced by Sperzel locking tuners, second string tree was added (and maybe the first and original one got replaced by a graphtech one).

Apart from that I don't know much.

I would be thrilled to learn more about it :
what is the exact year of manufacture,
which woods were used for body/neck/fretboard (my guess is alder/maple/rosewood),
what are the neck specs (profile, radius,...),
was the guitar custom ordered or is it Special Edition with matching headstock or any other kind of special batch/order,
am I right about locking tuners and string trees,
...?

Any information would be welcome!

I already have sent an e-mail at repairs@glguitars.com. It has been a few days, still waiting for the reply.
Tanner, how long did it take them to respond to your request? And what exactly did you ask them?
Maybe my email was too long, including photos, they may have just skipped it... I could perhaps send another email with only the serial number and a simpler request, like "what can you tell me about that guitar?".
What do you guys think?

Once I have all the information I can possibly get, I will add the guitar in the Registry

Thank you for reading!

Last edited by Figrou on Thu Dec 07, 2023 3:06 am, edited 6 times in total.

Robin, yours is a gorgeous Legacy! There is no better feeling than playing a guitar that you bond with.

Kit

Welcome to our site!

While you wait for Memo's reply, here are some links for you to peruse:

From the Internet Archives for glguitars.com (2005):

Legacy specifications:
https://web.archive.org/web/20050303003601/http://www.glguitars.com/instruments/instruments.asp?prcode=Legacy

Options:
https://web.archive.org/web/20050303005138/http://www.glguitars.com/options/options.asp

Lake Placid Blue (aka Lake Placid Blue Metallic):
https://web.archive.org/web/20050307000129/http://www.glguitars.com/finishes/finish.asp?id=12

Hope this helps.

Hey Robin,

Great history and cool trek to G&L land. I understand “the need for speed” as well, or used to in my youth. While I do lean to ASAT’s I have a soft spot for lake placid blue after seeing Bob Mould in a small bar, sitting about 10 feet away, while he played his lake placid blue strat. This was the Black Sheets of Rain period and it was him, a strat and a Twin Reverb. NO ONE ELSE, talk about a sweet experience. So, Legacy’s always get the love. Yours gets even more with the matching headstock.

Looking forward to seeing more about your Legacy history.

welcome! that's a unique Legacy, and a good story too!
i like the matching headstock.
i had a tribute Legacy previously with those CLF100 p'ups which i thought sounded fabulous.
most of my G&L's weigh in on the heavy side, ie. anything in the 8 range, i have an '07 ASAT special that weighs an even 9 lbs, but it plays and sounds so good i couldn't part with it.
i was a les paul player for 20 yrs and that one weighs 9lb 15 oz, so the others are light by comparison.
bottom line is feel/play/sound, imo. sounds like you found "the one". congrats!

Thank you Kit, Craig, Sam and John for sharing your thoughts, experiences and ressources!

Craig, thanks to your links I can already have a better general idea about my Legacy specs!

I seem to be right about locking tuners since G&L are (were?) using locking tuners made by Schaller, not Sperzel.
Same for the second string tree because it's not a custom option from G&L.
First graphtech tree seems to be an original one though, as it can be seen on the photo on the Legacy specs page. Didn't know G&L were using graphtech tree in mid-2000', thought they were using metal one as Fender still do. But graphtech working better with vibrato, it's not that surprising G&L have improved Fender design as they always have!

LPB (Metallic) being a standard finish, body wood has to be alder.
Neck is hard rock maple for sure (no bird's eye) and fretboard is definitely not ebony but rosewood.
I can tell from measurements neck is 1 5/8" width at nut, it's not V-shaped and it has more than likely a 12" radius, just like my AXS32 does. It's a #1 neck then, awesome!

Still don't know if matching headstock and Mint Green parts are from custom order or special batch, but no doubt Memo Romero will be able to find that out, and the exact year of manufacture as well. Still no news from him for now.

Sam Bob Mould giging alone 10 feet away from you must have been a nice and sweet experience indeed!
Here's something that will hopefuly get you back a smidge of that moment, while giving less lucky us a chance to feel a hint of it

phpBB [video]

Last edited by Figrou on Sat Dec 02, 2023 1:45 pm, edited 6 times in total.

In 2006-2008 G&L came out with the Fullerton Standard Series.
Here's a link about the Legacy Standard in that Series:
https://web.archive.org/web/20060327025909/https://www.glguitars.com/instruments/standardseries/Legacy/index.asp

Also check out this post: https://www.guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopic.php?p=4059#p4059.

It is possible that your Legacy is a "Legacy Standard" from that Series. Memo might be able to tell from looking at the factory log.

Reference post: Production List of G&L Instruments (USA) .

G&L used both Sperzel and Schaller tuners in the past. See: What tuners are used on G&L guitars (USA models)?
If the factory log entry does not mention locking tuners then a past owner likely replaced the stock tuners for Sperzel locking tuners.

Hope this helps.

This is great Craig, thanks!

My Legacy actually checks a lot of Fullerton Standard Series boxes : LPB with matching headstock, Mint parts, and zinc diecast saddles indeed (I can see zinc color where chrome plating has come off, I'll post photos tomorrow).

The case I got with the guitar is not a nylon-covered gig case though, it's a solid molded one. I'll also post photos of my case but my guess is it's not the one that came with the guitar in the first place.

I found an old ad showing a 2006 LPB matching headstock Legacy, Mint pickguard (even if "white" is written on the ad, photos speak for themselves),
with a nylon-covered gig case and, more importantly, a 3-ply black vibrato backplate just like mine is (other Legacy's backplate I saw were always matching pickguard color).
https://reverb.com/item/59545113-2006-g-l-usa-fullerton-legacy-w-matching-headstock-lake-placid-blue-includes-hardshell-case



The nylon-covered case lends me to think this Legacy is a Fullerton Standard Series.
Perhaps all Fullerton Standard Series have a 3-ply black backplate?
Photos in the post Craig linked in his previous post are unfortunately not available anymore so can't be certain.

Also, dunno if it means something but serial number (CLF41116) is quite close to mine (CLF40991).

Hence these clues could confirm my Legacy is indeed a 2006-2008 Fullerton Standard, later upgraded with locking tuners and sold with another case.

We only miss Memo Romero's reply to validate all this.

That little investigation is so much fun!

Here are the photos of the case I got with my Legacy :




And here are the saddles where the zinc appears under the chrome plating :

Last edited by Figrou on Thu Dec 07, 2023 3:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

Here are the photos of the case I got with my Legacy :




And here are the saddles where the zinc appears under the chrome plating :

Here is some information in our Gallery on the case you have, see: Album: 1992-95 Mid-90s Modern Plastic Case.

G&L does sell saddle sets on their On-Line Store, but the Saddle-set-DFV is current out of stock. These would be an upgrade to the current brass chrome plated saddles.

Hope this helps.