New G&L owner, need your opinion.
Mon Jan 23, 2012 2:58 pm
Hello everyone!
Just wanted to introduce myself as I am the proud owner of a new G&L Legacy USA
. Scored it off of eBay and boy did I have the biggest grin on my face when it came to my door. Hands down, the nicest guitar I have owned over my years.
My only minor gripe is that I noticed a small gap in the neck pocket. It's not gigantic by any means. At its widest, I can tightly slide in two pieces of paper so that would put it at ~ 8mm. At about half-way down the pocket, only one piece of paper can slide down, quite easily though. It stops short just before the bottom where the screws meet the neck meaning there is a tight fit down there. Not sure how much I should worry about this but I have owned a few other bolt-on strat type guitars before and never have seen them with any gaps. I have also priorly owned a used Legacy that had a perfect neck pocket with no gaps. I know that a gap of this size probably has little to no effect on tone but just wondering if it is something that would be considered past normal quality tolerances for a G&L.
Just wanted to introduce myself as I am the proud owner of a new G&L Legacy USA
. Scored it off of eBay and boy did I have the biggest grin on my face when it came to my door. Hands down, the nicest guitar I have owned over my years. My only minor gripe is that I noticed a small gap in the neck pocket. It's not gigantic by any means. At its widest, I can tightly slide in two pieces of paper so that would put it at ~ 8mm. At about half-way down the pocket, only one piece of paper can slide down, quite easily though. It stops short just before the bottom where the screws meet the neck meaning there is a tight fit down there. Not sure how much I should worry about this but I have owned a few other bolt-on strat type guitars before and never have seen them with any gaps. I have also priorly owned a used Legacy that had a perfect neck pocket with no gaps. I know that a gap of this size probably has little to no effect on tone but just wondering if it is something that would be considered past normal quality tolerances for a G&L.
Re: New G&L owner, need your opinion.
Mon Jan 23, 2012 3:15 pm
welcome and nice legacy.
From the pictures, it looks like the neck is off. If you can see it, on the bridge pickup, the low e is outside the pole and on the neck its inside, showing that the neck points down a bit.
It might have moved in shipment which does happen. You can slightly loosen the bolts, set the neck straight and tighten them again.
Otherwise, you might just want to take it in for a good setup and then you'll be fine.
Amazing looking guitar!
From the pictures, it looks like the neck is off. If you can see it, on the bridge pickup, the low e is outside the pole and on the neck its inside, showing that the neck points down a bit.
It might have moved in shipment which does happen. You can slightly loosen the bolts, set the neck straight and tighten them again.
Otherwise, you might just want to take it in for a good setup and then you'll be fine.
Amazing looking guitar!
Re: New G&L owner, need your opinion.
Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:16 pm
Boom King, nice score and I like the color. I agree with Alf and I would align the neck so the distance from the edge of the strings is even on each side of the neck at the bottom the neck. They can shift during shipment. If you have questions on how to do it, some will explain if you need help. Just let us know. -- Darwin.
Re: New G&L owner, need your opinion.
Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:03 pm
Thanks for the compliments and suggestions so far guys. The pics of the guitar were taken before it was shipped to me so if the neck shifted, it could have happened during shipment from G&L to the dealer or some point after. It could have also possibly shifted slightly more en route to me. I didn't notice the gap in the picture until after I received the guitar and saw it first hand. I then went back to review the pics and added the red arrow.
In any case, I did loosen the neck bolts and gently nudged the neck over a bit which seemed to help slightly. I can still slide a single piece of printer paper between the gap but it passes the business card test now, whereas before, I could squeeze the corner of the card in. If it's a mis-aligned neck, then I might need to take it into my tech to have a look. I'm sure an experienced person in my position could probably remedy this them self but I've never had the need to adjust the neck on any of my previous strats and thus, with no experience, I am a bit hesitant to be more forceful. Any further suggestions or explanations would be appreciated.
In any case, I did loosen the neck bolts and gently nudged the neck over a bit which seemed to help slightly. I can still slide a single piece of printer paper between the gap but it passes the business card test now, whereas before, I could squeeze the corner of the card in. If it's a mis-aligned neck, then I might need to take it into my tech to have a look. I'm sure an experienced person in my position could probably remedy this them self but I've never had the need to adjust the neck on any of my previous strats and thus, with no experience, I am a bit hesitant to be more forceful. Any further suggestions or explanations would be appreciated.
Re: New G&L owner, need your opinion.
Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:21 pm
Check out this post in the G&L Knowledgebase: String alignment issues and a simple cure.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
Re: New G&L owner, need your opinion.
Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:45 pm
Boom King, As you may have already noticed, the people here are both knowledgeable and friendly. Welcome! ~JagInTheBag
Re: New G&L owner, need your opinion.
Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:29 pm
Thanks for the warm welcome and help everyone. I've been able to adjust the neck slightly so the gap is less, although not entirely eliminated. I don't believe it's purely a neck alignment issue as the strings look to be even on both sides. I believe the other part of this is that the neck pocket was shaved just slightly big. There seems to be a bit of a roll-over as the pocket is tight down at the bottom but flares out a little towards the top of the guitar. I wonder if this is perhaps by design as I've heard a very tight pocket can possibly lead to finish cracks. You can see from the pic below that the piece of paper slotted in does not reach all the way down the pocket. As it stands now, it's not perfect but I don't think it's as much an issue as it was when I first received the guitar.
On a different topic, I compared my 2011 Legacy USA to a 2002 Legacy USA and noticed a few interesting differences. For one, the body on the 2002 Legacy is cut thicker and wider. In fact, that guitar will not fit into my fitted 2011 G&L case. The 2002 is a swamp ash body whereas mine is alder so not sure if it is par for the course that the swamp ash is cut bigger. The tip of the headstock on mine though is slightly bigger. The neck heel of the 2002 also is cut thicker and perhaps the neck pocket is not as deep, so the neck itself sits higher in relation to the guitar body compared to the 2011. As a result, the pickups on the 2002 have to be raised higher to be closer to the strings.
On a different topic, I compared my 2011 Legacy USA to a 2002 Legacy USA and noticed a few interesting differences. For one, the body on the 2002 Legacy is cut thicker and wider. In fact, that guitar will not fit into my fitted 2011 G&L case. The 2002 is a swamp ash body whereas mine is alder so not sure if it is par for the course that the swamp ash is cut bigger. The tip of the headstock on mine though is slightly bigger. The neck heel of the 2002 also is cut thicker and perhaps the neck pocket is not as deep, so the neck itself sits higher in relation to the guitar body compared to the 2011. As a result, the pickups on the 2002 have to be raised higher to be closer to the strings.