G&L Legacy '92 or '94 upgrade questions

[scott2020]

Hi all,

I got back into guitar a year ago, and last week I purchased a used G&L Legacy. The seller said it was a '92, but the serial# starts with G04, so I'm thinking it could be a '94. The guitar is in good condition, but could use some maintenance. I bought it because I'm interested in working on my own guitars and thought this one would make a good project piece. I'm curious as to what you all think would be worthwhile upgrades. Don't want to waste money on things that aren't necessary. From my reading, I saw the following mentioned:

1) Upgrade to graphtech nut - any specific material or model? I saw several on their website. Not sure which one the current G&L's come equipped with.
2) Update dual fulcrum vibrato bridge - I read somewhere the newer bridge is made of better material, but can't find the post. My current one is fairly pitted but fine otherwise. Would only upgrade if the newer bridge is better quality and would make a difference in tone quality.
3) Switch out the original SD pickups for the newer G&L Alnico pickups. The SD's are ok, but I find them a bit bland. Looking for a bit more punch and from what I've read the G&L pickups may do the trick.
4) The electronics seem to be fine, so not sure updating the switches, pots, caps etc would be necessary.
5) The pickguard screws are a rusty so I'm assuming any 3mm pickguard screws would work fine (only size I could find online).

I have a friend that can assist me with the things that are out of my skillset......as I said, just doing this as a hobby and to learn more about working on guitars but would rather not spend money on unnecessary updates. Thanks for any input!

[Craig]

Hi all,

I got back into guitar a year ago, and last week I purchased a used G&L Legacy. The seller said it was a '92, but the serial# starts with G04, so I'm thinking it could be a '94. The guitar is in good condition, but could use some maintenance. I bought it because I'm interested in working on my own guitars and thought this one would make a good project piece. I'm curious as to what you all think would be worthwhile upgrades. Don't want to waste money on things that aren't necessary. From my reading, I saw the following mentioned:

1) Upgrade to graphtech nut - any specific material or model? I saw several on their website. Not sure which one the current G&L's come equipped with.
2) Update dual fulcrum vibrato bridge - I read somewhere the newer bridge is made of better material, but can't find the post. My current one is fairly pitted but fine otherwise. Would only upgrade if the newer bridge is better quality and would make a difference in tone quality.
3) Switch out the original SD pickups for the newer G&L Alnico pickups. The SD's are ok, but I find them a bit bland. Looking for a bit more punch and from what I've read the G&L pickups may do the trick.
4) The electronics seem to be fine, so not sure updating the switches, pots, caps etc would be necessary.
5) The pickguard screws are a rusty so I'm assuming any 3mm pickguard screws would work fine (only size I could find online).

I have a friend that can assist me with the things that are out of my skillset......as I said, just doing this as a hobby and to learn more about working on guitars but would rather not spend money on unnecessary updates. Thanks for any input!

Because your Legacy has the factory installed SD pickups, it would have been built in 1992-94. You would need to remove the neck to get the build dates in the neck pocket and on the neck heel.
See: Serial number significance.

1. The Graph-Tech nut G&L uses is the Black TUSQ XL.
2. You can upgrade to the current saddles. They are chome plated Brass. The DFV saddles were die cast Zinc alloy (unfinished) until 2001.
You can order a set from G&L's On-Line Store: BRIDGE SADDLE SET - G&L DUAL FULCRUM VIBRATO. There is another difference between your Legacy's DFV bridge
and the current one: the Trem block on yours is made from Zinc alloy, while the current one is a chrome plated Brass block.
If you want to replace the complete DFV bridge, they are available from G&L's On-Line Store: BRIDGE - G&L DUAL FULCRUM VIBRATO.
3. The current G&L CLF-100 Alnico pickups are available from G&L's On-Line Store: PICKUP - CLF-100 ALNICO SINGLE-COIL.
4. Yes, the electronics should not need to be upgraded as they are good as is.
5. You might check any local hardware stores and see if they have the screws and you should be able to confirm the size by bringing in an original to get measured.

Hope this helps.

[scott2020]

Thank you Craig..that's very helpful!

[yowhatsshakin]

...
4) The electronics seem to be fine, so not sure updating the switches, pots, caps etc would be necessary.
...

Howdy Scott,

FYI, if I'm not mistaken the pots are 'Made in Japan'. These pots have their weaknesses over CTS pots which caused G&L to change back to higher quality pots.

I also have a question for you. I have a 1993 Legacy with SD SSL-2. These guitars are supposed to have the PTB tone stack. However, mine has a more traditional Strat tone stack with no tone controls on the bridge pickup and separate tone controls for middle and neck pickup, but still with pot values as you would find in a PTB circuit: 250kΩ audio taper for volume, 500kΩ audio taper for the neck pickup (which would have been treble roll-off for PTB), and 1MΩ anti-log for the middle pickup (would have been bass roll-off for PTB). I compared notes with Gabe Dellevigne and he has seen enough of them to indicate these are not post-factory mods, i.e. done by their owner. What does the tone stack look like on yours?

Here are some pictures what it looks like on mine:


- Jos