Legacy Tribute Wiring

[ajb625]

After playing my HSS Legacy Tribute for nearly 8 months, my face suddenly became red with embarrassment. The neck pickup had always seemed brighter than the middle. I just figured it was the pickups and went about my playing and working the knobs to get more of a neck pickup tone. I was tinkering with the height of the neck pickup, but wasn't noticing any changes. I gave the neck pickup a gentle tap and got nothing. I then gave the middle a gentle tap and got the "thunk". Well dance on my balls 'till I'm silly! Either a previous owner had some mods done (which weren't disclosed in the sale posting), or someone at the factory in Indonesia was feeling a bit cheeky on a certain day back in 2008. Position #2 is also different. It goes Bridge-Neck instead of Bridge-Middle. That position doesn't offer much in the way of "quack", not that I use that sound much. Anyhoo...has anyone else come across such wiring?

[Craig]

After playing my HSS Legacy Tribute for nearly 8 months, my face suddenly became red with embarrassment. The neck pickup had always seemed brighter than the middle. I just figured it was the pickups and went about my playing and working the knobs to get more of a neck pickup tone. I was tinkering with the height of the neck pickup, but wasn't noticing any changes. I gave the neck pickup a gentle tap and got nothing. I then gave the middle a gentle tap and got the "thunk". Well dance on my balls 'till I'm silly! Either a previous owner had some mods done (which weren't disclosed in the sale posting), or someone at the factory in Indonesia was feeling a bit cheeky on a certain day back in 2008. Position #2 is also different. It goes Bridge-Neck instead of Bridge-Middle. That position doesn't offer much in the way of "quack", not that I use that sound much. Anyhoo...has anyone else come across such wiring?

What year is your Tribute Legacy HSS (year, month is the first four digits of the Serial Number)?
Please post photos of your guitar, since there was a 2010 Tribute Legacy HB (1 volume and 1 tone knob)
which had different wiring from the US model. See our Gallery Instrument Manuals and Wiring Schematics Album.

Hope this helps.

[ajb625]

It is a 2008. It has tone controls for Treble and Bass.

[Craig]

It is a 2008. It has tone controls for Treble and Bass.

Nice looking Tribute Legacy HB!

Here are the specifications for this Tribute model/year:

LEGACY HB
COLORS:
• Black/Black Pearl pickguard/Rosewood fingerboard
• Natural Gloss/Tortoise pickguard/Rosewood fingerboard
BODY WOOD: Basswood (Solid Finishes) or Swamp Ash (Translucent and Burst Finishes)
NECK WOOD: Hard rock maple
NECK DIMENSIONS: 1 5/8" (41.3mm) width at nut, 9" radius
PICKUPS: G&L traditional style Alnico V single coil pickups (neck and middle positions); G&L Alnico V humbucker (bridge)
CONTROLS: 5-way pickup selector with push/pull switch to split bridge humbucker, Volume, PTB system
BRIDGE: G&L designed Dual-Fulcrum™ vibrato

It is likely that a previous owner modified the controls. See the US Legacy HSS/HB wiring diagram for the factory setup:
Album: Legacy HB Diagrams.

Hope this helps.

[ajb625]

Thanks, Craig! Yes, I figured that someone had modded the wiring. It took me 8 months to figure that out! I couldn't quite get close to a classic Strat sound out of the neck pickup. Upon adjusting the pickup height, I stumbled across the fact that the wiring was different. Yep. 8 months of wondering why the neck pickup was brighter than the middle. A phrase which here means "jacksass!". The natural finish was a big draw to this particular instrument. Still needs other work though...string action is quite high, and in the works will be saddle replacement and probably fret level/crown work...got some dents/visible wear on there!

[ajb625]

I opened up the guitar to look at the wiring to restore it to what it should have been out of the factory. When I acquired the guitar, the Neck and Middle position were swapped. What I saw when I opened it up doesn't make sense to me with what was posted in this thread in regards to the wiring schematic. It looks like it's backwards compared to the drawing in this thread. Also appears the neck wire is white, middle is yellow, opposite of what the drawing indicates. Advice? Links for pics showing the current wiring setup are below.

Thanks!
Anthony

https://imgur.com/XHUTP4g

https://imgur.com/WOyJb4p

[ajb625]

Nevermind! I took another look to follow the wiring and I now have it figured out!

[Craig]

Nevermind! I took another look to follow the wiring and I now have it figured out!

Thanks for following up on this and glad to hear you got it sorted out.

Enjoy your Legacy!

[ajb625]

Thanks, Craig! I got adventurous over Thanksgiving break. I started with my 2000 Fender Nashville Telecaster (it has a 3rd pickup). Stock, it is wired like a Strat, which unfortunately leaves the Bridge & Neck option unavailable. I opened it up and re-wired it to allow that option. Basically, traded out the Middle & Neck for the Bridge & Neck, with the other options still available. It was my first ever attempt at soldering. Success! The entire house escaped unscathed, and no burn marks on the guitar! And, at least for now, my rookie soldering job has held up and I'm loving what that guitar does.

I then decided to open up the Legacy Tribute to set it back to standard wiring into the selector. The space in there was a little tighter than what I dealt with in the Telecaster, so it was a bit more challenging for my very limited experience. After some patience that I thought I did not have, I was able to get it wired how I wanted. The Bridge & Neck option, as it was wired when I got it, was not bad sounding, but didn't give the Strat sound in that position, and also didn't sound very Telecaster-ish. Once completed to have the Bridge & Middle option, it nailed that sound perfectly, well, at least as perfectly as I can get it!