Pawn Shop Treasure - What Did I Buy?

[Trout]

Hi - new G&L dude here... I got this at my favorite pawn shop the other day. Can you tell me about it? Can I date it from the serial number? How much should I have paid for it (even though it's too late now, ha ha)? It's new, but been in the display case for a few years. It has no marks on it... none. The finish is show car perfect. It still has the plastic protection on the pickguard and the trem cover. I didn't get any original paperwork with it and had to settle for a beat up SKB case. What did I buy? (click images to make them bigger, less fuzzy) Thanks.

[blargfromouterspace]

That is a beauty, you just have to love a red guitar.

It's a standard G&L legacy, with a birds eye maple neck. The year is stamped inside the neck pocket, you have to take the neck off to see it.

The birds eye maple neck will add value, but they sell used for between $600 and $900. I'd expect yours to be at the high end,

[Philby]

Awww, that's a gorgeous candy apple red Legacy. I love the birdseye neck and the aged white pickguard. Congratulations on your purchase

There's a couple of guys around here who just LOVE our red guitars. Darwin, what do you think of this one?

As far as the date of manufacture goes, it should be recorded in the neck pocket if you're brave enough to take the neck off. You might be able to date it by serial number, but the neck pocket date is the most reliable.

The fact that it has a 4-bolt neck narrows it down to post 1997.

Hope that helps.

[darwinohm]

Boy, is this one sweet. Beautiful CA Red and the neck is to kill for and Sperzel lockers will drop right in. If someone isn't happy with the color, send it to me and if you do it soon I will pick up the shipping. Trout,you are lucky to find one this pristine in a pawn shop. Great find!!!!-- Darwin.

[Trout]

I'm a little confused about the specs. The G&L site lists the features for each model, but I read other places that all G&L's are made to order. This sort of implies that the standard features might not be standard if each guitar is a special order.

Can I assume that the body is Alder and the pickups are vintage style alnico 5's?

Thanks again for the feedback.

[Craig]

The fact that it has a 4-bolt neck narrows it down to post 1997.

Hope that helps.

And it is a bi-cut neck so that would make it pre-2007.

Here's more about dating G&L instruments and serial numbering in our G&L Knowledgebase:

How do I determine an instrument's age?
Serial number significance

The pickups are G&L vintage style Alnico V single coil pickups. Complete specs for the Legacy are
on G&L's main website.

Hope this helps.

[Philby]

Can I assume that the body is Alder and the pickups are vintage style alnico 5's?

The pickups look to be the standard flat pole piece alnico 5's that ship on Legacy's.

As far as body wood goes, nearly all solid colour finishes are done over alder. It is rare for ash to have a solid finish unless it is a custom order. Ash is usually reserved for natural or semi-transparent finishes due to its attractive grain. If you take the pick guard off there is sometimes an unpainted section where the wood grain is visible. That will give you the best indication of wood type.

e.g. the forum experts tell me my S-500 is alder

[Craig]

I'm a little confused about the specs. The G&L site lists the features for each model, but I read other places that all G&L's are made to order. This sort of implies that the standard features might not be standard if each guitar is a special order.

Can I assume that the body is Alder and the pickups are vintage style alnico 5's?

Thanks again for the feedback.

There are options you can chose from which would be applied to the standard specs shown for a model.
See the G&L Guitar Options page; the link is at the top of the Instruments page and right below the link for the Finishes page. Think of the Spec page for a model as the starting point and then custom order from
the Options and Finishes pages.

If the guitar pickups were not replaced by a previous owner, the pickups would be
G&L vintage style Alnico V single coil pickups.

Now here's were it can get confusing: you can order a Swamp Ash body instead of the standard Alder body
when you specify a Standard finish, or you can order an Alder body instead of the standard Swamp Ash body
when you specify a Premier finish. So, to answer your question about the body wood, it is likely to be Alder
unless the original order for the guitar was to be a Swamp Ash body. Yeah, that was real helpful .

Hope this helps.

[offplanetfilms]

Thats a REAL pretty one! ...Love the birds eye neck. I scored a similar one earlier this year for my son's birthday... except it has a white pickguard with black knobs & covers. (Minus the birds eye)
Yours look great with the aged pickguard on the red! (I have the same pickguard on my swamp ash / maple neck legacy)

[glvourot]

I stumbled onto an S-500 about 2 weeks ago. I am very, very happy with it. I really like your guitar. That CAR is beautiful. Good score. Well done.

[louloomis]

So, of course the question is: did you pay more, less, or in-between $600-$900?

We must know this info! We must! )

LouLoomis

[Trout]

So, of course the question is: did you pay more, less, or in-between $600-$900?

We must know this info! We must! )

LouLoomis

I'd like to share the whole story, but I remember reading on the forum rules somewhere that I can't post prices or talk money. Now that I am looking for the exact rules, I CAN'T FIND THE FORUM GUIDELINES to save my soul. Where are they?

If I search on "guidelines", I just see all the posts where I'm told to go read the guidelines.

[Craig]

So, of course the question is: did you pay more, less, or in-between $600-$900?

We must know this info! We must! )

LouLoomis

I'd like to share the whole story, but I remember reading on the forum rules somewhere that I can't post prices or talk money. Now that I am looking for the exact rules, I CAN'T FIND THE FORUM GUIDELINES to save my soul. Where are they?

If I search on "guidelines", I just see all the posts where I'm told to go read the guidelines.

Please do share your story. The restriction is on posting prices of NEW G&L products only. Used prices can always be posted.
You will find the guitarsbyleo.com History and G&LDP Guidelines document in the Annoucements section of each sub-forum, which is near the top of each sub-forum page.
It is also found in the Announcements section of the G&L Forum (aka G&LDP) which is toward the bottom of the forum page.

Hope this helps.

[StratsRock]

I say he paid $500 for it. We could start a pool. The one who guess's closest wins, I dunno,..... nothing! What's your guess? Ya in?

[Trout]

Please do share your story. The restriction is on posting prices of NEW G&L products only. Used prices can always be posted.

Technically, this is a new guitar. The place where I bought it is a G&L dealer, at least enough of a dealer to buy 3 new instruments from G&L for the grand opening of a new store a few years ago. The store paid whatever "dealer cost" is. This guitar has never been owned. It's been in the store for all this time... at least 3 years, just waiting patiently to find me. As someone told me recently: "You just don't find guitars like that, they find you."

I was told by the store manager that I paid less than what they paid for it. "Which is nice" (in my Dana Carvey Church Lady voice).

[Craig]

Please do share your story. The restriction is on posting prices of NEW G&L products only. Used prices can always be posted.

Technically, this is a new guitar. The place where I bought it is a G&L dealer, at least enough of a dealer to buy 3 new instruments from G&L for the grand opening of a new store a few years ago. The store paid whatever "dealer cost" is. This guitar has never been owned. It's been in the store for all this time... at least 3 years, just waiting patiently to find me. As someone told me recently: "You just don't find guitars like that, they find you."

I was told by the store manager that I paid less than what they paid for it. "Which is nice" (in my Dana Carvey Church Lady voice).

Oh, you did say you got it at a pawn shop, so I made, what turned out to be a bad assumption, that it was sold as used.

It does sound like you got a good deal: a new G&L Legacy (with the 10 year warranty) for less than what the dealer paid. It's too bad the dealer did not keep the case with this new guitar, since they are supposed
to be sold with the original new case included. And, as long as you retain the receipt you should be fine even without the original paperwork, should you ever need warranty work done during the warranty period.

Congratulations

When you get a chance, please do add it to our G&L Registry.

[ChrisPcritter]

That's a great looking guitar...!!! lucky dawg..
What G&L told me is the guitars are custom ordered and if the dealer doesn't specify specs they go with standard spec for that model except the Asat which gets a 12 " radius
board with 1 5/8" nut when not specified otherwise.