USA Legacy ... changing the standard pickups

[jprv4pilot]

Hello,

I am the orignal and proud owner of the USA Legacy that I ordered form the factory.

I really want to change out the standard Alnico pickups for something with more punch and depth to them. I remember trying to decide between the S500 and the Legacy and I decided to go with the traditional single coil sound.

My concern is this
Will I de-value my Legacy by swapping out the original pickups ?

I am thinking of going with the either the

G&L Dual Blade Humbucking
or
G&L MFD SC pickups for S500

Also are there any non G&L pickups that I should consider ?

Any ideas on pickups for my Legacy are welcome.

Thanks

[blargfromouterspace]

Firstly, you wont devalue your guitar by just changing the pickups, because you can easily put the old ones back in if you wish to sell it.

If you're thinking of dual blades then you should look into Bill Lawrences Wilde twin blades. They are superb pickups, and sell for much less than the competition. Do not think that they're simply a cheap option, they're truly great - punch, definition and clarity.

The MFD's are also fantastic, and to choose between them and the Bill Lawrence's would be very hard. You'll get more punch from both compared to the standard legacy. They'll be a more 'single-coily' tone than twin blades.

There is no shortage of replacement pickups on the market and IMO the Wildes are the best ones out there.

Happy modding!

[Philby]

Jamie is right about replacment pickups and the value of your Legacy - as long as the pickups are competently installed you can always put the old ones back in with no real impact on value.

I've worked my way through quite a few of the Seymour Duncan pickups and Fender Custom Shop sets over the years, and I also have an S-500. The S-500 MFD's are very full bodied and versatile, but don't sound quite like a traditional strat. But you'll get a lot of tones out of them. My favourites have been Fender Fat 50's for traditional strat tones with a slightly higher output, and Seymour Duncan Classic Stack 2's as a noiseless option. There's heaps of options to try. Try to find some sound clips if you can, they're a great help if only to point out how subtle some of the differences really are!

[jprv4pilot]

Thanks very much for your responses.

I went to the Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio websites and was amazed
at how many Strat style pickups they offer ... wow
After looking at the specs it appears that they both have dual blade and
more traditional looking single coil models. The dual blade models seem to have way more output.
Both compaines claim to have eliminated the 60 Hz hum even from the single coil models.

My stock Legacy hums very noticeably another reason to change the pickups.
I also have a Gibson Flying V with DiMarzios and it sounds great and of course with no hum.

Questions for you guys.

Are the single coils offered by SD and DiM really noiseless or are they just quieter than standard single coils ?

I assume the dual blade pickups will have more punch and fatter sound (more Gibson like) and
that the new quiet single coils will have more of a traditional Strat sound correct ?

The sound I am looking for out of My Legacy is Blues (Clapton), heavy blues (Stevie Ray), Southern Rock (Skynnard) and some classic Rock (AC/DC)

[Philby]

I assume the dual blade pickups will have more punch and fatter sound (more Gibson like) and
that the new quiet single coils will have more of a traditional Strat sound correct ?

Correct.

The Seymour Duncan 'noiseless' single coils are not true single coils, but a stacked humbucker that is designed to maintain the tonal characteristics of a single coil pickup without the 60 Hz hum. They do that very well IMHO. I don't know much about the DiMarzio models sorry.

The sound I am looking for out of My Legacy is Blues (Clapton), heavy blues (Stevie Ray), Southern Rock (Skynnard) and some classic Rock (AC/DC)

If you want noiseless, you could do worse than check out Lace Sensor pickups. Clapton, Jeff Beck and Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins used them for years. Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead still uses them in his tele. They cover a very wide tonal range and are completely hum free. The Lace Golds sound like traditional strat pickups, then there are Lace Reds, Silvers etc. etc. that get progressively hotter and less strat like.

[supereiv]

hey
I have dimarzios in my 94 legacy. 2 vintage 54 pro and a heavy blues. They are quieter than a humbucker really and sound 95 percent like single coils. The best noiseless for me. But... The heavy blues is special ie not for everyone´ s taste. But if I have one advice it would be buy three of the same pickup, that sounds closer to what a strat should.

[Muleya]

I've got DiMarzio Area '61 and Area '58s in my SSS Legacy...have been very happy with them, are very vintage strat sounding. And true to that, they are pretty low output, noticeably less than stock G&L Alnicos. BUT, if you are looking for vintage strat tones without the hum, these are great pickups!

I had Lace Sensors in a MIM Fender Strat for years, too...Blue in neck (like a 50s PAF), Gold in middle (vintage strat sound) and Red in the bridge (Hot humbucker). A friend has these in his Strat, too and has for years...they are also great sounding pickups without hum.

Don't have much experience with SD strat replacement pickups...just the JB, which I've had in two guitars, including my new USA Legacy HB...and I've been pretty happy with that so far.

[jprv4pilot]

Thanks very much for your help

I am leaning towards DiMarzios Virtual Vintages with a Virtual Solo in the bridge

VV 54 PRO / Heavy Blues 2 / Virtual Solo
or
Heavy Blues 2 / Heavy Blues 2 / Heavy Blues 2
or
54 PRO / HB2 / Virtual Solo

I was at Guitar Center and the Tech told me to look at the new Genuine Fender
Noisless pups or Texas specials. He felt DiMArzios are more for a Rock sound.
I plan to go back and try to listen to some of the Fender pups thru the Strats thay have there at GC

All very confusing

[supereiv]

Hey, I'd go with three '54 pro and you're not at all voiced toward rock (they're not that powerfull), IMO that's seller BS.
3 heavy blues 2 will be really harsh, beware, I always roll back the tone pot with mine, sounds a lot like the last albums of Jeff Beck
54 pro/54 pro/ solo could be a good combination, (IMO always). keeping the same p-up in neck & middle is important to have a "real" strat sound.
the 61 are really similar to texas special but noiseless.

my two cents

[Xochitl]

I have two discontinued DP409 Virtual Vintage 2 in the middle and neck slot. They are fat, poweful (the tend to outpower the Paf pro there's in the bridge), quite dymnic, really sensitive to height tweaking and they do sound like single coils (may more in a P90 kind of way but they were meant to be in the bridge position at first).

[Xochitl]

Actually it was to say that I like those DM noiseless pick-ups.
Those particular ones may lack a little on the "in between" sounds but I think it's more due to their output level than to the fact they are humbucking (I've heard nice samples from the Areas' 58/67 with convincing parallel sounds).

[Muleya]

I'm very happy with the in-between sounds of my Area 58/58/61 set up. That's the whole reason I keep an SSS Legacy around, for position 2!! The SSH Legacy get's "quacky" in position 2 when the JB is the bridge is split, but it doesn't capture the magic that I get with the Area pickups!

[Boogie Bill]

I have one Legacy with Duncan Antiquity Texas Hots, to give me a thicker single coil tone, but the rest of my Legacys are stock.

Sir, what your REALLY need is a second guitar. Keep your Legacy stock for your Clapton, SRV and funky Motown licks.

Add a LEGACY SPECIAL to your arsenal for your hard rock and fusion jazz tones. I have been singing the praises of these guitars FOR YEARS! Same great quality as your Legacy, same ergonomics--but the Gotoh Blades give a thicker, more PAF-type tone. The guitar's PTB controls system can take the guitar from a close to vintage alnico tone, all the way to full-blown woman tone.

One guitar CAN'T do it all. The stock Legacy is a beautiful sounding guitar, and you can do a lot with those anemic single coils. I usually gig with a Legacy, Legacy Special, and a 2HB guitar (usually a Les Paul, ES-335 or clone, or an Ibanez Ghostrider). (And a banjo, and an acoustic, and a 12-string!) A strat guitar really won't do certain types of HB tones (AC/DC comes to mind), but the reverse is true, too. Little Wing on a 335? Nah! I can't get EXACT tones, but for my money--the Legacy Special is the only guitar I've ever owned that can backup both my Legacy and my 2HB guitar, AND create unique tones of its own.

So, if your wife asks--tell her you have my permission to buy a Legacy Special! (And a Comanche! And an S-500!) LOL!

Bill

P.S. BTW, how do you set the tone controls on your Legacy?

[CGT]

I agree with Bill. One guitar can't do it all. If you need that AC/DC sound, get a guitar with humbucking pickups. If you can budget $500 dollars for pickups, spend it on a secondhand axe on craigslist. Another thing to consider is your choice of amplifier. Adding another amplifier to your toolshed with different tonal characteristics can also drastically alter your sound. Perhaps the mantra should be "one amp can't do it all."

[Boogie Bill]

Another thing to consider is your choice of amplifier. Adding another amplifier to your toolshed with different tonal characteristics can also drastically alter your sound. Perhaps the mantra should be "one amp can't do it all."

And I agree with this. You won't see a lot of country tele players using high-gain Soldanos, Marshalls or Engls. I think it is important that your amp fit the gig. I have six Mesas, wonderfully versatile amps, ranging from 30 watts Class A to my 200-watt Mark III Coliseum halfstack. Yet if my band situation dramatically changed, I could see myself picking up a 50-watt Marshall--cause that's one tone the Mesa doesn't really do.

You might want to consider a lightweight SS amp for taking to practice or to jams; a low-watt combo amp like a Super Champ, Deluxe Reverb or Mesa 5:25; and a versatile mid-wattage (say, 30-60 watts) head or combo amp to compliment a high-gain half-or full stack gives you a pretty good arsenal to llchoose from. Unless your jamming with Slash or Metallica, you'll look silly taking a half-stack to most jams--but a '50s tweed Deluxe won't cut it for Death Metal, either.

The modern player needs some versatility in his choice of guitars, and his amps.

Bill