Legacy Special Pickup Question

[Ken Baker]

One of the members over at BassesByLeo has a question about some pickups he snagged off eBay. He tried to register and logon here, but it looks like registration is turned off or something. I can't find it either. Be that as it may, here's what "uo7shined" has to say:

I bought 3 Legacy Special pups off ebay - these ->(http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT).
The seller assured me that they are original and I was happy to believe him at the time but (as always happens) as soon as you click the purchase button the paranoia sets in. I have never seen a Legacy Special with a standard 6 pole pickup - as far as I know they all have rail 'buckers. And to stoke the fires of paranoia even further I can't find any mention of them having a preamp either. It seems a little odd to have passive and active pups in the same instrument but he says that that's how it came. I just wonder what the guys over on GBL think about it.

If they are real then I think I got a bargain.

Thanks for any help you guys can offer.

Ken...

[Boogie Bill]

Looks like you have two Gotoh Blades from a Legacy Special and one not from a Legacy Special. The blades are humbuckers, and on a LS, the Bridge pickup is H-O-T. Not clear whether you have a bridge and neck or a middle and neck or ??? The Blades should be very quiet as they are a full HB, but if you mix them with a SC, say in the middle; Position #2 (B+M-SC) and #4 (N+M-SC) will be noisy because of the SC pickup, even when combined with a 'bucker.

I have NO idea what the preamp is, but the Gotohs hardly need one. They have enough power to make the G&L PTB controls very effective.

I'd probably dump the preamp for either PTB controls or standard Strat wiring. If you had a Power Blade bridge pickup, I'd wire it with the other Blade in the middle and something like a Lil '59 in the neck, or get something that would be a stack-style HB with a more vintage tone to get you more quack by using that pickup in the middle.

Too bad he didn't get the third pickup--they are an awesome set, and that would have been a great price for a set. I have a set in a standard Legacy that I am going to sell with its stock pickups, and then probably will sell the Blades as well--and I'll ask at least $120. That's about all I know. I hope I helped.

Bill

[Ken Baker]

Thanks, Bill! You've answered uo7shined questions.

Ken...

[Craig]

Thanks, Bill! You've answered uo7shined questions.

Ken...

This might be of some help too: Album: Legacy Special Picture Diagram.

[ou7shined]

Hi guys. I've now managed to sign up.

Thanks Ken for your help posting on my behalf and also to Bill for confirming my fears.

The mystery is solved....

The pups and loom arrived today (I'm very impress at the time scale).
I do indeed have two rail 'buckers and the mystery pup turns out to be a DiMarzio DP117 HS-3. So all in all not a bad return for 35 bucks.

The rails are the real deal, which is nice. They look very well made, each coil is hardwired to it's partner in parallel, resulting in 3.84k per pup, have a single red and a single black wire.... and look exactly like the partial glimpse of one you can see top left of Craig's pic (Cheers Craig. That pic will be very helpful tonight).

I had never heard of the PTB circuit before this thread (why would I? I'm a bassist ) but it looks to me like the loom that came with these pups is indeed loosely based upon one. There is a 250k pot, a 500k, and I think I can make out "M Ω" on the last one - a big blob of solder (I don't know if that's how you spell it in the States - you guys always seem to say "sodder"... which means something completely different over here. ) obscures the writing (don't know if it is a REV - will confirm later) and there is a cap on each pot. The major difference between the ebay one and Craig's pic is that mine has Jap pots... and has been put together by a trained monkey using a fire-poker.

The "pre amp" is just some booster circuit - I'll do a bit of googling later and hopefully come back with an answer as to it's origin. I don't intend using it in this guitar but it will be nice to know what it is.

Right well I guess I should get my iron out soon (lots of work for my solder pump first) and see what these babies sound like.

I think the DiMarzio HS-3 is a neck pup but I plan on putting it in the mid position first.

[ou7shined]

Wow you weren't kidding about how hot these G&Ls are.

No wonder the guy sold them though, he had made a few fundamental errors with his wiring - the treb pot was nothing like the pic and there was some confusion as to how he was hooking up the many wires emanating from the DiMarzio.

I had to do a minor bit of work on my p/g to get these fat boys to fit (no biggy - it's my day job ). The DiMarzio is a fair bit quieter than the rails so there is a wee drop in volume in the mix and centre positions - I'll try wiring the coils in series to see if it brings it into line with the rails. All in all, I'm very please with this first incarnation. I totally love the rail in the neck position. I've been jamming along to the only bit if guitar I still know off by heart Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts I–V... and it simply sings.

some pics

close up of my Japcrap PTB circuit

in their new home

[ou7shined]

I just googled about for the wee booster circuit... turns out it's an EMG PA2. (this deal just got better )



I've cleaned it up a little and it looks like someone has tried soldering on a switch themselves (looks like a G&L one with the little red tip - EMG use the squared-off type in the pic) and made a dog's dinner of it by shorting out 2 of the terminals. I'll see if I can get it running.

This circuit offers an up to +20dB gain with the trim pot. What was he thinking sticking it with these pups.