Changing the pups?

[Gabe]

Hey what's up everyone, this is my first post here.

On Friday, I bought an American-made Legacy. I love it. It feels great, plays easily, stays in tune. I love it!

One thing though is that I want a beefier sound out it. My band is playing songs that I had initially recorded on an Ibanez with humbuckers and I've since replaced with my Legacy.

What I need is either suggestions to beef up my sound with the current pickups or recommendations for stacked single coils.

Thanks!

[Philby]

Hi Gabe. Welcome aboard.

For slightly heavier tones I've got some Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders in the neck and middle of my S500 and a Hot Rails in the bridge. I'm very happy with them as they also sound great clean. You lose a bit of the usual strat spank, but it's made up for by a full, round tone. I believe Richie Blackmore of Black Sabbath has Quarter Pounders in his strat.

I'm sure you'll get some helpful opinions around here. Have you got pictures of the Legacy? We love pictures around here!

[Gabe]

Thanks Philby! So far my research has let me to the DiMarzio SDS-1, which is pretty heavily bassy. I love the other pickups and wouldn't change them for the world. I'll look into QPs as well. I just want something way less treble and warmer/heavier just in the bridge.

[Gabe]

Oh yes, and:

[RickT]

I had a George Fullerton model years ago that I changed the pickups to Seymour Duncan JB Jrs. Those things kicked butt. I change out one of the tone pots to a push-pull so I could do a split coil and have a single coil tone when needed.

RickT

[Boogie Bill]

I like the sound of the stock Legacy as is, because it is so versatile. I do have one Legacy with Duncan Texas Hot Antiquitys, with the RW/RP middle and the Custom Power bridge. These have a much warmer tone than the stock single coils--instant SRV tone. These are the best aftermarket pickups I ever used. The tone is like a very expensive wine that sits on you tongue and lets you savor all the complex flavors.

If you like a HB in the bridge, the JB Jr. or the Lil' 59, or the Lil' Pearly Gates will do fine. I have a JB Jr. in an S-500 and it can barely keep up with the stock MFDs--the MFDs are REALLY high output. If you want an aggressive single coil tone, consider the MFDs. The Legacy uses a "swimming pool" route for the pickups, so it's easy to get a new pickguard cut for a full-size bridge 'bucker, if you want.

I use Mesa amps, mostly a Mark III, Mark IV or a DC-3. These all have the Graphic EQ. Getting a fat tone with a Legacy is never a problem with these amps! I do a lot of clean rhythm parts, and use my Boogie's LEAD CHANNEL for soaring lead tones. You might consider using an EQ pedal, like the Boss GE-7, to shape your EQ and fatten up your solos.

Don't forget to use your PTB controls. I set my Legacys up with the bridge pickup the highest, and the others progressively lower. Then I set my PTB controls to T=10 and B=5, with the V=7 for most of my rhythm work. Then I set my amp for the maximum about of TREBLE I would need from my bridge pickup; and I set the amp's BASS and MIDDLE to give me a nice, natural, clean sound for my rhythm parts. I get nice Clapton/Cray quack in the bridge-middle (#2) and middle-neck (#4) positions.

For solos, I roll up the volume and hit whatever pedal I need to hit. If I want a jazzier, woman tone--I hit the neck pickup and roll the PTB treble down. With the PTB bass normalled to 5, now I can roll up the bass if I need to add a little more punch to my solos. There is tremendous versatility at my fingertips with the PTB controls. I will never go back to using standard strat wiring.

Another guitar I rave about is the Legacy Special. The pickups are made by Gotoh--dual blades with a hot bridge version--a lot more output than the Legacy's Alnicos. To me, they have a much thicker PAF-ish tonality, yet they do not have too much of the muddiness--there's still some clarity there. My LS backs up both my Legacy, and my Les Paul. I've got the great ergonomics of the Legacy, and the thickness of the Paul. AND the really cool thing--by lowering the Volume down to about 5, turning the T=10 and the B=0-2, I'm REAL close to Alnico tone. Sweet! The LS has enough woman tone to make Carlos want to swap his PRS, and enough rock attitude to kick Van Halen's ass!

The reality is, you may need more than one guitar. Single coils don't sound like HBs, but they have a wonderful charm about them. It may take you a few months for your ear to adjust, after years of using HB guitars. Clapton adjusted, and you can too. But, some songs simply play better and sound better on an HB guitar. I do about 60% of the classic rock cover songs in my band with a Legacy, but there are 12-15 songs we do that make me reach for my Les Paul or 335. There is no such thing as one guitar that can do it all; never has been, and doubt there ever will be.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Bill

[louis cyfer]

i have the duncan texas hot antiquities as well, they are the 8 or 9th best aftermarket pups i have owned. for what you want, the fralin steelpole 43 bridge is perfect. the same concept as the dimarzio sds-1, basically a p 90 in a start pup, but a much much better version. also alnico magnets instead of ceramic.

[Its_Him_Again]

I'd have got an S-500 instead if I wanted a "beefier" sound. But maybe you can sell those alnico pickups on E-Bay and pick up some MFD (S-500) ceramic pickups instead. You'd basically end up with an S-500 with a Legacy badge.

[Gabe]

For sure I want to keep the original pickup. I just wanna get less of a thin tone out of the bridge pickup. I <censored word> love the way the pickups sound on it, but it's not right for my band. As I've said, I got a killer deal on the G&L, I'm in love with how it feels, etc, but I want to get more humbucker/ballsy bass and mid in the pickup

[Gabe]

I mean if I ended up in a blues band or something less heavy, the stock pickup is perfect. Looks like I'll go with a Tone Zone, it's got more punch and mid tone. At least I can get the covers in Creme so it matches the rest of the pickups/pickguard

[Its_Him_Again]

Try raising the bridge pickup. It will make the pickup less bright and more ballsy.

[Lazer]

Another option to really fatten up the to is an in phase serial connection. The middle pickup is already reversed wound (I believe).
So what You do is add anonther switch like on the S-500 but wire so You get a serial connection bridge/middle and or middle/neck.

You basically have a humbucker, it will not sound exactly like a PAF, but it will fatten up Your tone guaranteed.

I run my Asat classic like that almost all the time.

Cheers
L-zr

[Gabe]

Try raising the bridge pickup. It will make the pickup less bright and more ballsy.

Ah, is that what those base plates are for?

BTW, I've played for 10 years and you'll never meet someone more gear retarded than I. I know how to plug it in and play my songs that's it haha.

Here's another pic of my new baby

[Gabe]

Another option to really fatten up the to is an in phase serial connection. The middle pickup is already reversed wound (I believe).
So what You do is add anonther switch like on the S-500 but wire so You get a serial connection bridge/middle and or middle/neck.

You basically have a humbucker, it will not sound exactly like a PAF, but it will fatten up Your tone guaranteed.

I run my Asat classic like that almost all the time.

Cheers
L-zr

I'll look into that as well. Thank you much!

[NickHorne]

I must agree with Lazer about the series wiring, it's a very good mod.
To expand on what he wrote, a little: you're making a wiring mod that gives the option of having the bridge and middle pups in series wiring, instead of the usual parallel with one another. This is not the same thing as series / parallel switching of a humbucker, it's a mod that can make a Strat-type have a humbucker-like tail-end available, without any pup replacement.
You need an experienced wiring person do this, unless that's you. And there are a few different ways to get to the same result:
1: Have a toggle "Blower" or "Turbo" switch that will take you straight to middle-and-bridge-in-series regardless of your 5-way selection (good idea).
2: Have the toggle make your "bridge" selection on the 5-way either = normal bridge, or middle-and-bridge-in-series depending on the toggle setting (my favourite).
3: Have the toggle switch the "middle-and-bridge" selection on the 5-way between normal and series.
4: Have the toggle switch BOTH the combination settings (2 & 4 on the 5-way) between normal and series (needs a new, 4-pole 5-way switch as well).

Of the 4 above, I would go for 1 or 2. I did 4, just to find out, and found that neck-and-middle-in-series was a bit too mushy (for me, though I've never been a neck humbucker person), so I then did 3, and eventually settled on 2, which is like having a pre-settable choice of bridge pup, and seems really logical and easy to me.

The sound of middle-and-bridge-in-series is way fatter than a single coil. Technically, it IS a humbucker, with output to match, though its meatiness is more "snarl" than "blare". I really love it (prefer it), but only you can tell if you do too. It's a harrmless thing to have done on a push-pull (especially the "2" version - you wouldn't want a "turbo" on a push-pull...)

Best,
Nick

[louis cyfer]

i agree with nick, and lazer, that is a good choice. more usable than the series neck/bridge on an asat. with the pups being closer you get a more usable, humbucker like sound. it is exactly the same thing as the series/parallel switching of a humbucker.
my favorite is having a push push to select between series or parallel when the guitar is in the 2 position of the 5 way switch. nick favorite also works well, but i like to be able to add the neck pup to the bridge for a different sound with another push push. also, i have the tone controls out of the circuit entirely in the 2 position, and with the bridge and mid in series, it sound better to me with the tone circuit lifted.

[NickHorne]

Sorry!
Louis is, of course, 100% right about the series/parallel, electrically speaking.
I only hoped to avoid confusion with the sorry sound of a Gib-style humbucker wired parallel.
Obviously, a strat in position 2 or 4 doesn't sound like that, even though it is a parallel humbucking pair! And the series strat-type pairing is, to this user, a more enjoyable raunch than a close-spaced (Gib-type) regular humbucker. Still has snarl and some stringiness, less congested.

[Gabe]

Hey everyone, I dunno if I ever updated this.

I ended up getting a DiMarzio Tone Zone thrown into my G&L.

It ended up adding the bottom end and heavy sound in the bridge I was looking for.

For clean, I end up using the 4th position on my selector switch, as the middle and neck pickup, which are stock G&Ls, have such a bright, beautiful, clean tone.

My G&L is now truly mine, the way I need it for the music I write. I'm really proud of my G&L

[KenC]

Congrats!