Weird sounding bridge pickup on my Legacy

[Its_Him_Again]

Hi,

I have a Rustic Legacy which seems to be wired kind of oddly.

Normally on a Strat type guitar, the bridge pickup is more trebly than the other two. However, on this guitar, the bridge pickup is the darkest one on the guitar. And it's not just "dark." It sounds "scooped." It sounds like it is going straight through a small-value cap, just like the Eldred front position on an Esquire. I am very familiar with setting up guitars, and I have spent quite a while monkeying with the pickups, controls, and amp settings. No matter what, this pickup has that sound. This is how it came wired when brand new. It is bone stock.

Now, being an Esquire owner, I don't think it's a bad sound at all...but I'd certainly like to be able to get the thing sounding more typical.

Any thoughts? This isn't normal, is it?

Thanks.

[KenC]

I don't have much experience with Legacies, but are you familiar with the PTB control setup? It's quite a bit different than basic Fender-style controls. You can find info and tips in the Knowledgebase.

Ken

[Craig]

Here's what it should look like under the hood:



As KenC mentioned, it has the PTB system for much greater tone control.

[Its_Him_Again]

Yep; I'm familiar with PTB controls. It's not really different; you just add a master low end bleed pot alongside the usual type of tone control. And the other two pickups sound "normal." I just wanted to make sure this isn't normal before going in. I thought maybe it was G&L attempting to make the guitar sound like it was HSS. Again, I bought this guitar new, and nothing has been changed on it. It's probably covered under warranty, but I see little point in taking it in.

I'm trying to think of something wrong in there that would allow the switch and controls to operate normally, yet which would also pipe the bridge pickup straight through one of those caps. The only thing I can come up with is that there is a cap in there before the bridge pickup wires hit the switch.

[Craig]

Yep; I'm familiar with PTB controls. It's not really different; you just add a master low end bleed pot alongside the usual type of tone control. And the other two pickups sound "normal." I just wanted to make sure this isn't normal before going in. I thought maybe it was G&L attempting to make the guitar sound like it was HSS. Again, I bought this guitar new, and nothing has been changed on it. It's probably covered under warranty, but I see little point in taking it in.

I'm trying to think of something wrong in there that would allow the switch and controls to operate normally, yet which would also pipe the bridge pickup straight through one of those caps. The only thing I can come up with is that there is a cap in there before the bridge pickup wires hit the switch.

What is the DC-R of the pickups? Perhaps the bridge pickup is over-or under-wound.

[Its_Him_Again]

Hi,

I had already checked that, and they are all around 7K. But I know it's not an issue of wind anyhow; you can hear the difference. It doesn't sound overwound. It sounds filtered.

[Its_Him_Again]

I opened up the guitar today. The wiring looks correct, and there are no visible shorts through a cap or anything like that. Please tell me if any of this sounds out of place on a Legacy:

- Neck and middle pickups are gray bottom; bridge is black bottom.
- Bridge pickup is flipped vs. other two.
- Middle pickup has different colored leads.
- Neck and middle appear "aged," but bridge does not.

It all seems normal to me. Black bottom probably differentiates neck from bridge for the assemblers. Red and yellow leads on the middle pickup only probably signify the RW/RP middle. The bridge pickup would perhaps have to be oriented differently than the other two in order to fit the rout. And the aging is probably just not as visible on the black bobbins as it is on the gray ones.

I also found a bug living in there. And I took more accurate DCR measurements.

- neck: 7.2 K
- middle: 6.9 K
- bridge: 6.3 K

So, they are a bit different. However that is not a lot IME, and that would indicate that the bridge should actually be the brightest of the three. But it sounds as if treble is leaking somewhere.

And one more thing, which I think is odd. The bridge coil (i.e. the wire under the cover) looks like it has been mildly beaten up with a screwdriver, and there are a few "stray" windings – not disconnected (obviously), just slightly separated from the coil. WTH? Taking the "Rustic" thing to stupid lengths? Neither of the other two pickups are like this.

It sounds to me like I should have that bridge pickup replaced under warranty. But I probably voided that very warranty by opening the guitar up in the first place. Maybe I'll just send it up to Seymour Duncan for rewinding, and request reimbursement from G&L (fat chance).