Replacement pickup for G&L Legacy bridge position?

[Larry Mal]

Hi all, I recently got a wonderful G&L Legacy from the 90's, I think, I haven't pulled the neck to be certain yet. The neck pickups has been replaced with some kind of Hot Rail humbucker, which I don't want in there. The guitar is also pretty noisy as well, I'm probably going to pull the pick guard, shield the cavity, and see if the pickguard also needs to be shielded. I'll likely think about upgrading the caps as well among some other stuff, mainly cleaning the pots and making sure all the wiring is OK.

I have no problem with the stock pickups in there, because I don't really know what they sound like anyway. I'd probably be happy to just put in a replacement G&L pickup for now, but I'm wondering what other suggestions folks who know more about these guitars than me would have. I'd be open to a whole new set, it's possible that I replace all the wiring in there anyway.

I don't know where to buy G&L stuff other than G&L, and it's not cheap. If anyone knows where I can source parts otherwise I'd be happy to hear about it... I'll also be needing the saddles for the bridge at a minumum, and maybe a whole new bridge. I've used Callaham stuff on my ES-330 and my Telecasters, and I love what they do. But I don't think any of that will work on this guitar, and it might be overkill anyway. This bridge looks to be very good, and if it's anything like the one on my L-1000, then there won't be any upgrades to that at any price.

I tend to want pickups to be low wind in order to have chime and clarity, and since this is my only Strat-type guitar (and will be my only), I'll not want to deviate far from that sound. But honestly, I don't know how G&L pickups on these models compare to vintage Strat winds anyway, so I can't even make an intelligent guess here. If anyone more knowledgeable could school me on that, I'd be happy.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

[Philby]

Hi Larry,

Welcome aboard. I have an early 2000's Legacy (the one in my avatar) that I also have a soft spot for. It's absolutely stock and hangs in there with my other S-type guitars with more expensive upgraded pickups.

The stock pickups are what I would call vintage in output - they're all around 5.8 KOhms. The bridge pickup is a little weak in output as it is not overwound for extra output like many modern pup sets. But it sounds OK - not shrill or ice-picky at all.

The most 'vintage' pups I have for comparison are a set of Fender Custom Shop 57/62's in a Japanese strat. They're very similar in output to the G&L's, and the bridge pickup is not overwound, just like the G&L set. The G&L pups have more mid-range to my ears, which is probably why some people describe them as 'modern' sounding. I can't rule out the PTB tone system causing some of the 'modern' characteristics. The 57/62's have more top end 'chime' and more pronounced bass, but less mid-range. The 57/62's are also not RWRP, so the in-between positions are very 'quacky'. To my ears it's not a night and day difference - both pup sets give great stratty tones and I'm happy to play either.

If I was splitting hairs I'd say I prefer the neck pickup in the G&L set, and the middle and bridge pups in the 57/62 set.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of different opinions from the folks around here on their favourite 'vintage' pickup sets. You're spoilt for choice really - every pickup company seems to make 'em.

Please post up some pics of your Legacy when you have some. It's an unwritten rule around here that the guitar is a figment of your imagination unless we see pics.

[louis cyfer]

the 57/62 fender set is not half bad. but i would recommend the klein jazzy cats or the d allen big cats. with the jazzy cats you might want an s8 bridge pup if you like a hotter , more balanced bridge pup. the big cats already have that.

[crfowler]

I had exactly the same thing: on my Fullerton, the previous owner had replaced the bridge with a SD bucker of some kind. There's a fella on ebay sells G&L parts - I bought a replacement legacy bridge pickup last year for about $15 if memory serves!

[Philby]

Please post up some pics of your Legacy when you have some. It's an unwritten rule around here that the guitar is a figment of your imagination unless we see pics.

Cancel that comment - I didn't realize you've already posted up pics in another thread. It looks like you have a SD Hot Rails in your bridge position. Unless you can coil split that sucker, the output will be way too high for the G&L pickups.

[Larry Mal]

I did put up pictures, apparently I had not known to introduce myself first when I did that. It's a wonderful guitar. I think I'm just going to have to accept that G&L makes some of the best stuff around and actively get it in the future rather than let it fall in my lap.

I don't think that the humbucker allows for coil splitting, but I haven't checked either. It's not going to stay in under any situations, if I want a humbucker sound I'll use another guitar. I have over a dozen of the things so I can be picky like that! No, I want the G&L to be a G&L.

Thanks for the welcome and the suggestions! I'll keep an eye out on eBay for that seller. I am wondering about the underpowered bridge pickup, though... I wonder if moving it closer to the strings would be possible rather than having a higher output pickup? Not sure if that's viable or not... I guess I have a lot of learning to do about these guitars.

Honestly, this is the first Strat type guitar I've owned in over 20 years, and my only other three pickup guitar is a Gibson Firebird non-reverse, the new Studio model, with the three P90s. Hardly the same!

[Miles Smiles]

I once got a full set of Legacy pickups on Ebay for about $70, as far as I remember. Probably out of a Tribute I guess, but they should be the same. I noticed a slightly difference in resistance compared to the pickups in my mid 90s 3 bolt neck Legacy. The new ones seem to be a little bit hotter, asuming the same wire material which of course could be different.

That pickups went in here, a body from MJT and a neck from a budget Strat copy:



Circuit is PTB (whatever that means P.... Treble Bass?), like it is in an S-500 or Comanche, including the extra switch.

For the SD-pickup: All humbucker in single coil format I've seen from Seymour Duncan, had 4 wires + ground. So they not only split able, but you also can choose the right coil from the humbucker in the way to have a hum free combination with any middle pickup in the correct phase.

[Larry Mal]

Hmm. I don't know if this one is splitable or not, it isn't wired up at all that I can see or hear. The guy who traded this to me was apologizing and trying to get it to work, and I stopped him and told him not to bother. I could see the guitar was a fine trade even with the pickup being not wired right. It's also missing the back plate (!) and the tremolo arm.

[louis cyfer]

Please post up some pics of your Legacy when you have some. It's an unwritten rule around here that the guitar is a figment of your imagination unless we see pics.

Cancel that comment - I didn't realize you've already posted up pics in another thread. It looks like you have a SD Hot Rails in your bridge position. Unless you can coil split that sucker, the output will be way too high for the G&L pickups.

it could be hot rail or cool rails, but even hot rails balance well with the rest of the pups. not too hot for the bridge, just don't need it close to the strings.

[Philby]

it could be hot rail or cool rails, but even hot rails balance well with the rest of the pups. not too hot for the bridge, just don't need it close to the strings.

Yep, you're right Louis, it could be a Cool Rails. I forgot SD made those. That would balance much better with the Legacy pups.

Larry, you CAN get the Legacy bridge pup to balance with the others by moving it much closer to the strings. Mine gets brittle sounding when it's too close though. From what I'm hearing, the newer Legacy pups might be hotter all round than my 12 y.o. set. A new, hotter bridge G&L pup might be just the ticket to balance the pups already in the guitar, which are probably close to 20 years old by now.

[Larry Mal]

Good to know that they measure around 5.8 kOhms, for sure. That means I can buy something that's close to that and probably be OK. Up to this point, though, I had no idea what they were supposed to be, so I didn't even know how to shop for them intelligently. I could always buy one from G&L, sure, they aren't all that expensive, but it's nice to know what my other options are.

I'm looking forward to fixing this guitar up to its grandeur. It's funny, I have bought a lot of new guitars this last couple of years, ranging from not so expensive to very expensive. And this G&L that I only got because I didn't want to ship a Fender Twin is fast becoming one of my favorites! I didn't think I'd like the 12" radius on the 25.5" scale neck, but it plays like a dream. I thought maybe it was because it has a very slim neck like some of my other favorites- a '62 reissue Jazzmaster and a Les Paul Junior, but no, it's slightly thicker than either of those.

So I don't know what makes it so playable, really, I'll just give it up to the boys and girls at G&L. Like I say, I only got it because I knew it had value and I was planning on selling it on eBay. But I quickly figured that it wasn't really in all that salable a shape, so I thought I'd fix it up and move it then, but after spending a couple of days with the guitar I knew I'd be a fool to do that.

So, it stays! Now I have a Strat type guitar, which I've never had before.

[louis cyfer]

Good to know that they measure around 5.8 kOhms, for sure. That means I can buy something that's close to that and probably be OK. Up to this point, though, I had no idea what they were supposed to be, so I didn't even know how to shop for them intelligently. I could always buy one from G&L, sure, they aren't all that expensive, but it's nice to know what my other options are.

not really. the kohms do not measure output, only dc resistance. very little to do with output measurement. it just tells you the length of wire around the pup. with everything else being equal, magnet strength, type, wire size, type, and inductance, the dc resistance does give you some information. pup makers include that number because the customers think it is meaningful.
btw, with everything else being equal, if the neck pup is 5.8 kohms, the bridge pup would balance well at around 10.5-12 kohms. the string moves so much less closer to the bridge, the pup needs to be much stronger to balance.

[Larry Mal]

Right, right... I misread there, got my measurements confused.