Help with pickup identification on a Legacy

[Gary_W]

Hi,

I have 3 G&L guitars - 2 are Tributes (an S-500 and an ASAT Special) and I've just managed to get a second hand USA made Legacy from 1995.

I say it's 1995 - this was told to me by the shop from markings under the neck pocket - I have no 1st hand knowledge of this. The headstock has no serial numbers. I'll post photos in case someone can tell me what the colour is actually called - it's a burst, but very light. I'm not sure if it's always looked like this or if the years have faded it

Anyway, I note that the sticky posts here say that G&L Legacy pickups built in house are flat stagger.

The ones on this guitar are all marked G&L but have a vintage stagger.... Any thoughts on what they could be or do I need to have the scratch plate off to examine more closely?

It's a lovely guitar but then again so are my Tributes

Thanks

Gary

[Craig]

Hi,

I have 3 G&L guitars - 2 are Tributes (an S-500 and an ASAT Special) and I've just managed to get a second hand USA made Legacy from 1995.

I say it's 1995 - this was told to me by the shop from markings under the neck pocket - I have no 1st hand knowledge of this. The headstock has no serial numbers. I'll post photos in case someone can tell me what the colour is actually called - it's a burst, but very light. I'm not sure if it's always looked like this or if the years have faded it

Anyway, I note that the sticky posts here say that G&L Legacy pickups built in house are flat stagger.

The ones on this guitar are all marked G&L but have a vintage stagger.... Any thoughts on what they could be or do I need to have the scratch plate off to examine more closely?

It's a lovely guitar but then again so are my Tributes

Thanks

Gary

Without seeing them, I would guess that a previous owner replaced the stock pickups with some kind of vintage staggered pickups
and used the original G&L pickup covers. I think you are going to need to remove the pickguard and look at these pickups from underneath.
Please post some photos, see Tutorial: Posting photos.

Regarding the serial number, you should find it located on the neck plate, see Serial number significance.

Hope this helps.

[Gary_W]

Thanks Craig - much appreciated.

I've got a heavy week this week so won't get chance till the weekend but I will do as you suggest and look at the underside.

So I guess I'd be better off with a flat set in there?

[Miles Smiles]

Regarding to Craigs post here: http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewt ... 988#p39191

pickus were changed in 1995. I own a 1994 Legacy with the Seymour Duncans installed. They are flat too, there's no G&L on the pickup covers.

Backside:




Frontside:

[Gary_W]

Hi,

I got home earlier than expected and have managed to take some pictures. You were (of course!) right - they appear to be after market pickups that someone has just soldered in there..... Some people are crazy. I have no idea what these things are but they measure DC resistances of 5.6k (neck), 5.7k (middle) and 8.6k (bridge). Which is too hot IMO. Whatever they are, I'm guessing they are less impressive than G&L pickups as the G&L covers have been used....

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So..... Long shot, but can anyone guess what these are? They look like cheap Far East efforts but I'm happy to be put straight on this.... This Legacy sounds a touch darker than I'd like so may get a different set in there. I haven't measured the fretboard radius but in the shops extensive write up it said it was 12" I have no reason to doubt it. For this reason a flat profile would be better wouldn't it?

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Are these caps original or have they been swapped out too?

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As to the guitar itself, the serial number is G049691

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and inside the body cavity is written this

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Any idea what that means?

And for body wood, I'm guessing Alder due to the relative lack of grain? Is this tobacco sunburst? As stated earlier, it's rather light in the daylight.

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The shop tell me it has 1995 written in the neck neck pocket. I haven't had the neck off but have no reason to doubt them - they did a great setup before I bought it and entered this age in the advert prior to me buying.

Any thoughts gratefully received

[suave eddie]

they measure DC resistances of 5.6k (neck), 5.7k (middle) and 8.6k (bridge). Which is too hot IMO.

Resistance measurement in itself is meaningless. Without knowing what gauge wire and what type magnets are used, it doesn't tell you much. It can have some bearing if you are comparing pickups of identical build.

[Gary_W]

Thanks Eddie - I get that, but (as a very, very rough indicator) you can say that this will have been sold as a 'hot' bridge pickup as opposed to a 'vintage' can't you?

[suave eddie]

Thanks Eddie - I get that, but (as a very, very rough indicator) you can say that this will have been sold as a 'hot' bridge pickup as opposed to a 'vintage' can't you?

Well, that I couldn't tell you.

The real question here seems to be, how do they sound to you? Your ears are the most important aspect of this equation. If they don't excite you, then you have many options--you could go for the original G&L, or try some of Lucifer's recommendations here--he seems to have quite a bit of experience with pickup swapping. (Just don't ask him what he thinks of your pickguard )

I'm not a strat kind of guy--have never really been able to bond with one--But when I was shopping for my ASAT, I did play a Legacy for a while in the store just to compare different necks--and I have to say, I thought it had a very classic "strat-like" sound. If I had been in the market for that style guitar I would have bought it.

[louis cyfer]

eddie is correct, the dc resistance alone does not tell you much, however the difference between the pups does indicate that the bridge is calibrated. this is actually a good thing. considering how much less the string moves at the bridge position, the output from a similar up will be much less, and will be very hard to balance. usually requires the bridge pup way too close and the others too far from the strings.
for a traditional strat sound my favorites are the klein jazzy cats and epic 56, the fralin real 54's and d allen big cats and strat cats.

[Gary_W]

Thanks folks - I appreciate the replies

As to how it sounds - 'not as bright as I expected' would be my answer. I kind of thought this was normal as it was a legacy and my other G&L guitars have the MFD pickups. I like the neck and I'm enjoying the bridge. The middle and inbetweens just aren't quite as I'd hoped.

I now wonder if the darkness / my lack of love is due to the pickups..... It sounds very nice in two positions but I recon it could do better.

Over here in the UK I've used Bulldog before http://www.ekmpowershop6.com/ekmps/shop ... /index.asp

He wound me a set of humbuckers for a Godin LGX that I have and it took a great PLAYING guitar to a guitar that also sounded amazing. I think I'll give him a call and describe the guitar to see what he says.