NGD - G&L Legacy (USA)

[RYAN1987M]

Hello,

I just received a brand new G&L Legacy (USA) on Monday March 30th. Quite simply, it is the finest instrument that I've ever had the pleasure of owning.

I had been wanting to buy a Legacy for quite awhile and this was an opportunity that I could not pass up. I noticed that 'The Guitar Store' in Seattle ordered a special run from G&L - they brought in nine unique Legacy's, each one outfitted with a differently spec'ed neck (G&L offers nine unique necks with varying specs).

It was painful waiting for this guitar to make its way to Canada. It's as if the instrument went on tour without me. It shipped out from Seattle, travelled south to San Francisco, and then made a quick stop in Chicago before finally landing in Toronto. Although I cannot prove this scientifically, I do think that the guitar picked up some extra 'mojo' in these famously musical cities.

I have nothing but positive things to say about 'The Guitar Store' - from start to finish, they were a pleasure to deal with. I also must add that my guitar arrived in pristine condition and exactly as described. The guitar was packed up with great care within its case and the case was packed up with equal care within a larger cardboard box.

G&L should be commended for this one! As someone who has owned a few MIA Fender Strat's, I'd say that (in my humble opinion) the Legacy is a superior instrument for equal (or perhaps even less) money. My Legacy screams of refinement. I cannot get over how good this guitar feels - it is just so solid! For my tastes, the neck is the literal embodiment of perfection. The fretwork is outstanding too. The fit and finish of this guitar are unparalleled and the colour is also absolutely out of this world (I know this is cliche, but pictures do not do it justice - you've really got to see it in person).

To me, the features on this guitar are extremely intuitive. Leo's Dual-Fulcrum Vibrato is the finest that I've played (though I must admit that I don't use the whammy bar too often). I really appreciate the PTB tone control system. This guitar is wired up so that the top tone control is a treble-cut for all pickups and the bottom tone control is a bass-cut for all pickups. This is greatly superior to standard Strat wiring (again, in my opinion). As a solo/basement player, I don't have to compete with the frequencies of a bassist, and to my ear, the sweep of the Legacy's tone controls are more useable then those on a stock Strat. Full six-string chords sound a lot better through my Legacy then they ever did on any of my Strat's (this sound is optimised when I roll the Legacy's treble knob down to about 6 or 7 - I often tried to replicate this kind of sound on my Strat's, but the results were never quite as good).

The overall sound of this guitar is simply amazing. I think that the pickups are fantastic - the quintessential S-type tone for sure! I'm amazed by how well this guitar projects the intricacies of my playing (as well as all of my many mistakes and flaws). From a technical perspective, I'm not sure how or why, but I've never had a guitar sound so articulate before - the prevalence of a hammer-on or pull-off really jumps out at your ear. There is definitely a lot of clarity ringing out of this Legacy!

G&L has really done an excellent job. It sounds like they're a real pleasure to deal with. Although I didn't commission this custom build myself, I was happy to find it because it had all of the specs that are important to me (the U-shaped neck, the 12" radius, the rosewood board, the awesome graphite colour, etc.). It's also cool to receive a USA G&L with the accompanying 'Custom Build Specifications' sheet and the 'Certificate of Authenticity'. I know that people have argued that if Leo never got sick and never sold to CBS, then these G&L Legacy's would be exactly what he envisioned the Standard Strat's evolving towards.

In closing, I'm not looking to be inflammatory, but I cannot comprehend why anyone would buy a new MIA Standard Strat when they could have a custom-spec'ed G&L Legacy for about the same price.

And finally, for anyone who is curious about the specs -

Model: Legacy
Body Wood: Alder
Finish Color: Graphite Metallic with Satin Frost top coat
Neck Finish: Clear Satin
Neck Profile: #1c G&L Modern U – 1st Fret Depth of 0.850” & 12th Fret Depth of 0.910”
Neck Wood: Hard-Rock Maple
Fretboard: Rosewood
Neck Scale: 25 1/2"
Fretboard Radius: 12"
Nut Width: 1 5/8"
Nut Material: Natural Bone
Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo - Plek Dressed
Bridge: Leo Fender designed G&L Dual-Fulcrum Vibrato
Tuners: Sperzel
Pickups: Three G&L CLF-100 Alnico V Single-Coils
Controls: Five-Position Blade Selector - Volume, Treble (PTB System), Bass (PTB System)
Weight: 8lbs 2oz
Case: Deluxe Black Tolex

Thanks for reading this lengthy posting - have a good one!

Ryan

[RYAN1987M]

And of course, pictures -













On the bench at the G&L Factory - Sept. 2014 -



At 'The Guitar Store' in Seattle -

[Fumble fingers]

beautiful guitar , love the color combo , cool they include weight now on the spec sheet ... yes they are equal to Fender custom shop at American Standard price , that's good for us lets try to keep quiet about that , lol ..... and The Guitar Store ROCKS !!

[darwinohm]

Ryan, that is a sweet looker! -- Darwin

[john o]

Hey Ryan, that's a sharp lookin legacy, i like the black on cool blue.
I'll bet you'll be playin a good bit this weekend!

[KenC]

Hey Ryan,

Congratulations on a gorgeous Legacy!

Ken

[glvourot]

Nice , nice guitar. A real looker. Enjoy !

[lefty_major]

Thank you for sharing. I really like the frost on the metallic. It's a great looking guitar.

[Case24]

That's a gorgeous Legacy Ryan! Congratulations! I really like the black pick guard with the graphite colour. Just realized that you and I live only about 2 hours apart.

[astutzmann]

sure is a beauty, congrats.

[RYAN1987M]

Well, I decided to order a new pickguard (from Pickguard Heaven) and new plastics (directly from G&L). I went with a cream/black/cream 3-ply pickguard and cream pickup covers and control knobs.

If the stock black pickguard was 3-ply (black/white/black) I likely wouldn’t have changed it - anyhow though, I am definitely happy with the change! Although I am curious if mint would have looked even better…

Before -







After -

[yowhatsshakin]

Either way: nice! Will be honest I like the dark appointments just a tad better with the color. Maybe you can go zebra

- Jos