G&L Legacy

[Crusher]

Hi! I could enjoy a little chat and some hints here

I have a beautiful G&L legacy "Barely Naked" honey ale 2012 collection with an awesome pickguard (it really is just a SSS legacy with custom limited edition colors and pickguard). Unfortunately, it is discotinued, so I cannot get another one. I wanted to modify it so it sports Humbuckers (I really liked the feel and shape of the legacy, but cannot get myself open to single coils - I never was able to but the guitar was a dream to play, and eye candy too!). Well, I've got some questions, and I have searched everywhere for an answer to no avail. I don't want to modify the pickguard, I want to keep it as is for two reasons : to keep the original part and because I really like the look of it! I don't want to put any other pickguard either...

By knowing I don't want to modify the pickguard in any way (no reroute or anything) :
1. Are G&L blades humbucker a direct swap?
2. Can Seymour Duncan JB Jr. fit in by direct swap? (saw some people put them in, but seems like dimensions aren't working on their site... so I am a bit lost there)
3. Any idea what kind of single coil sized humbucker could fit in? (I have JB / 59 hh legacy I really love, want to make something as close as this as possible - I gig a lot, and it will be sharing tasks)

I really appreciate if someone could help me out on this. I am out of solutions, I really wish I wouldn't have to modify the pickguard!

Thank you very much! Have a great day!

[FZTNT]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Please post some photos of your guitars.

For clarification, did you mean G&L BB as in Blues Boy or BN as in ? I'm not sure?

Sounds like you are one of us though so post some pics and register the guitars in the registry.

Tom

[Crusher]

Thanks mate! Happy to be here. I just read my post back, and noticed it was confusing indeed. It is a legacy 2012 collection. The BN stands for Barely Naked. It is a limited edition. Will register all my stuff when I have the chance to, for sure!

http://www.glguitars.com/instruments/us ... legacy.asp

As for pictures, here are some - isn't that a real beauty ? :







I just took measures of the pickups compared to my Fender strat. They seem to be the exact same dimensions. Still, I guess seymour duncans will fit in it - they are made to fit strats. I still wonder about G&L blades humbuckers though. Wish it would fit. Anyone ever tried the JB jr?

Since it's brownish and it's a "barely naked" finish, it's got the most wacko nickname ever. Color me stupid, but I proudly named it "Ron Jeremy" haha!

I edited my last post to make it more clear.

[Challenger]

I'm not at home right now, but I'm pretty sure the pickguard in my Legacy is the same as the pickguards in my Legacy Specials. The Legacy Special pickups still retain some bell like chime characteristics that the Legacy has. So, depending on the humbucking sound you desire, the Legacy Special pickups may not take you far enough compared to some of the SD pickups. Read the description for the Legacy Special on the G&L website and check out some demos on line.

Personally, I love the Legacy Special blade pickups. The Legacy Special is a very versatile guitar. It can give you the over drive when needed, but still clean up to sound close to a Legacy.

[Crusher]

That would be really awesome mate! I really like the Special blades pickups. Had bought one used in the past and it was really really awesome but had to return it back to the owner as he was really sad to let it go and asked me to sell it back the day after - couldn't refuse, his sweat made the pickups rusty, it was his, felt like it from the headstock to the strap pin. Felt sad for the guy, so I gave it back.

I mostly play punk rock stuff right now, though I play a lot of genre - like the energy of it and all. I had my jazz, blues, funk, rock, and so on time, that will eventually come back... so it's versatility is pretty welcome. It's hardcore sometimes though, it might sound awesome alone, but sometimes doesn't cut through in a band or doesn't fit. My S500 is a killer one, but really, in a band context, especially on more heavy stuff (distortion-wise), it really lacks a bit due to it's single coil nature. Don't get me wrong, the guitar is an absolute beauty! And the sound of it is amazing! Just can't quite put my finger on why it doesn't work as good as my SD JB/59 loaded hh legacy.

On day, I'll eventually get a pair of MFD F100 in the bridge and neck! Will sound KILLER!

Thanks, will wait for your answer about the pickups size. If it is the same, I have to choose between blades humbuckers and JBjr and lil'59.

Cheers!

[Challenger]

They look the same to me after measuring. My Legacy pickup is 70mm long and 18mm wide. The Legacy Special pickups are the same measurements.

[Crusher]

That's awesome news. Now, the hard part : the choice between both... heh!

By the way, seeing those guitars from your avatar, I could take some input. Are F100 good stuff. I mean, I really like the S500 but lacks some oomph. My bet is humbucker MFD might be really awesome. Are they really dirt, I mean, can they still keep defined? I am not a fan of muddy, but I am not a fan of pickups that cannot break up either. Videos over Youtube makes them sound like regular humbucker to me, but really, S500 over internet sounds like regular pickups too, while in person, sounds totally different. It's good stuff.

If I ask that question, it's really a matter of options for me : want to mod my S500 with two F100 pickups. Money is an issue with new house and kids coming. You know what it is... the golden days of compulsive guitar buying are over hahaha.

I know it is hard to define a pickup's tone and all, but well, I would love to know more about those pickups. There are no store having G&L over here. Don't really know what happened, but seems like Quebec isn't in the aim of G&L anymore. Such a shame, I really love that brand!

Cheers.

[Challenger]

For some reason the F-100 doesn't get a lot of respect that it deserves. The vintage F-100 pickups and the contemporary F-100 pickups are not the same. They are wound differently. Since you are considering the contemporary, I'll focus on those. My contemporary F-100 has a mahogany body, ebony fingerboard and the DFS vibrato (that I believe is now discontinued). The pickups are dark and powerful. The rthythm has a mellow dark sound while the bridge brightens up a bit and can cause your clean channel in the amp to start breaking into a distortion with full volume on the guitar. The sound I get with both pickups together is incredible, especially for clean rhythm playing. The brightness of the bridge compliments the mellowness of the neck pickup like nothing else on the market. My favorite sound on this guitar is both pickups humbucking together. The neck pickup by itself is a little dark for my taste. The vintage pickups are much brighter.

With the coils split, there is a very believable single coil MDF sound, similar in nature to an S-500 sound. The one thing that really holds back the contemporary F-100 is the single tone control. The pickups as humbuckers are rather dark as it is. I can't think of a need to ever turn down the tone control. I would like to see the PTB tone controls on the F-100 and to brighten up the pickups a little more to the specs of the vintage ones.

[Crusher]

That was my intention all along : put a PTB with those F100! I am pretty sure it must be awesome. I really like the way you describe it, you convinced me I will have to do that mod!! Thank you very much for your answer. It was really well written, I appreciate. It's hard to find info about them, they don't seem to be "popular" and except for the vintage ones, it's almost impossible to find clips or videos...

[Challenger]

Sounds like you have a plan. I like to think of the Contemporary F-100 as the Dodge Challenger Hellcat of the guitar world. Lots of power packed in there. You just have to learn how to control it and shape the sound. A full PTB would definitely be a step in that direction over the single tone control. I should also add that the F-100 pickups beg to be played loud. The louder the amp, the sweeter the sound.

To compensate for the single tone and the dark powerful sound, I got a BBE Sonic Stomp pedal. The Sonic Stomp is incredible, it makes the guitar sound so much better. I don't remember how BBE (owner of G&L) describes it. But long story short, you can dial in a more pleasing sound on almost any guitar. If you don't have one, get one. It's like going from 2D to 3D.

[Crusher]

Gotta check about that! I will make sure to post some clips when I mod that S500 for a F100... or maybe buy another G&L legacy/S500 and mod it. I am still unsure, but what I know is the F100 with PTB has got to be badass! For bass, that was my statment at least. The L2000 compared to a Jazz bass is crazy amazing. That's where the idea came from. It sounds huge on bass, my guess is it's gonna be the same on guitar.

Still curious about that pedal you talked about (sonic stomp), so I'm gonna do my homeworks and check it out ASAP! As for the amp, trust me, there are two mods - loud and very loud!

[Crusher]

Sorry, same questions again... Challenger, we're bound to talk haha! I've got a more precise question for you mate, or a more detailled one to be fair!

I want to know if those blades humbuckers can sound very humbuckerish. I recall I liked them a lot when playing alone when I got one. The JB is the only thing that worked as of now, where I don't have to fight back. But I really want to use that brown guitar - it's been calling my name, even in my dreams... so now, I really am stuck between JB jr and the blades humbuckers since the pickguard mod / swap is a no go. I can't stand single coil noise either when on gain... Any good cue here would help. It's more about the mix, do they cut through well? Are they "oomphy" enough? I only played them solo, and found those pickups AWESOME, it's more about playing together. I read anywhere the JB jr wasn't oomphy enough, too thin. Some say it sounds as good and as full as the full sized JB... but I doubt it, since I've yet to find a convincing one. The blades in the bridge, as I recall, were pretty awesome. I was pretty fond of it.

So, having said that, I just noticed I was, yet again, unclear and very lousy. Could you help me about my 100 000 interrogations?

[Challenger]

I played a Legacy Special live all the time in the 1990's when I was in an alternative rock band. The other guitar player used either a 12 string acoustic or a Fender Telecaster. The bridge pickup is hotter than the other two. I usually played rthythm on the neck pickup. If I did lead, it was on the bridge pickup that was hotter. I haven't played with a full band for years. But, I don't recall having any issues against the Legacy Special.

[Crusher]

Cool, thanks for the info. It's a hard choice as it's gonna be costly for me (Canada is 30% under USdollar + 15% import duties)... so, I would prefer not to mess it up haha!

[Crusher]

Don't have the money yet for the whole pickup stuff... that's an expensive try Maybe I will put SD JB jr to avoid spending a lot right now, but will eventually put some Blades. As for the S500, will surely put F100 in the bridge, when money will be easier!

[Crusher]

After a long while, finally decided to dive in JB jr in my 2012 legacy. Quite nice for a single coil sized humbucker! It's really really nice, almost the same as the full sized one. Lacks a bit of "boom" and "fatness" the full size got, but it's a bit thighter in sound, and surprisingly better dynamics (the jb is quite compressed, the jb jr a bit less) which is not bad at all. Will probably pierce better in a band situation. Sunday will tell Quite happy, I even intend to put little 59 in the neck. So far so good!