New (to me) 1991 G&L legacy special, electronics issues

[bobheff]

Hello all,

I recently purchased a G&L Legacy Special secondhand. The entry in the registry says the body was manufactured in December 1991 (there is no date listed for the neck).

I love the feel of the guitar --- it's great to play --- but thee are some problems with the electronics.

At some point in its life somebody made the following changes:
1. Installed a Seymour Duncan Lil Screamin' Demon in the bridge position, with a push-pot for splitting the coil (the middle tone pot)
2. Put single-coil pickups in the other two positions. (The claim when I bought it was that they are G&L alnico single coils).

The issues I am having are:
1. When I adjust the volume control the signal drops off very quickly. So, rather than going smoothly from full-output at 10 to off at 0, things die out at around 8. The same is true of the tone controls (the bottom tone control in particular seems to make almost no difference except between 9 and 10).

2. From what I can tell, the tone controls seem to be acting more like Stratocaster tone controls than what I would expect from the G&L PTB system. Now, I've never actually played a G&L before now, so I'm not entirely sure what to expect from PTB controls but it seems as if one tone control affects only the neck pickup and the other affects only the middle (which shouldn't be the case). It's a little hard to hear, however.

The 5-way switch is a little stiff too. Moreover, even the knob on the 5-way switch seems cheap (there's a rough ridge in the plastic).

I'm planning to open it up and take a look and I'm hoping that people here can help me with a few questions:
1. How can I tell whether the guitar is wired with the PTB system or not.
2. Is there a way of telling whether or not the two single-coils are G&L pickups or not?
3. How would I fix the problems with the volume and tone controls? If there was scratching, I'd try some contact cleaner, but this doesn't seem to be the issue (but perhaps contact cleaner would help?)

My guess would be that the best thing would be to get new pots (and maybe a new 5-way switch) but I have no experience at all with this sort of thing.

Thank you all for you help. I'm new to the forum and to G&L guitars, but this site is a great resource!

[SouthpawGuy]

I don't think G&L CLF-100 alnico Vs were available in '91, they didn't come along for another couple of years. The single coils used previous to G&Ls own were the Duncan SSL-2 model. Both have non staggered pole pieces, ie. the poles are flat, not raised.

A close up shot of the CLF-100s in my own Legacy, note the embossed G&L logo on the pickups ...



On a G&L PTB system the lowest pot, nearest the floor, is the master bass control for all three pickups. The middle pot is the master treble for all three pickups. It sounds like your guitar has been completely rewired.

Is your guitar left handed ? It sounds like the pots are wired backwards, literally. If a lefty guitar is wired left handed using right handed pots the volume and tone controls will act more like on / off switches with very sudden drop off.

I have two lefty Legacys set up with DiMarzio pickups, both intentionally retain the PTB controls. There should be a wiring diagram for the PTB system in the gallery ... http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/GALLERY2/ma ... _itemId=97

http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/GALLERY2/ma ... temId=8869

[bobheff]

SouthpawGuy,

Thank you for your response.

The modifications may have been made some time after 1991. The entry in the registry doesn't mention changed pickups (although it does mention that Sperzel locking tuners had been installed).

The single-coil pickups have staggered pole pieces and do not have the embossed G&L logo. The guy who sold it to me described them as " G&L USA Single Coils".

It is not a left-handed guitar. It might, I suposse, be the case that whoever did the wiring put things in the wrong way around.

[SouthpawGuy]

My mid to late '90s Legacy Special, with stock factory locking Sperzels and G&L Gotoh Blade / Power Blade pickups



Note the Grap Tech nut and string tree and Special logo on the headstock

[bobheff]

SouthpawGuy,

That looks similar to mine (right down to the light blue coat). I had assumed that the Sperzel locking tuners were added post-factory.

I'm not sure how to tell if my nut & spring tree are Graph Techs, but they are black, at least.

My guitar has a maple fretboard, a perloid pickguard, isn't a lefty and (of course) doesn't have the powerblade pickups installed.

[Craig]

SouthpawGuy,

That looks similar to mine (right down to the light blue coat). I had assumed that the Sperzel locking tuners were added post-factory.

I'm not sure how to tell if my nut & spring tree are Graph Techs, but they are black, at least.

My guitar has a maple fretboard, a perloid pickguard, isn't a lefty and (of course) doesn't have the powerblade pickups installed.

Please post a photo (including the headstock).
The Legacy Special did not start production until 1993 and the headstock decal (as shown by SouthpawGuy's guitar) has the complete
model name. If your's has just the "Legacy" decal, then it is the standard Legacy model. The Legacy first came out in 1992, so a body date of 12/91
would not be unusual and would indicate it is one of the first production units.

See: Production List of G&L Instruments (USA) and List of pickups used in G&L guitars.

Hope this helps.

[bobheff]

Craig,

I say that the body is from 1991 only because that's what the pre-existing entry in the registry said. It did not list a date for the neck.

My guitar is a 3-bolt model, which I think indicates that it is older.

I have put some pictures here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/138480404 ... res/874Nc0

Edit: The serial is G035880.

[Craig]

Craig,

I say that the body is from 1991 only because that's what the pre-existing entry in the registry said. It did not list a date for the neck.

My guitar is a 3-bolt model, which I think indicates that it is older.

I have put some pictures here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/138480404 ... res/874Nc0

Edit: The serial is G035880.

Your photos do confirm it was a Legacy Special.
3-bolt necks started switching to 4-bolts in mid 1997. See: When and why did G&L switch to a four-bolt neck?.

If you want to restore it back to the G&L Blade pickups and pots, you can get them from the G&L Online-Store.

Hope this helps.

[bobheff]

Craig,

Thank you for your help. I guess my guitar is was one of the first production units as you suggest.

I cannot spend the money at the moment to buy a set of blade pickups but I will attempt to rewire it so as to put the PTB system back in place, if possible.

It might be best to simply replace the pots (and perhaps the 5-way switch) but I will first check to see if the pots have been wired the wrong way around, as SouthpawGuy suggests could have been the case.