The place to discuss, post photos, video, and audio of the G&L products (US instruments, stomp boxes, etc.) produced after 1991, including the amps & gear we use with them.
I just traded my MM John Petrucci for this, as new, Legacy. A local pro musician bought it new and didn't like the Legacy pickups. He took it to the top luthier in the twin cities and had Kinman Blues Pickups installed , an Ervana nut, new wiring, and had the frets dressed and a setup. This was not his cup of tea as he likes T-types. I insulted him by asking why he would have a pleked neck dressed. Our first exchange was a disaster as he thought I was being confrontational. I told him that the money he put into it was probably not worth much to anyone else. That is always hard to hear but reality. I contacted him and told him I could appreciate him not wanting to do business with me but if he were interested, I thought that he really had a nice guitar and to contact me. He did immediately and we had several exchanges in the next several days.So here is my new Legacy.
A white blond with a beautiful swamp ash body, and is quite light. Got neck and the Kinman pickups are awesome and I can see why someone would like them. I do! Here are some pictures. It is a 2010 before the microwave plate.
The pictures do not do the White Blond justice but it is very transparent. Darwin
That one doesn't need to be red Darwin. She's gorgeous as she is. Well done.
Do you have a standard Legacy to give us a comparison with the Kinman pickups?
I'm always interested in noiseless pickups designs and people's opinions. Perhaps a better comparison would be with the Lace sensors on your Strat Plus?
Very nice! I love that color with that pickguard; is that 'parchment' color? I take it that he used the original pickup cover as they match the color of the pickguard. The reason I suspect that is that my Melancon has a set of Kinman Blues pickups, and the pickup covers has Kinman written on them.
My experience with Kinman pickups from my Melancon is that they are quite sensitive to pickup height adjustment. Mine took me a bit of tweaking before the pickups sounded good, but once I got them properly set they sounded excellent.
a beauty Darwin, when you buy 12 don't they usually throw in a extra one? Oh wait that's only with corn on the cob and doughnuts! Maybe you should contact someone at G&L and ask about the baker's dozen rule, we may be able to get you to unlucky 13 in no time.
Philby, The best description I can give is the standard Legacy pickups would be "thin" compared the to these as they are very dynamic. The volume can be turned way up and there is absolutely no noise. These pickups have a wide range of sounds and can still quack. The neck pickup only, is awesome, such a full clean sound. I will compare to my Strat Plus when I get a chance.
Kit, the pickup levels are balanced very well and it was done by a luthier who works on guitars for artists. The pickup covers are not the G&L original and I would assume are Kinman. These pickups are the Kinman Blues. I will do some research on line to learn more about them. The guy who got the Petrucci is an awesome guitar player, a working pro. He was amazed at the action and how easy it played. He made it sound like I never could. Boy, is that humbling. Anyway, I have never been into pickup mods but I found this guitar interesting and it is a keeper even though I have too many Legacys. I mentioned that the wiring had been replaced but I do not know with what or why but this guy was meticulous about everything. Can you imagine buying a custom build Legacy and immediately dropping another $700 into mods with a well know tech, and then deciding that this isn't what you quite like? I would have a hard time explaining that to Ginny! What I can tell you is that Blonde's are beautiful!!!! Thanks guys. I plan on removing the neck as I am uncertain what neck it has but I suspect a #1.-- Darwin
Scott, I could use an extra, but if you check the registry, there are some guys on this forum who have unbelievable collections and large numbers of G&L's. They have planned their collections very carefully. I am kind of hit and miss at times but I do not have any that I want to part with. Thanks-- Darwin
Glvourot, thanks for your comment. I have a White Blonde Fender Mary Kaye Stat and it is a pure white transparent with a vintage tint neck with gold hardware, a looker. The G&L has more of a Vintage White tint and is also gorgeous. I will post pictures of them together soon. I did a complete setup today and it is sweet. The action was quite high. It is now very low with less than .005 neck relief.
Jason, the finish is a lot more transparent that the photo shows. It is stunning. The body seam is not evident in the grain although I know it is a 2 piece body because I can see a trace of a seam on the topcoat. -- Darwin
Kit wrote:Very nice! I love that color with that pickguard; is that 'parchment' color? I take it that he used the original pickup cover as they match the color of the pickguard. The reason I suspect that is that my Melancon has a set of Kinman Blues pickups, and the pickup covers has Kinman written on them.
Kit
A few years ago, Kinman offered pup covers with an untinted or erased logo. You had thus to watch the guitar quite close to see the logo but it was definitely there.
I don't know what he's offering nowadays though.
What a sweet player, Darwin. Now I'm intrigued by the Kinsman pickups. I played a Fender Mark Knopfler Strat a couple of days ago and was really impressed by the Texas Specials. They're a little more aggressive than the standard Legacy pickups, so I'm thinking of getting a set (or something comparable) and dropping them into my cheap Korean Strat (along with an upgraded bridge and tuners). Now call me crazy for wanting to do this to a fifty buck Squier Bullet Strat with a plywood body, but the neck on that baby is a killer and it plays and resonates better than any Mexi Strat I've ever played.
CGT, the Squier would be a perfect guitar to do that to. If it has a great neck, that is what makes it playable. I have Texas Specials in a Strat and a Tele. They sound great and are a little more grit than standard Fender pickups. The Kinman Blues do have a very nice sound, especially the neck position. Kit had asked about the pickup covers and they are not G&L covers, but I suspect Kinman covers.
I made a comparison between my Fender Mary Kaye 57 reissue and the Legacy Blonde today. The Mary Kaye is a pure white transparent and beautiful with the Gold hardware. The Blonde on the G&L is a bit more vintage white but is much more transparent. With the swamp ash grain, it is a killer for looks. If it had gold hardware, it would be off the charts. That would put it in the display case to replace the Mary Kaye. I hope that G&L has a lot of the Swamp Ash available and this one happens to be light. The woods they use are incredible. Thanks CGT and have a great day-- Darwin
Kit wrote:Very nice! I love that color with that pickguard; is that 'parchment' color? I take it that he used the original pickup cover as they match the color of the pickguard. The reason I suspect that is that my Melancon has a set of Kinman Blues pickups, and the pickup covers has Kinman written on them.
My experience with Kinman pickups from my Melancon is that they are quite sensitive to pickup height adjustment. Mine took me a bit of tweaking before the pickups sounded good, but once I got them properly set they sounded excellent.
Kit
When I bought my Kinman pick-ups there was an option to have plain covers with no writing/logo but it was a $13.00 up charge.
Kit wrote:Very nice! I love that color with that pickguard; is that 'parchment' color? I take it that he used the original pickup cover as they match the color of the pickguard. The reason I suspect that is that my Melancon has a set of Kinman Blues pickups, and the pickup covers has Kinman written on them.
My experience with Kinman pickups from my Melancon is that they are quite sensitive to pickup height adjustment. Mine took me a bit of tweaking before the pickups sounded good, but once I got them properly set they sounded excellent.
Kit
When I bought my Kinman pick-ups there was an option to have plain covers with no writing/logo but it was a $13.00 up charge.
darwinohm wrote:CGT, the Squier would be a perfect guitar to do that to. If it has a great neck, that is what makes it playable. I have Texas Specials in a Strat and a Tele. They sound great and are a little more grit than standard Fender pickups. The Kinman Blues do have a very nice sound, especially the neck position. Kit had asked about the pickup covers and they are not G&L covers, but I suspect Kinman covers.
I made a comparison between my Fender Mary Kaye 57 reissue and the Legacy Blonde today. The Mary Kaye is a pure white transparent and beautiful with the Gold hardware. The Blonde on the G&L is a bit more vintage white but is much more transparent. With the swamp ash grain, it is a killer for looks. If it had gold hardware, it would be off the charts. That would put it in the display case to replace the Mary Kaye. I hope that G&L has a lot of the Swamp Ash available and this one happens to be light. The woods they use are incredible. Thanks CGT and have a great day-- Darwin
Why don't you have the hardware gold plated yourself?
Michael, I am happy with the Blonde the way it is. Gold plating wears off easily and this gal will look good for ever. The Mary Kaye sits in a Fender display case and will never get played. I can play this one and not have to worry about the plating wearing off. She is still a looker!-- Darwin
Darwin
Love the semi-transparency of the blonde finish.
