One week Legacy report

[Rideoften]

Well I got my new 30th anniversary Legacy one week ago and here's my report.

Fit & Finish:
Pretty darn good. Beautiful paint except in the truss rod cut-out (still some wood showing). Chrome looks fantastic. Overall, very nice.

Sound:
Fantastic, the sound is Leo Fender. Love the way the tone pots work. Several distinct variations and all sound sweet. Played through my Music Man amp it just screams Leo Fender.
Too much noise when you let go of the strings. Needs more shielding.

Action:
This is my first Plek guitar and I guess I was expecting too much. The action was too high for me and I can't get it as low as my Korean Epiphone without severe string buzz. Maybe the truss rod needs an adjustment.

Overall:
I love the guitar but it's going to take some work to make it great. In this price range I expected it to be great right out of the box. I've been a Leo fan my whole life and I'm sure this guitar will be perfect with a little tweaking. I'm not at all sorry I made this purchase.

Mike B

[Rideoften]

Tough room.

Mike B

[sirmyghin]

I found to get my action as low as I like I needed to shim the neck. But I like it quite low. Your radius is also going to play against you here if it is less flat too, unless you enjoy fretting out. Simply put, it is not the fretwork that holds it back, just a lack of neck angle.

[Philby]

Any idea what gauge of strings are on it? In my experience 9's always buzz a bit due to their lower mass. 10's are better. As Sirmy pointed out your neck angle may not be quite right too. PLEK'ing only guarantees that the frets and nut are properly set up. There are other factors that affect playability that can be adversely affected by freighting, new climatic conditions etc.

The best idea is to let the guitar settle in for a month or 2 then take it somewhere reputable for a set up. It shouldn't need much work as the frets and nut should be perfect out of the box.

[Craig]

Any idea what gauge of strings are on it? In my experience 9's always buzz a bit due to their lower mass. 10's are better. As Sirmy pointed out your neck angle may not be quite right too. PLEK'ing only guarantees that the frets and nut are properly set up. There are other factors that affect playability that can be adversely affected by freighting, new climatic conditions etc.

The best idea is to let the guitar settle in for a month or 2 then take it somewhere reputable for a set up. It shouldn't need much work as the frets and nut should be perfect out of the box.

It would have come setup with 10's from the factory. See this post for the current setup info:Current Factory setups for DF vibrato G&L guitars

Hope this helps.

[meowmix]

Hey Mike,

I would post something, if I knew what would help.

Well I got my new 30th anniversary Legacy one week ago and here's my report.
Too much noise when you let go of the strings. Needs more shielding.
Mike B

Single coil? Yea, they are like that. I read so many threads on shielding the pickups, and came to the conclusion it wouldn't help for my situation. Sorry, I don't have experience in putting in copper shields in the cavity.

I also own a 30th, and it was grrreat right out of the box.
Hope you get yours to your liking and enjoy it.

Peter

[Rideoften]

Thanks guys. The guitar was delivered with 10"s but I switched to 9's. Sirmy can you explain the shim logic. I can't wrap my mind around the concept. I'd like to learn more about shielding, I'll use the search function. The guitar is beautiful and the sound is just what I wanted. Just need to solve a couple of small problems. It's going to be a keeper for sure. BTW, I'm 59 and have been playing since I was a teenager.

Mike B

[smurph1]

Any idea what gauge of strings are on it? In my experience 9's always buzz a bit due to their lower mass. 10's are better. As Sirmy pointed out your neck angle may not be quite right too. PLEK'ing only guarantees that the frets and nut are properly set up. There are other factors that affect playability that can be adversely affected by freighting, new climatic conditions etc.

The best idea is to let the guitar settle in for a month or 2 then take it somewhere reputable for a set up. It shouldn't need much work as the frets and nut should be perfect out of the box.

Yep I agree..When we spend a large amount of money on a new git, it's frustrating when it doesn't meet our expectations immediately..I bought a Brand Spanking new Heritage H-535 about a year ago..I spent more money on it than any other guitar in my life..The action was high, and it wouldn't stay in tune despite all Tone Pros hardware..But, I stuck with it..I put the Di'Addario 10s I like on it, tweaked the neck to almost totally flat, and gradually lowered the tune-o-matic bridge til I GOT IT!!..Now when I take her out of the case it's in tune, and ready to RAWK!! So be patient and you will be rewarded!!

[sirmyghin]

Thanks guys. The guitar was delivered with 10"s but I switched to 9's. Sirmy can you explain the shim logic. I can't wrap my mind around the concept. I'd like to learn more about shielding, I'll use the search function. The guitar is beautiful and the sound is just what I wanted. Just need to solve a couple of small problems. It's going to be a keeper for sure. BTW, I'm 59 and have been playing since I was a teenager.

Mike B

If you put a shim on the neck, at the heel it raises the heel a bit, and lowers the nut. You need to compensate by riding the bridge a little higher (or the saddles higher), but you can get a bit of a cleaner pull due to the angle, and get away with a bit less neck relief. Generally makes the action across the board a little more even overall. I used cut up business card layers, about 4 or 5 I think.

[Craig]

Thanks guys. The guitar was delivered with 10"s but I switched to 9's. Sirmy can you explain the shim logic. I can't wrap my mind around the concept. I'd like to learn more about shielding, I'll use the search function. The guitar is beautiful and the sound is just what I wanted. Just need to solve a couple of small problems. It's going to be a keeper for sure. BTW, I'm 59 and have been playing since I was a teenager.

Mike B

You don't need a shim to get the setup to factory specs. sirmyghin likes his setup lower than the
factory spec and uses a shim in the neck to accomplish this.

Hope this helps.

[Rideoften]

Thanks guys,

I think I have some good information to proceed although I'm going to wait a few weeks to let the guitar get aclimated to it's new and humid environment. I found quite a bit of shielding info and think I can reduce the noise without changing the sound (which is this guitar's best feature). I appreciate the help.

Mike