Wither G&L Legacys. Edumacate me?

[JGale]

What makes or breaks these guitars? What to look out for. What to crave?

Care to share your thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Jim

[LordsoftheJungle]

1 minute ago, JGale said:

What makes or breaks these guitars? What to look out for. What to crave?

Care to share your thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Jim

 

In my experience they are incredibly consistent. I've always swapped out the pickups though that was more of a compulsion than a need, the stock pickups sound fine. I'd say locking tuners are a must and most already have them. Some folks don't like the floating trem but I like it. 

[Gabe]

If you swap pickups be aware that the original pickups are somewhat bigger than regular single coils for strats.

So you may need  new pick guard to make it look good.

 

Gabe 😀

 

[Jeff R]

Yes, you will need to spec Fender-sized singles for a replacement guard if that's your mod plan.

92-96 Legacy three-bolt-plate guitars seem to have more exaggerated edge rolls/bevels and are more comfy to me than 97 to the present four-bolts. 

Weights can be all over the place, so confirm the weight if buying blind.

I prefer the alder ones over the ash ones, but that's my preference with all strat and tele styles.

The Dual Fulcrum is among my favorite non-locking tremolo units ever.

I have refretted my '96 three-bolt, refinished the fingerboard and trunk in Danish oil for a generations-old feel, ditched G&L's PTB tone controls for a master tone and a neck-on toggle, and I've wound my own pickups for mine since this pic was taken.

Mine is the best SSS strat-style guitar I've ever touched. But you, Kiz, Brooks and a bunch of other old timer HFC'ers already knew that.

[topekatj]

Aren’t there fingerboard radius options on the G&L’s, as well?

[it's me HHB]

I LOVE the stock legacy treble and bass controls, sounds killer, I played one for about a year on the road in the 90s, sounds fat 

[tbonesullivan]

They are great Strat type guitars. The Legacy Special is also nice if you like the twinblade sound, and there is also the similar S-500 which uses Ceramic MFD pickups. I think the body may be a little different.   I have two 4 bolt Legacies, and they are incredibly comfortable and responsive guitars.

I will echo what others have said: the tremolo is awesome. It has a very nice feel, and seems to react much less to string bending than other floating tremolos. It's also a solid feel, and adjusting the arm tension is easy.