G&L Legacy Opinions?

[jlf2960]

Can anyone comment on the G&L Legacy. I have not had the opportunity to play one & they look interesting to me. I'm looking for a guitar with a narrow width at the nut & a fat neck.

Also I noticed that some of them are made of a wood called "American Tilia." Can anyone comment on how this wood sounds?

[Scott Cioe]

Hi,

American Tillia is a fancy term for Basswood. It probably sounds fine with the maple top...Kind of balancing each other out.

As far as the G&L line in general and the Legacy in particular, I think they're fantastic value guitars. I am not sure if they offer the neck width that you require, but they do offer different profile shapes.

The basic Legacy has pickups that are a bit mild for my taste. I prefer the MFD's higher output; but that is about the only criticism. You really can't go wrong with G&L's quality and price.

Scott

[MichaelK]

I they're fantastic, stock pickups and all. EDIT - I was curious about the basswood, so I looked it up and I see they use it under maple tops. Never played one of those, though.

[rwe333]

Brilliant guitars - my faves...
They do offer a range of neck profiles.

[aquadog]

Pretty much all the G&L's are great. I'd definately look at the legacy, or any other of their stratoid makes (I've got a Comanche myself, and its just amazing). You definately can't go wrong with their guitars- even the tributes are excellent for the prices.

G&L makes a pretty damn fine tele too.

[jlf2960]

Thanks for all of the replies. How is the neck on the G&L Legacy? Is it a chuncky C shape?

I am familiar with the PRS Wide Fat, Fender Clapton Strat, Ibanez Wizard, & EBMM Axis neck.

[aquadog]

Here's the neck sizes that you can order with any G&L (assuming you get one new), excluding maybe one model or so.

* Guitars ~ # 1 neck - 12" radius, 1-5/8" nut
* # 2 neck - 7.5" radius, 1-5/8" nut (the smallest neck/vintage Fender feel)
* # 3 neck - 12" radius, 1-3/4" nut (the largest neck)
* # 4 neck - 12" radius, 1-11/16" nut (vintage Gibson feel)
* You can order any of the necks above with a standard "C" shape back, or with a "V" shape back.

Note: There are NO neck options for the Invader model, it can only be ordered with the # 4 neck so as to optimize the Floyd Rose USA Locking Tremolo System. ASAT guitars ordered with a Bigsby will automatically come with a # 1 neck.

[aquadog]

I guess it couldn't hurt to look at the legacy on the G&L website either.

http://www.glguitars.com/frameset.htm

[wilder]

You'll need try try a few out or place a custom order to get anything approching a PRS wide-fat profile. I've owned quite a few, and they don't tend towards fat necks. The Legacy and ASAT I have now are the two chunkiest examples I found. Great guitars though. I like the stock legacy pups quite a bit.

Chris

[Grap]

When it comes to the shape of the back of the neck on a G&L, well, they are all different because they are shaped by hand. You either have to try ouut a whole bunch to find one that fits, be pretty ambivilant about neck shapes (like me), or special order one asking for a particular neck profile. The only spoecial order G&L I own is my www.guitarsbyleo.com Limited Edition, which I ordered with a chunky #1 V neck, and that's precisely whay I got.

- Steve

[mlynn02]

what are the differences between the legacy and the s500?

[Scott Cioe]

Originally posted by mlynn02
what are the differences between the legacy and the s500?

The S-500 has different electronics/Pickups and also has the locking tuners...I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that is about it.

Scott

[KRosser]

G&L guitars are fantastic, I own a Legacy and an ASAT and use them all the time in many kinds of working situations. Absolutely top notch all the way

[Grap]

Here's a run down on the G&L guitars that use the Legacy "chassis" ;)

Legacy: G&L's CLF100 alnico pickups. Vintage style machine heads. Passive treble & bass cut tone circuit. 5-position switch. G&L Dual fulcrum bridge or saddle lock bridge (special order only). C shaped neck with 12" radius fretboard and medium fret wire.

Fullerton: As the Legacy, but with Strat style tone circuit and a V shaped neck.

Legacy Special: As the Legacy, but with Gotoh dual blade single coil sized humbuckers in the neck and middle positions, and a Gotoh power blade at the bridge. Sperzel locking machine heads and a graph-tech nut.

S-500: As Legacy but with G&L "Strat-sized" MFD pickups, "Tele-style" knobs. Sperzel locking machine heads and a mini-toggle switch that allows you to get the "neck & bridge" and "all 3 on" pickup combinations.

Commanche: As the S-500, but with z-coil pickups and a graph-tech nut.

The only one I don't own is a Commanche, and that's only because I ain't been offered one cheap yet! :D

Cheers - Steve

[VaughnC]

The G&L Legacy is an excellent guitar in its own right. However, IMO it has its own thing going on and will never out-strat a "good" Fender Strat. However, finding a "good" Fender Strat is a whole other issue....but they are out there!

[pugsfly]

I have a chance to try out the S-500 and Legacy yesterday. Maybe because of the extra toggle that the S-500 has, IMHO, the Legacy has a more vintage Strat like tones.

Just my 2 cents worth. Good luck!

[Scott Cioe]

Originally posted by pugsfly
I have a chance to try out the S-500 and Legacy yesterday. Maybe because of the extra toggle that the S-500 has, IMHO, the Legacy has a more vintage Strat like tones.

Just my 2 cents worth. Good luck!

Definately! That is the concept...The Legacy is based on the vintage tone (hence the name) while the S-500 is more of the next step in hot-rodded strat-types...

[jcground]

Versatility of the S-500 electronics was what sold me on mine back in the early 1990s (I had also played a Clapton signature Strat and a Beck signature Strat).

FYI: The new S-500s do not use Sperzel tuners anymore, and G&Ls now have 4-bolt necks that do not do microtilt adjustment like the older 3-bolt necks do (though if you are after a used G&L, those would be things I'd look for personally).

[A440]

I have a legacy and like it. I've tinkered with diff pickups, but ended up putting the stocks back in with a rio muy in the bridge. I also had the electronics changed over to a more std strat arrangement with tone control for bridge pickup.

this is an older 3 bolt model and I also added sperzels to mine. neck radius is 12" and has jumbo frets.

2 things, the bridge is set up to float only. you can't set it up flat against the body.

also, the neck angle is a bit different than a fender. the neck sits higher in the pocket and there is no overhang for the 22nd fret as on many modern fenders.

not sure where you are in jersey, but you're welcome to ck mine out. just drop me a line....

[jaclo]

Originally posted by wilder
You'll need try try a few out or place a custom order to get anything approching a PRS wide-fat profile. I've owned quite a few, and they don't tend towards fat necks. The Legacy and ASAT I have now are the two chunkiest examples I found. Great guitars though. I like the stock legacy pups quite a bit.

Chris

I'm not sure about the PRS profile, but I tried a G&L Fullerton today, and damn, that neck was huge!! Very beefy with a slight V profile. It was very close to the size of my 57 Reissue Les Paul Gold Top. I have found my next guitar. I hope I can get it with a wider nut. I could also do without the gun-oil tint and glossy finish. Minor things though.

Jason

[Pointbreakd]

the G&L legacys are amazing. I have yet to play one that I don't like. I just grabbed one off ebay a couple weeks ago.

[muddy]

i've got a legacy special that i put anderson Sa2+ & Sa2's in, and i LOVE this guitar!!! i would love to replace the trem's bridge plate/surface with a lefty one (bar too!!), ala jimi, so palming would be better enabled. how would i go aout getting one?


ml

[rwe333]

Originally posted by muddy
i've got a legacy special that i put anderson Sa2+ & Sa2's in, and i LOVE this guitar!!! i would love to replace the trem's bridge plate/surface with a lefty one (bar too!!), ala jimi, so palming would be better enabled. how would i go aout getting one?


ml

muddy - shoot me an email and I'll give ya some G&L contacts...

wayne.eagles at rogers.com