G&L Legacy tremolo

[Kmaz]

If it works great I wouldn't be to concerned with it being perfectly parallel. I believe mine was parallel, but it's been awhile so I'm not positive. Like I always say, if it works don't fix it!

Good, cause I can't! Lol!

May have been a spacer issue.

 

[cbm]

I recently set up my Legacy but wasn't able to get the bridge plate exactly parallel. There's a little bit of a downward slope, toward the pickups. Works fine, though? Is it optimal for the bridge to be exactly parallel?

Can your spring claw be screwed in any further? If not you might have to add a spring.

 

[Kmaz]

Yes, there's still room for the claw. My string tension just continues to pull it down a little. The tremolo is fairly sensitive to touch at this point.

 

[rhinocaster]

I'm a big fan of the G&L trem....I don't actually prefer it over the vintage Fender trem but I do like it more than the modern dual post Fender trem.

The G&L feels great and wants to stay in tune. It's a bit of an eyesore for me but it works so well that I don't let that bother me.

 

[Kmaz]

I don't mind the look of the G&L Legacy tremolo at all. Like the thickness of the whammy bar too!

 

[cbm]

Yes, there's still room for the claw.

Screwing the claw in a little might let you get to horizontal. You have to retune after each adjustment to judge the change.

 

[Kmaz]

I'll try it, cbm. Thanks. Action will be thrown off as well.

 

[Kmaz]

I did get the bridge paralleled to the Legacy body. I was also able to find a spring tension where it's not easily pushing out of tune during string bends. She's a fine line!

 

[Ilduce]

I did get the bridge paralleled to the Legacy body. I was also able to find a spring tension where it's not easily pushing out of tune during string bends. She's a fine line!

Good on you!

 

[cbm]

I did get the bridge paralleled to the Legacy body. I was also able to find a spring tension where it's not easily pushing out of tune during string bends. She's a fine line!

But once you get it right, it's lovely, and you shouldn't have to change it again, unless you change string gauges.

Doing it a second time is easier, like most things in life.

 

[Kmaz]

Yes, I love the way this trem system feels, and it does hold tuning better than my Fenders. I love my Fenders too!

There's a song by Buddy Holly called 'Wishing.' It's a nice song with bar use on the solo. I always refer to this guitar part when I'm trying to set the feel of a whammy.

Thanks, cbm.

 

[JBones]

Resurrection of an old thread- Will the Dual Fulcrum Bridge assembly be a fairly direct drop in for the Schaller System 1 on an old MIJ Contemporary strat? If so, the nightmare will be over!!! Not that the system 1 bridge is bad, it just has no adjustment for individual string height which is kind of annoying....

 

[Boris Bubbanov]

Resurrection of an old thread- Will the Dual Fulcrum Bridge assembly be a fairly direct drop in for the Schaller System 1 on an old MIJ Contemporary strat? If so, the nightmare will be over!!! Not that the system 1 bridge is bad, it just has no adjustment for individual string height which is kind of annoying....

I think it is the whole totality of the G + L guitar design, that helps enable the Dual Fulcrum to work so well. Look at the typical setup on a trem Legacy, S-500 or Comanche: The heel stands so proud above the plane of the guitar body, the pickups are way elevated above the body not even close to flush with the pickguard, and the Dual Fulcrum is towering up there also. IMO you cannot expect to just graft the Dual Fulcrum onto a "Fender" style Strat. I feel it would so interfere with the existing personality of the guitar, the re-invention of your whole setup.

I saw the thread revived and I was tempted to post that, "don't forget that as great as this trem is, it really is a different experience to try to play an instrument with the key working bits all so far elevated above the locations you're bound to be accustomed to". So, you never even get to the question you're asking - until you try out a couple of G + Ls and see for yourself.

 

[candid_x]

I really liked a hardtail 4 bolt Legacy I custom ordered. The later S-500 got a hunk of scrap pine thrown in there to block it and that was that. If a Legacy was a Naval ship I think it would be a Cruiser.

More important than even the smoothness of a trem is how it fits in your picking hand, and until I met the Callaham block and medium size arm, trems never felt natural to me. Certainly not the Legacy's.

 

[Activeigroup]

If I understand, the G&L Legacy was issued after Leo's death, but the bridge/tremolo was his design?

Yes it is Leo's design. I had a 1981 F100 and it had an identical bridge to the one on my 2020 Comanche. The only difference is my F100 had the serial number stamped on it. They work and feel exactly the same to me. Best trem I've ever used!

 

[rauchman]

Is the route for the G&L bridge unique? I have a mid 2000's G&L Legacy Special USA. That bridge is so far the best non locking bridge I've used (includes Fender's 2pt and Wilkinson VS100). It feels like it has more mass and is really smooth.

From some measurements I've done, the spacing of the 2pt seems to be the same as a Floyd Rose. I don't know if the route for where the trem goes into the body is different though.

 

[Jon C]

Love the G&L over Fender’s trem any day.

 

[Activeigroup]

The G&L trem system is far superior to the latest fender design. More stable, better sustain, easier to control, better in tune. If you try the G&L, you'll never go back.