G&L Legacy

Made in the USA, by hand, in 1994. Mine is the 3-bolt model with factory SD SSL-2 pickups.

The neck is perfect. It has a natural, oiled back. So, it's not covered in coats of clearcoat. Great feel. Also, the 12-inch radius is perfect for me. The neck is slim, which is also just right for my taste. Jumbo frets are well-polished with no rough edges.

The tuners are Sperzel, non-locking, and work great. I won't replace them.

I've covered the pickups in another section, as well as the electronics.

My Legacy came stock with Seymour Duncan SSL-2's. These really capture the vintage vibe, and are supposedly well-suited for flatter fretboards, so I assume that why they were chosen. Frankly, they capture that vintage tone a bit too well for my taste. When it comes to guitar construction, I'll all about old-school. However, when it comes to pickup design, I really embrace technology. So, even though these are very, very nice pickups, I switched them out for a set of Fender vintage Noiseless pickups. I can't stand the hum of conventional single coils, no matter how much they cost. The older Noiseless pickups (as opposed to the newer "hot" version), in my opinion, nail that great single-coil tone, without any of the buzz.
With the new pickups installed, this guitar is now tied for first place on my "best guitars ever owned" list.

Mine also came with the switching option found on some of G&L's other models. It's a push/pull tone pot that lets me activate the neck and bridge together, for a jangly tele sound, or all of them at once. This, combined with the standard G&L switching system that was already WAY more versatile than any Fender system ever designed, opens up every single pickup combination available. That, combined with the passive bass and treble controls, make this the perfect "strat" system.

Because the original pickups did capture the sound that most folks will be looking for, and becuase the switching system is so rediculously versatile, this category gets a perfect 10.

Mine is a '94 that I purchased in 2006, so I have no clue what the factory setup was like. When mine arrived, I worked on it for an hour or so to acheive an action/buzz ratio that I could live with. Well, more than that, I'm really happy with it. Like every other guitar I've had, it could always be just a little lower with absolutely no buzz. However, you can really tell that this instrument was crafted with care, and the current setup reflects the efforts of the G&L guys 12 years ago.

That said, the guitar was built exceptionally well. Like many other reviewers, I would rank this guitar with the Fender Custom Shop Strats. The quality GREATLY exceeds any standard USA Strat I've played that was manufactured since the CBS buyout of the late 60's.

I've been playing on and off for about 15 years now. I'm by no means a professional, but I have owned dozens of guitars over the years. That whole time, I've been searching for guitars that have that perfect "feel" to them, without worrying so much about looks, brand name, or country of manufacture. I'm all about value. Judging from the $600 that I paid for this guitar, it's one of the best values I've encountered (the Korean-made Washburn HB-35 is still the best value I've ever seen, and has been for many years now). This guitar is a blast to play, has incredible action, sports every single pickup combination (even if yours doesn't come with this mod, your local shop can take care of it easily), and was perfectly constructed. The 3-bolt neck joint is incredibly solid (not shaky like the 70's Fenders), so don't worry about that. The neck pocket is so tight that it plays almost like a set-kneck. You can feel the string vibration even at the tip of the neck at the headstock. Very impressive. No, it doesn't have Les Paul sustain, but it's WAY better than a Fender. Pretty much in the middle.

OK, here's how much I like it. I've had it for 3 days, and I've already purchased another one in Vintage White with a tinted birdseye neck. I don't have a lot of cash at present, so this wasn't a casual purchase. I'm just addicted to this guitar. If you are trying to decide between a Strat and a Legacy, look past the ugly headstock and buy the G&L. You won't regret it!

For those who care... The other guitars in my quiver include a Washburn HB-35 (as I mentioned, best value of any electic made, period), a Washburn J3, 3 Dillion guitars (well-made Korean copies of a PRS, PRS hollowbody, and a Martin accoustic/electric), and a Heritage 140-CM. If you don't know Heritage, you should. Its history is very similar to G&L's, but it's Gibson instead of Fender. The one Fender that I have left (of many) is an 85 Japan model, which has my favorite neck of any Fender ever. It's very similar to the Legacy, with a 12 inch radius. It's kind of funny that my favorite Fenders of the modern era were made in the 2 years that production moved away from the US completely...

Buy this guitar!!!

Bird's eye maple neck; gun oil finish. Two-tone sunburst. Upgraded case. Preferred to the EJ Strat.

Played through a Germino Masonette combo, with either a TTE or reverb pedal and one of my chorus pedals. Added Eric Johnson pickups. Sperzel locking tuners. Great axe.

Setup needed tweaking, no problems now. No issues with hardware, controls etc.

Stands up to heavy playing. No problems.

Never had to call them.

I've got an American made, 22 fret, alder body, maple neck/fingerboard gorgeous legacy. It's sort of a reddish sunburst (very classy). The PTB system is a strat lover's dream. I know strat players who had their fenders rewired to try to accomplish what G&L do. The bridge is cool, and the whammy bar just goes straight in and out, without all the winding of a fender. The frets are quite heavy, jumbo I believe, and this baby stays in tune better than any guitar I've ever owned.

If you want a strat, and can't afford a pre-CBS or a really slick custom shop, then there should be no question. G&L is the answer. I reckon it's fierce competition with Fender's top of the line custom shop, and the fenders are a helluva lot more expensive by the way. This guitar has a beautifully bright sound. It's great for blues, although the neck pick-up doesnt cut through sometimes unless you really tweek your sound. Using the middle and bridge pickup at the same time yields a wonderful Jerry Garcia type tone. Who knew? It sounds sexy. The Alnico pickups have so much warmth, and while they're not as loud as say, a texas special, they are beautiful sounding pickups. Run your legacy through a nice fender amp with a touch of crunch and reverb, and that's all your gonna need!!

Finish is lovely. Reddish sunburst. Action is superb after being professionally set up with 11's. Like I said, the guitar stays in tune better than any guitar I've ever played. Personally I feel a rosewood fingerboard is a lot faster than a maple, but this maple gives such a distinct sound that it's just a case of what do you want. I also have a comanche with an ebony board so don't we all need a maple as well???

C'mon now, it's really a strat, just better. Any little dings it takes give it character. If you scratch my 335 I'll kill you, if you knock around my legacy, I probably wont mind.

No idea

If you want to buy a strat, play a legacy. Unless you can afford a pre CBS, you need a G&L. And even still, the care that they make these bitches with SHOULD BE BETTER than a pre CBS. At the end of the day, they're custom made and each one is different. Play one and see if you like it. I love mine and dont know anyone who doesn't like theirs.

1994 G&L Legacy guitar.
Strat-style design:
Double cutaway body, made of alder (I think)
Six-on-one-side tuners
Two point tremolo bridge with pop-in trem arm
3 single coil pickups w/ a 5-way p/u selector switch
1 volume, 2 tone knobs. The only difference here is that one knob works to cut/boost high frequencies, and the other works to cut/boost low frequencies across all pickups. Better than the standard Fender design, if you ask me.
Bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fretboard. 3-bolt neck with the tilt adjustment
Single-ply pickguard
Deluxe tolex hardshell case

Basically, a Strat with a few little changes.

Sounds like it looks. Like a Strat. And I wasn't expecting anything different. Typical strat noise on the individual pickup modes, and hum-cancelling on the 2 and 4 positions. Like most Strats, the bridge pickup was a little thin and weak, so I replaced it a DiMarzio Hot Rails humbucker. That helped balance out the sound a lot.

I have a black finish, and if you look closeley enough on the body, you can see the seam where they joined the two wood body pieces together. Hardly noticeable, but it's there, which I've never seen on a black guitar.

That being said, the thing plays like a dream. The neck feels just a little more narrow and a little thinner than my Strat, but it's incredibly comfortable. I've heard a number of people say that their necks warp beyond playable, and I haven't had a problem. I did, however, bottom out the truss rod to keep the neck straight (strung with 11s), and was stuck with just a little too much bow. To combat this, I had to remove the truss rod bolt and place a washer on the truss rod before replacing the bolt. This gives me more thread to work with, and was an easy fix to the problem. Now that I've got that fixed, this is definitely the most comfortable of my guitars to play.

I've had this guitar since 1996, and other than the truss rod/neck issue (see Action, Fit, & Finish), I've never had any problems. Finish has held up well, case has held up well, though I don't gig with this guitar (I'm a bass player)...

Never had to deal with the company for any of my 3 G&Ls, so I couldn't tell ya...

G&L's version of a Strat. A few little things, like the bridge and the tone controls, make it just a little nicer than a US-made Fender Strat. I prefer this over my Fender American Deluxe Strat. I love it. I have 2 G&L basses and this guitar, and would definitely buy another one of these if lost/stolen (and same thing with my basses).

This one was made in 2005, alder body, 3-tone sunburst, rosewood fingerboard, maple neck, G&L tremolo, 22 jumbo frets, G&L (Seymour Duncan) single coil pickups, Spertzel non-locking tuners. Features are what I wanted. Fingerboard radius is 12", a major reason for going with G&L.

I bought this to mod into an HSH pickup configuration, but the stock SSS single coil setup sounds quite good. They're true single coils, so they can be noisy in certain situations, but workable. Alder body with rosewood fingerboard is definitely what makes this guitar for me.

The 3-tone sunburst is great, hardware works like it should. Pickups needed adjustment. Big bummer would be the fretwork. I've bought 2 newer G&L guitars in the last year, and the fretwork is pretty poor for an instrument in this price range. Both needed a thorough level and dress on the frets. Once these guitars are setup with proper fretwork, they are great, they can play and sound better than any Fender out there, but come on, G&L, get it together with the factory fret work. No excuse for this lack of quality control. Tuners are not seated properly, either. They need to quit getting boozed up on lunch breaks.

Reliability is fine, it's bolt-on guitar, it will take a fair amount of abuse and still get the job done.

Don't know, haven't tried to contact them. I do my own mods/repairs. Warranty is 10 years, but I'm not in the mood to send it to them, wait for months, and then have to level and dress the frets again anyway once I got it back.

It's a great guitar - once it's set up properly. Out of the box, new G&L guitars are a crap shoot, though that's not uncommon. Too many U.S. production guitars suffer from poor quality control. For the price paid, new American-made guitars should be much, much better. I chose a G&L mainly because of the fingerboard radius of 12". Tired of the Fender 9.5" radius that strats have. The tremolo system is great, very stable and sounds better than most of the other floating tremolo systems on the market. Quality control is what's keeping these from being truly great instruments.

1998 USA G&L Legacy sunburst, maple neck with rosewood fretboard. SSS pickup configuration. 5 position switching, PTB tone system, tremolo. 22 jumbo frets.

I play mostly classic rock and some modern stuff. This guitar sounds great for these styles. I play through a modded Boss compressor, Menatone Red Snapper O.D., Keeley modded TS-9, E.H. Small Stone phaser, Dan Electro distortion, I split the signal into a tuner and a Crate Palomino V16. There seems to be a lot of talk about the versatlity of HH guitars with coil taps, but this Legacy is truly versatile with just the three single coil alnico pickups. The PTB tone controls give this guitar a very wide range of tones. I've had this guitar for a little over a year and I'm still very impressed with the sound.

I bought the guitar used and only had to make minor adjustments to suit my own preferences.
This is a very well built guitar, it has no flaws that I can see, feel or hear. I have the action set fairly low with no buzzes or notes being choked. The jumbo frets let you really dig in for some nice smooth bends. The neck is very comfortable to play. The tuners are non-locking but it stays in tune very well.

As I stated above, this guitar is well built. The hardware is very solid. I haven't played live in a long time but I do get together from time to time with some friends to jam and this guitar is very dependable.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been playing for over 25 years. I own a 1960 Gibson Les Paul Junior and a Tribute by G&L Asat Special Premium. Over the years I have owned 2 other Les Pauls, Fenders, USA B.C. Rich, Prs SE, Ibanez, Ernie Ball MM Axis Super Sport and several others. The Legacy is the only one that I can say I will never get rid of. I like to buy, sell and trade guitars just to try different things but this guitar won't be going anywhere. It may not be just right for everybody, I mean you'll never get thick, crunching humbucker sounds out of it, but for what I like it's perfect.

2006 Legacy
22 frets
Alder body
Maple neck/fingerboard
Tremelo bridge
Sperzel locking tuners
SSS Stock electronics

I give the features a 10 cause it's got everything I want in an electric guitar and none of what I don't want.

I play rock/blues/jazz/claassical/funk/country/folk...etc basically anything that catches my ear.
I use this guitar with Dr.Z amps for rock and blues and it sounds and plays great. I love the sound of single coil pickups but the 60 cycle hum drives my crazy at higher volumes, I plan on replaceing them with a noiseless varient.
Chords and single notes sound just as good clean and dirty. Full, round chords, articulate leads.

I give it a 9 cause it sounds great for what I'm using it for, but it won't be perfect for me untill I put in the noisless pickups.

Off the shelf this guitar was actually properly set up.
Med. action, set intonation, leveled frets, proper neck tension.
I don't know if it came from the factory like that or maybe it was just the shop I bought it at that does a proper set up before it goes on display.
Quality finish on the body. A bit too much on the neck, but it'll wear off with time to thats ok.

Only thing I don't like was the swimming pool routing under the pickguard, which I think is a cheap way of ruducing the time it takes to produce the guitar.
I don't honestly think I could tell the difference sound-wise in an A/B test with a SSS route vs swimming pool.

I give it an 8 cause It look/feels/plays great but it does have a swimming pool which is only a minor thing.

Havn'yt had it very long, but it feels durable, inspires confidence in the finish.
Think I'll have this for a LONG time.

No opinion as I can't really tell yet.

Haven't dealt with G&L, but the store I bought it at is a mom n pop that offer great service, so no opinion.

What a great guitar! To me it's better than the new Fender US strats. Better overall sound, playability, stock setup, options, etc.

I'd have to get another if it was stolen. It inspires me to play only more often but better.

93 legacy. Blue, disco blue.Well I don't think that is the name of the colour but it should be. Then it should be discontinued if it hasn't already been. Ugly as a dogs butt.
Beautiful and versatile sounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All stock, including tremolo which stays in tune.( Listening Fender?????)

It has 5 positions for five completely different tones. It has a bass roll off and a treble roll off and a volume control. Three alnico pickups. It has a bit of a hum, like any strat in the three positions, but if I play it, or keep my fingers on the strings it is gone. Problem? Nope gorgeous sounds. Made a 50 th anniversary fender that I played sound flat and lifeless.

I checked the neck pocket for the date. i found it was carved apparently by hand, very tight, very cool, lots of mojo.
I love the pickup sounds . It is not too heavy, has a great neck and plays like a dream.
It is a refined strat. the tone controls actually work and are simple enough to use on stage in a flash. High quality tremolo, bridge, tuners, pickups pickguard and great strap buttons. But , well, its disco blue.....

Built like a tank but delicate. takes being thrown around. I play it a week later it is in tune. i switched to 10 on the high E and like medium gauge strings better. that is personal though. So I reset the intonation in 5 minutes.

Parts are hard to find here in Canada. Website doesn't help, need a tremolo arm.

Been playing 30 years, I never liked strats, I liked teles. I bought a G&L bluesboy when I first heard it.That and a great coincidence lead to this purchase. Plaed through a silverface super reverb and man there is no excuse to sound bad unless you suck, which I do on occassion. Resale is low as the word is not out yet. Then again I don't know people who sell these and don't regret it usually. The strat as it should be. A custom hand made guitar for 1 K built in North America? Yup. Try one, at least!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I'm a lucky guy.

My Legacy is U.S.A. handmade in 2005 with 2 tone sunburst, alder body, gun-oil tinted maple fingerboard/neck, Schaller locking tuners, alnico pickups. This was a special from Music123 on closeout and I wasn't expecting the gun-oil tinted neck nor Schaller locking tuners for the price I paid! Great deal! However for a handmade guitar of this caliber, the cheesy SKB plastic case is not appropriate (the G&G case should've been included as standard but G&L wants another $160 for that!). Also, I too get the plastic nut problems with my G string binding at times. Other than the case and nut issues, this guitar is fantastic! I love everything else about it, especially the fit and finish which you can tell were done by a craftsman with love. I've heard opinions that G&L has gone downhill since BBE Sound took over (around 1992 or so I believe) but that's not my experience with this guitar. I sold off my trusty Fender Japan Strat, Fishman Loudbox Acoustic amp and Epiphone mandolin to finance this guy. Besides I don't need those other odds and ends - this guitar demands so much of my attention I don't have time for those other "toys".

I play blues, pop, worship. I've gone thru Fender Strat (Japan), Epiphone Casino, Gretsch Setzer, Gibson Les Paul Special, Washburn HB-30, G&L Tribute ASAT Classic - none of which I have anymore. I only have the G&L Legacy which is all I need. Those other guitars all sound great in their own way. The Gretsch Setzer would probably be my second choice out of the bunch and the G&L Tribute ASAT Classic was the best bang for the buck. This G&L Legacy doesn't sound like a regular Fender Strat. The Fender Strat I sold had a more clear sound. The G&L Legacy has more of what I call a 3-D sound. Another reviewer I think remarked it had overtones. I think it does but in a good way. The G&L Legacy sound is complex and rich kind of like what you get with a semi-hollow or hollow-body (I like this in my old Casino and Setzer but not the feedback) but of course it doesn't sound like a semi-hollow or hollowbody. The passive treble and bass give all the sounds I need. The in-between position 2 and 4 sounds do not have the "latex" or "quack" sound like the Fender Strats but do have hum canceling function. I would have to describe the G&L Legacy as rich and complex while not being overly bright. The Fender Strat and the Gibson Les Paul I had were bright to the extent of annoying, shrill, piercing (in my opinion at least) but with the G&L I can dime my tone controls on 10 and also my volume on 10 on all positions including the bridge which I never could on my Fender. So for me, this sound is a perfect 10. Forgot to mention I use Boss effects (SD1 Overdrive, DS1 Distortion, DD3 Digital Delay, TU2 Tuner) and a Dunlop Crybaby (basic GCB95). I have a Fender 59 Bassman RI and a 70s something vintage Fender Silverface Champ in which I replaced all the caps, resistors. The G&L Legacy sounds right at home thru my Fender amps (in contrast some guitars I owned previously like the Gibson, Washburn sounded like they wanted to be played thru something else. Actually as far as humbucking guitars go only the Gretsch Setzer sounded at home thru my Fender amps. The single coil guitars I had all sound great thru Fender amps).

This is where the craftsmanship and love are obvious on this guitar. All electronics were great on this U.S. made G&L. I had a Korean made G&L Tribute and everything was great on that guitar except horribly scratchy pots. Fit and finish is perfect. The finish is glassy, smooth. The gun-oil tint finish is best I've ever seen and I think is the highlight of this guitar finish wise. Pickups, setup were perfect. I do have issues on the nut with the "stiction" on the G-string but also that a plastic nut is not appropriate for this guitar. This should've had a graphtech nut. All hardware is great from tuners to the dual fulcrum bridge. No flaws I could see on the guitar got this factory fresh from Music 123 and was great. I won't take off points for the nut because I did that in the Feature section.

I changed strap buttons to Dunlop dual-design staplocks. The stock strap buttons on the G&L Legacy were actually fine, they were oversize and solid and probably would be secure enough - just that all my favorite straps have the Dunlop strapbuttons on them and all our (family) guitars have straplocks so as a matter of policy I equip all my guitars with Dunlop dual-designs. The hardware, finish, etc seem built to last but haven't had this guitar very long. I had my Fender Japan Strat since the late 1980s and that lasted fine thruout gigs, church services, etc with the usual nicks, dings, etc and I can tell this G&L is twice the guitar the Fender was so no concerns there. I could depend on this no problem. However since it hasn't been actually tested out in public I'd have to give a no rating on this category.

No opinion on G&L customer support. Haven't used them. I did request a G&L catalog from them a few weeks ago and have yet to receive it. Music123 customer service is great. I've bought numerous items thru them returning some, keeping others and they've always been great. Kudos to Music123.

I've been playing for over 20 years. I have a Taylor 510 acoustic with Fishman pickup, Ibanez GA6 classical with pickup, my wife has a Washburn Lyons electric bass, my son has a Squier Strat. Regarding amps, I have a Fender 59 Bassman RI, Fender 70s Silverface champ and a Ashdown Electric Blue 12-150 bass amp (great value in a bass amp!). I listed my effects previously but one thing I didn't list was the L.R. Baggs Para Acoustic D.I. - this is wonderful for all acoustic instruments. Now back to the G&L Legacy. This is my last stop in my electric guitar quest. I will not be looking, trying, buying other electric guitars after this as I know I won't find an electric guitar best suited for me and my playing. For that reason this guitar deserves a 10 simple as that (funny how I never went thru as much G.A.S. as my other instruments - only electric guitars). I can't keep an arsenal collection of guitars like some of you reviewers and if I could I would've kept all or most of my previously mentioned electrics (and may have added a few amps as well ; 0) ) but for me, this G&L Legacy is it.

Maple neck with rosewood board, four bolt neck, swamp ash body, clear gloss finish, G&L tremolo, G&L handwound single-coils -- basically a strat.

I've owned two of these guitars. For whatever reason -- is it the wood? the pickups? the fit and finish? Both have sounded absolutely unbelievably terrific. Something approaching "Stratocaster Nirvana" in terms of the tone. Bright indeed, but richly bright. Not shrill. Tone for friggin' miles. Extremely resonant. I have a Don Grosh retro classic -- and yes that is an absolutely fantastic guitar. Certainly, the Grosh is nicer -- except -- it really doesn't sound or play any better. The Grosh might feel a bit smoother, and have an intangible something, but -- it cost almost $2,000. The G&L at less than half that price, sounds totally just as awesome, and plays as fantastic. If I weren't able to afford stupidly nice guitars -- I'd by one G&L Legacy -- swamp ash or alder both sound killer -- and I'd play it for the rest of my days -- and sound good as hell.

Perfect guitar.

What could go wrong? It's a strat plank.

Don't know.

The best kept secret in USA made basically "custom shop" guitars.