G&L: S-500 vs. Legacy

[Tekron]

What are the pros and cons for these guitars against each other?

I'm kinda looking for a "The Strokes" sound...kinda retro-ish, filthy, garagish sound out of these. I plan to be using them with a Jekyll and Hyde Visual Sound OverDrive pedal. Aren't these basically the same except for the pickups? Thanks for any input.

[pc]

Seemed the same to me, but there's a HUGE difference in the pickups' sound.

I had an S-500 that was quite possibly the most beautiful looking "strat" I've ever had, but the MFD pickups yielded tones that were pretty un-Strat-like.

I found it to be a great sound for Rock (i.e., with some overdrive), but definitely not what I was looking for--which was a more traditional Strat sound. I found out later that I probably should have tried the Legacy first, and sure enough, when I tried a couple out at a music store a few years later, I found the tone to be much more in line with traditional Strat tones.

Solid workmanship and a nice feel, although my S-500 also developed one of the worst cases of "fret sprout" that I've ever experienced. In the end, for me, it was back to Fender guitars for Fender sounds. YMMV.