I knew every bit of that info except for the origination of the "that top sucks!" phrase.
History lesson! There were limited editions and BFRs and PDNs and there was overlaps in time it's all a bit confusing but the timeline is something like this.
There were lots of one-off limited runs of instruments over the years but Limited Edition (LE) guitars that we think of as a series (and would lead us into the BFRs and PDNs) ran 2004-2008. Other than the colors they were regular production instruments.
2004: Envy Green and Radiance Red (these had no identifying logo but had a black headstock with gold lettering). Radiance red became a standard color a few years later.
2005: Butter Cream (LE logo on the back of the body. Also the first guitars and basses with compensated nuts, which became standard on all production guitars and basses from then on)
2006: Black and Gold hardware. 12 fret year inlay for the next three years.
2007: Blue Dawn
2008: Sequoia Gold
The first BFRs hit the scene in 2007. These guitars all had transparent color finishes, matching headstocks, and the "tonewood cocktail" of figured maple tops, alder/basswood? body, and mahogany tone block from the neck pocket to the bridge. Luke played three of those at the Falling in Between tour that year and they all feature on the gig in Paris that was released to DVD (I was there). Production ran until at least mid-2012, mostly Lukes, Petruccis, and Axis guitars.
(Some people complained about the quality of maples tops (because, idiots) and we made fun of them so much that Music Man made t-shirts with "That top sucks!" on them. In response to that for a while they tried to photograph every BFR instrument and list the store that ordered it and post it here to the forum (so people could try to choose the tops and colors they liked) but that was impossible to keep up and and gradually came to a halt.)
The first Dargie Delight guitar was also 2007 (Luke opened the FiB gigs with it) but it wasn't part of the BFR series or Limited Edition runs. The second Dargie Delight guitar was 2009.
(Speaking of Falling in Between, Luke also had a guitar that was Envy Green with matching headstock and gold hardware. It's really only been seen in the promo photos for the Falling in Between album but only went to production as a limited run for the Japanese market.)
The True Gold with the all-rosewood neck was I believe the first PDN run (Premier Dealer Network) in 2010. The Music Man 25th Anniversary Guitar Center Sessions with Luke and Morse and Sterling Ball (lots of videos online) was when we first saw those guitars, which were made as gifts to Luke and Morse. That was 2009. That's the guitar that features on the cover of Luke's "All's Well That Ends Well" album, released in 2010. So many people wanted that true gold Luke it launched the PDN instruments in 2010. Black Sugar Sparkle was 2nd half of 2010, and they were the first EBMM guitars with roasted maple necks, which were gloss finished.
And it gets confusing now because the first style BFR guitars (with the maple tops and mahogany toneblock) continued into mid-2012 (maybe longer) alongside PDN guitars which were also labelled BFRs. They announced the Luke III in early 2012 but Luke II was still made for a while too. The Luke II BFRs at least the next six months. The Neptune Blue BFR was 2014 and that was available in both LII and LIII models but I don't know about the other BFR/PDNs in 2013 or when regular production of the LIIs ended. The first years of the LIII had all-rosewood necks, but Luke's preference shifted to roasted maple the production guitars changed too.
So it's a bit confusing and I'm sure I could have some details wrong here, but I've enjoyed my time today down this little rabbit hole of fun, so thank you for that!
Those went fast...Recall Pete D. had many orders to fill.
What's the market price for that guitar?
There is no "market price" as such in the way that there is with the big brand names with lots of guitars available. Things change with the year and season and the economy, but also with niche makers like Music Man I think people make a mistake of thinking that rarity = reason to hike up the price, which may not be the case (and doesn't appear to be here). That guitar didn't sell at their start price, and they've since dropped it a third, which mean realized they priced it wrong. Reverb has recently made it policy that if you make an offer you are agreeing to pay if it's accepted, which eliminates a lot of BS offers for the sellers and they know that every offer is serious. There are 24 people watching that Luke right now but no offers, which suggests to me that none of them are willing to offer a couple hundred under. The longer it goes unsold the more likely the seller will drop the price again or accept an offer. But the seller could also hold out for weeks or months more to see if another willing buyer comes along.
