Bit the bullet and Changed my LUKE pickups...

[Dcareaga]

I had 2 Kinman AVn 56 pickups put in and..
1 Suhr DSV plus a pull pot on the tone control to split the humbucker....
Sounds Awesome!!! Check it out at the link below....


http://homepage.mac.com/dancareaga/DC.html

 

[OrangeChannel]

LOOKS sweet. Never mind how it sounds...looks are the only thing that counts...(j/k!)

 

[Dcareaga]

I wish I had a better digital camera.......It looks even better in person.

 

[dwf1004]

...is that a Mac keyboard I see in that pic?

Welcome, friend...

 

[slukather]

How does it sound bro?

Scott.

 

[Dcareaga]

Hell Yeah thats a MAC keyboard!!!! I own a Windows PC too ...... Its currently holding my Door open....
As for the sound of the guitar...its pretty amazing.
I also own a Luke 1, blue as well, and it always sounded FAR superior to my Luke 2.
So I decided to make a change. The Kinmans are just Unbelieveable Single Coils.....
I have been through Duncan(Hot Stacks, Classic Stacks) DiMarzio(VV 2.1 and 2.2)
Fralin (Sound Great but Noisy, as all true singles are) These sound as good as Fralin or Suhr V60s but they REALLY are Noisless True Single Coils. The Suhr DSV Humbucker is AWESOME!!! it is just perfectly balanced. I am using a Rivera Bonehead amp and my old Luke 1 Sounds GREAT through it. The Luke 2 always sounded thin and the gain was always a bit messy.... if you know what I mean. The new Pickups add so much Dimension and Organic tone. These pickups have actually Dramatically improved my sound. The guitar is Bigger sounding now... Much warmer, smoother.

 

[Mick]

Have kinmans in every sc guitar too, they are so great and no noise.
Will change the middle position SC in my sillhouette for a Avn62.

 

[Colin]

Simon (aka McVinyl) has early prototype Kinmans in one of his Silos. Should get him to post photos. I know Chris and it's still hard to believe that he is well known around the world. I do have one story, when Eric Johnson came to town (Brisbane) I had the privilege of driving him and his crew to a couple of instore appearances. Chris was at one particular store and offered to sell him a set of his pickups. EJ politely said no thanks as he didn't have a guitar to put them into. To this day I wonder why he didn't just give them to him.

Colin (aka Colin)

 

[Mick]

Because EJ is connected to DiMarzio and Chris has some legal stuff with DiMarzio going on.

 

[Colin]

Because EJ is connected to DiMarzio and Chris has some legal stuff with DiMarzio going on.

The pickups in his sig strat are not Dimarzio and he hasn't used the HS-1 for a long time.

Colin

 

[Mick]

I know but DiMarzio has now the EJ HUmbucker out - so maybe he has some contract going on.
I love the kinmans too and Chris is a great guy and very helpful.
We need people like EBMM and Chris Kinman to keep the nice part of the buisness alive.

 

[tommyindelaware]

Simon (aka McVinyl) has early prototype Kinmans in one of his Silos. Should get him to post photos. I know Chris and it's still hard to believe that he is well known around the world. I do have one story, when Eric Johnson came to town (Brisbane) I had the privilege of driving him and his crew to a couple of instore appearances. Chris was at one particular store and offered to sell him a set of his pickups. EJ politely said no thanks as he didn't have a guitar to put them into. To this day I wonder why he didn't just give them to him.

Colin (aka Colin)

i'm guessing a more simple reason..
if eric tries just one more set of pickups out.....his head is gonna explode !!!!

 

[Mick]

Oh yes right

 

[Dcareaga]

If you look closely you can see that a small amount of routing was done on the Bridge side of the single coils. The actual pickups fit great but the base plate with the wiring as on most passive single coils has a little bit of a V that comes out. The Humbucker fit Perfectly.
http://www.suhrguitars.com/
look at the guitar on the link above and you can see the type of Routing I had done. Compare that to your Luke. Yes the pots for EMGs are completely Different and will have to be change for passive pickups.
As For my Luke 1 It has the stock pickups in it. I love the sound of my Luke 1
To me the Luke 2 never came close sound wise, hence the change I made.

DC

 

[OrangeChannel]

Can you give details, please??? I was under the impression that the EMG's had odd-ball sized dimensions, and that passive pickups either wouldn't fit, or would look out of place. I have no idea what forum I got that info from, but I read it on the internet...so it must be true!!!

Seriously, from the pics you posted, the pickups look quite nice and I don't see any obvious chisel marks...so they must have fit without problem Did you have to change the pots as well? (I have never installed EMG's, so I'm clueless as to how they're wired.) I guess I'll have to pull the control cavity cover off for the very first time and have a look. (I've had my Luke for three years and never done that. A first for me!)

So how hard was the swap? I want to do the same to my Luke. One last question, what kind of pickup do you have in the bridge of your Luke 1?

Thanks,

Gary

"Luke Blue" Luke

You're thinkin' _arvin...on the pup issue that is.

 

[Dcareaga]

Ha ha ha too true about the KOA!
Anyhow I actually took my guitar to Joe Glasers here in Nashville.
They work on Everybodys guitars (Dann Huff, Brent Mason, Jerry McPhereson..etc..)
So I had Complete faith that they would be able to handle it. I definitley would NOT recommend doing it yourself. If you open up the LUKEs electronics cavity thats enough to Scare me Off!! What the hell is a PC board doing in there!!!!!!????

DC

 

[tommyindelaware]

Ha ha ha too true about the KOA!
Anyhow I actually took my guitar to Joe Glasers here in Nashville.
They work on Everybodys guitars (Dann Huff, Brent Mason, Jerry McPhereson..etc..)
So I had Complete faith that they would be able to handle it. I definitley would NOT recommend doing it yourself. If you open up the LUKEs electronics cavity thats enough to Scare me Off!! What the hell is a PC board doing in there!!!!!!????

DC

ya can't go wrong w/ joe glasers or corner music w snake , (aka joe henchliff) ). you are lucky. snake can play his a$$ off too !!!!!!!!!

 

[JDouglee]

What the hell is a PC board doing in there!!!!!!????

DC

Hey Dan, do you notice PC boards in your Luke 1s?

 

[Dcareaga]

Yes the Luke 1's have the same board in them or at least it looks the same...
Here is the one from my Luke 2...

DC

 

[Coletown32]

I have had my Luke1 since 1996 and I'm thinking about changing the pickups to maybe an EVH just to see what kind of new tones I can get out of it. Has anyone done this and if so, any suggestions or advice?