Question Does Steve Lukather play the Luke III?

[petrucci1]

Hey guys,

Was just wondering if Steve Lukather is really playing the Luke III or its just a marketing ploy from Music Man to sell more Luke guitars.
I don't see videos or pics of him playing any of the Luke III models. He still sticks to his old Luke in some recent concert pics I saw.

Was curious and will be good to get a feedback on this before I buy that one.

Thanks

 

[Tumeniballs]

I've seen lots of vid and pic's when he is using the LIII. He also use both models now. Yesterday he wrote on twitter that he was going for a photo shot with DiMarzio.

 

[French Kiss]

He mostly plays the dual humbucker version ; he still uses his EMG stuff but no more rosewood neck for touring.

 

[ScreaminFloyd]

He mostly plays the dual humbucker version ; he still uses his EMG stuff but no more rosewood neck for touring.

That's too Bad ! The Rosewood neck is my all time favourite Neck ever ! Is there a reason he does not Tour with the RoseWood Neck? The L111 is one of the Top 3 Best Guitars I've ever owned. Music Man is the only Guitar maker I would ever Purchase Sight Unseen. I can order a Guitar from MM and know it's perfect right out of the box every time.

 

[DrKev]

Check out the photo albums on Luke and Toto's facebook pages. He plays his True Gold Luke, HH and HSS Luke IIIs. Use the forum search and check out some recent threads about it. He went back to the maple necks for the Ringo tour but changed again for the Toto tour. One guitar even had a roasted maple neck.

 

[Big Poppa]

Hey guys,

Was just wondering if Steve Lukather is really playing the Luke III or its just a marketing ploy from Music Man to sell more Luke guitars.
I don't see videos or pics of him playing any of the Luke III models. He still sticks to his old Luke in some recent concert pics I saw.

Was curious and will be good to get a feedback on this before I buy that one.

Thanks

marketing ploy? wowowow...I dont know what you are looking at but every shot I see is the luke 3

 

[ScoobySteve]

Lately with Lukes ringo tour, solo tour and G3, ALL I see are Luke 3's. So....... not sure what you're talking about?

 

[djlynch]

This is a weird question
are you asking if the development of the the LIII is a marketing ploy to sell more guitars?
Think about stuff maybe before posting....

Hey guys,

Was just wondering if Steve Lukather is really playing the Luke III or its just a marketing ploy from Music Man to sell more Luke guitars.
I don't see videos or pics of him playing any of the Luke III models. He still sticks to his old Luke in some recent concert pics I saw.

Was curious and will be good to get a feedback on this before I buy that one.

Thanks

 

[Ricman]

I've seen Toto recently and Luke on his own next year.

Luke played his LIII for 80% of the show and the older incarnation for the rest (a bit of acoustic too).

It's no ploy. Both guitars sounded incredible, but very different in the live mix.

 

[welshboyo]

Are you buying a guitar purely on the basis of what Luke is playing?, thats almost like only wearing purple underpants because Luke does (he probably doesn't wear any hahaha), buy a guitar based on its own merits, I am a HUUUGGEE Lukather nut and yes my recent purchase of an LIII was possibly influenced by him but if I didn't like the guitar, I wouldn't have bought one.

Luke and BP (and most of the Ball family) are pals, it also helps that EBMM make great guitars, its not a marketing ploy, and I'm sure its not an "exclusive" endorsement either where BP threatens to string Luke up by the balls (no pun intended) if he uses something else...I have seen him use 335's, Tele's, LP's in the studio for some things...and he also uses Acoustics live (Ovation's, Taylors)

 

[lukeuser78]

Err......

 

[coldsummer]

Are you buying a guitar purely on the basis of what Luke is playing?, thats almost like only wearing purple underpants because Luke does (he probably doesn't wear any hahaha), buy a guitar based on its own merits, I am a HUUUGGEE Lukather nut and yes my recent purchase of an LIII was possibly influenced by him but if I didn't like the guitar, I wouldn't have bought one.

Luke and BP (and most of the Ball family) are pals, it also helps that EBMM make great guitars, its not a marketing ploy, and I'm sure its not an "exclusive" endorsement either where BP threatens to string Luke up by the balls (no pun intended) if he uses something else...I have seen him use 335's, Tele's, LP's in the studio for some things...and he also uses Acoustics live (Ovation's, Taylors)

I have to agree with your sentiment Welshboyo. I've always bought guitars based on how they sound/feel/play and their features/hardware/looks even but rarely because it is played by a particular artist. I think the main benefit of an artist endorsement is the reassurance that the guitar has to be of good quality for a high profile player to put their name to it.

 

[sballow]

Another good case study is Petrucci. There are tons of different types of MusicMan JPs and he couldn't possibly play all the models but you do see him playing JP12s recently and perhaps we will see him with a PDN BFR soon?

 

[BrickGlass]

Saw him with Ringo a few months ago and it was pretty much the LIII all night. There are many videos of him playing the LIII so I don't understand the op's question.

 

[petrucci1]

Are you buying a guitar purely on the basis of what Luke is playing?, thats almost like only wearing purple underpants because Luke does (he probably doesn't wear any hahaha), buy a guitar based on its own merits, I am a HUUUGGEE Lukather nut and yes my recent purchase of an LIII was possibly influenced by him but if I didn't like the guitar, I wouldn't have bought one.

Luke and BP (and most of the Ball family) are pals, it also helps that EBMM make great guitars, its not a marketing ploy, and I'm sure its not an "exclusive" endorsement either where BP threatens to string Luke up by the balls (no pun intended) if he uses something else...I have seen him use 335's, Tele's, LP's in the studio for some things...and he also uses Acoustics live (Ovation's, Taylors)

Thanks a ton guys for your feedback. Its my bad and I will definitely research pics and stuff better next time before posting.I am glad to know that he is using it a lot. i am definitely planning to buy this guitar based on its merit and also because I am a huge fan of Luke. And I know that getting the guitar wont make me sound like him ...its never about the guitar, its awlays about the fingers and feel... the reason i am doing so much research is because I live in India and do not have the luxury of going to a GC to check a MM Luke out...MM distribution is terrible and we just dont get them in India...looked up in CHina couple of days back with same result... so next time I am going to be on a business trip to US, I will pre-order this guitar. Thanks again to everybody

 

[luv]

Even if it was a marketing strategy to sell more guitars, what's the issue with that?

EBMM is in the business to sell more guitars. Without such sales, we wouldn't be able to buy the guitars that we all love.

I'm pretty sure BP wants to sell more guitars. Marketing "ploys" are a big part of successful business plans.

I understand the ? of whether Luke currently tours with or plays that model, but I don't get why you would ? whether a guitar manufacturer was just trying to sell more guitars......because, they are.

 

[Big Poppa]

I get your problem being in India We have no representation there and they would be super expensive...good luck and thanks for the consideration

 

[denny99]

Hey guys,
Was just wondering if Steve Lukather is really playing the Luke III or its just a marketing ploy from Music Man to sell more Luke guitars.
I don't see videos or pics of him playing any of the Luke III models. He still sticks to his old Luke in some recent concert pics I saw.

Was curious and will be good to get a feedback on this before I buy that one.

Thanks

I've seen him live with Toto a bit more than a year ago. He was playing mostly Luke IIIs.

 

[Okgb]

I don't think it was such a bad question Does Steve play all of his models ? particularly the solid rosewood neck [ was that his idea or EB'S? ] I think where the marketing comes in is EBMM changing the finishes and getting Steve to play those so people can see them. I guess offering limited finishes is working for them but I wish they'd offer the black sparkle!

 

[jayjayjay]

Hey, endorsement deals work - nothing wrong with that. I learned about EBMM first when EVH signed and they came out with the Axis. That got my attention.

But it's the quality that keeps me. I wouldn't love EBMM instruments like I do if they weren't built to perfection. I don't play them because any particular artist does; I play them because, in my opinion, they're just about the best quality you can get for the money. You can get PRSs, Nik Hubers, Knaggs, and others (all of which are outstanding instruments) for more than twice the going price of your typical EBMM, but I honestly don't think those instruments would offer a better playing experience.