For those interested in changing their Luke II EMG's to passive...

[BrickGlass]

Here is what Dimarzio says about the availability of the pickups in the LIII guitars. You can of course buy a transition bridge or neck pickup for the humbuckers, but the single coils in the HSS LIII are not available to purchase it would seem. However, here is what they told me in an email about an alternative:

"The pickups in the neck and middle are very similar to the Injector neck model (DP422). To install directly in a Luke II, you will need to special-order them with no flange. You will also need to replace the original 25K volume and tone controls with 500K controls for best performance with passive pickups.

DiMarzio Inc."

So there you have it. I know this topic gets brought up around here from time to time and with all the love that is being given out about the pickups in the LIII guitar, well there is a pretty similar option it would seem for the LII or BFR guitars if you want to go passive and try and match the sound that people are praising from the LIII.

 

[nathanhny]

Thanks for the research and info. I still like the EMG's in the Luke but the Dimarzio's in the LIII are a bit classier I think. I'm just wondering now whether to replace the EMG's in mine or keep them for different sounds.

 

[franne500]

Great info ! Thx !!!

 

[Jorge ven]

Awesome news and info..:

 

[BrickGlass]

Thanks for the research and info. I still like the EMG's in the Luke but the Dimarzio's in the LIII are a bit classier I think. I'm just wondering now whether to replace the EMG's in mine or keep them for different sounds.

I'm having the same dilemma. I do like the sound of the EMG's, no doubt, but I've always loved the warmth that a great passive pickup can give. Then I go try a LIII and I was blown away by the pickups. The Transition is an amazing sounding pickup, amazing. If the Injector can sound near the custom one in the LIII I have a tough decision. The Injector being a Paul Gilbert guitar pickup, I looked to see what Paul uses in the middle position and he uses an Area 67 single coil.

 

[BrickGlass]

So, pardon my ignorance, but if I decided to switch to passive pups and would need to change from 25k controls for volume and tone to 500k, can I still use the same volume and tone control knobs? The reason I ask is that mine are gold hardware because the guitar is a koa Luke. Second question is would I need to order specific 500k controls from EBMM or will the gold hardware knobs fit with any 500k pots?

 

[dave1812]

You will have to measure the Shaft thickness of your installed pots, and get new ones, that have the same diameter. I don't know what kind of Pots EBMM puts into the Lukes, but I would just use 500k CTS Pots with the right shaft diameter and length.

 

[TomsRockhouse]

Does anybody of have an idea where to get a push-push gain booster? All I can find is the "EMG Afterburner", but this is a push-pull-version.
I'm just about to modify my LUKE II with the "Transition" and the "Injector". I don't like the idea of changing the original, but I can't afford the Luke 3 and I'm not that happy with the EMG...

 

[DrKev]

The gain booster is proprietary EBMM. You have to buy the LIII to get it. That said, if you are handy with a soldering iron and have some understanding of electronics you could build and install one yourself (the net is full of DIY on-board boost circuits). In fact I'm kinda thinking of doing one for my Silo Special. Will I ever get around to it?

 

[xjbebop]

I can vouch for the injector pups... they sound fabulous!
I'll have to compare them to my L3 soon...

 

[jijoe]

Has anybody gone right through the process of changing the EMGs to Dimarzio on a Luke II. Really interested to see what the results were and if the II now sounds like the III?

 

[Magic Jason]

I'd love ti install Luke 3 electronics in my AL SSS

 

[Stratty316]

I'm thinking about adding the L3 electronics to my silo Spec. The BFR L3 sounded killer today! If I do the HSS electronics in my Silo Spec that opens the door to the HH L3

 

[BrickGlass]

Bumping an old thread to see if anyone has done this change on their Luke II? I'm so tempted to put a Transition bridge pickup in and the Injector single coil in the neck position. Not sure what I'd go for in the middle yet. Why in the world will Dimarzio not make the single coils in the LIII guitars available for purchase? I mean damn dudes, here is my money, take it please. Really want the Transition single coils in my LII BFR.

 

[edhalen]

Looks like someone had your idea as this one apparently has an AT-1 in the bridge and injectors in it. Too bad you don't live near this store so you could check it out.

Used Ernie Ball Music Man 2014 Luke II Solid Body Electric Guitar Neptune Blue 0 | Guitar Center

 

[max salas]

Hi, im new here but I did this mod to my EBMM Luke II
I went with a more classic strat type of sound.
I used suhr ssv bridge and Seymour Duncan stks4 mid and neck pickups and it sounds amazing now. BIG improvement over the emgs

I did not have to mod the guitar in any ways, which it was a worry. Except for the pots of course.

Thanks for this post as it did help towards changing the emgs

 

[BrickGlass]

Congrats Max. I'm so dying to do this mod but I am super disappointed that I can't get the single coils that are in the HSS Luke III guitars. I love the Transitions and I want the bridge and both single coils to be Transition ones. I can't even imagine how awesome it would be to have those pickups in a BFR koa Luke II. Needs to be something I can do and until then I'm going to just be disappointed. Come on Dimarzio just take my money already! If there is anyone out there that would like to sell their single coil Transitions to me, please let me know. It is a done deal. I hate that Dimarzio won't sell them and I find it strange honestly. Dimarzio just needs to sell me a couple single coil Transitions and I'll install them in my Luke II, then I'll make a video praising the hell out of them. Getting desperate here.

 

[max salas]

Why don't you try the injectors? I did ask Dimarzio when I was checking the options, they said it was pretty close. Sometimes they just don't tell you, but it might be the exact same pickup! Who knows.
If helps, you can also go for the vintage hot stack stks7, Duncan says it has more output than the stks4.
Give it a go, the emgs will end up in the drawer I tell you, is that much of a better guitar now.

 

[BrickGlass]

Why don't you try the injectors? I did ask Dimarzio when I was checking the options, they said it was pretty close. Sometimes they just don't tell you, but it might be the exact same pickup! Who knows.
If helps, you can also go for the vintage hot stack stks7, Duncan says it has more output than the stks4.
Give it a go, the emgs will end up in the drawer I tell you, is that much of a better guitar now.

I hesitate because I've never played the Injectors in person, just heard them on videos and albums. When I played the Transition's I was floored. Tough to pull the trigger on the Injectors, but I probably should.

 

[max salas]

The injectors must be good pickups, but I understand what you're saying; don't order if you haven't tried them.
Is it only Duncan that has the 21 day return policy?
I'm in Australia