I Returned My 2007 LE Luke Today

[Slav123]

I hated to do it but, I had no choice. I traded in my Vintage Burst ASS for it through my local GC at the beginning of this month, the Luke was at a GC in TN (they said it was a 10 out of 10, dead mint). When I got it a few weeks ago it was just beautiful. Plugged in she played OK but, I had to adjust the truss rod and raise the action due to some fret buzzing. In addition, the frets were sprouting and there were some dead spots even with the action raised up. I figured no big deal, I'll take her to my guitar tech and he will do his magic, she was cosmetically mint. I finally got a chance to bring her in to my guitar tech this morning and he gave me the bad news about the neck. To make a long story short, it was a mess. The neck was bowing differently from the high frets to the low frets (pretty much warped) and he advised me to return it to GC since the job would require a lot of work (removing frets etc.) which he couldn't even guarantee would come out the way I'm used to having my guitars setup. It seemed like the guitar was never played and most likely just hung on a wall with the climate and temp. changes doing their magic on the neck for three years.

I still had the GC 30 days money back guarantee - and so I returned her. I told the guys there of the major neck problems and they were not too interested so, I'm not sure what they are going to do with it. If you see a used 2007 LE Luke at GC in NY or TN it's most likely the one I returned. So, be aware that it has major neck issues. I'm planning on getting something else now, so I might have a NGD in the near future. Man, she was beautiful.

Slav

 

[peterd79]

do you have anything to play now?

 

[TNT]

Yeah, the guitar was several years old, and "who knows where or what is has been through" (if only the guitar could talk!) Certainly didn't come new from the factory like that.

Never-the-less, in the right hands it can be salvaged/repaired.

 

[Slav123]

do you have anything to play now?

Not a thing Pete, I'm now going to have to borrow the cat's guitars...

Slav

 

[Slav123]

Yeah, the guitar was several years old, and "who knows where or what is has been through" (if only the guitar could talk!) Certainly didn't come new from the factory like that.

Never-the-less, in the right hands it can be salvaged/repaired.

Those are great points. It's not like she was NOS from the store. If I wasn't able to return it, I would have had my guitar tech do the work. It's just when necks get to that point, it's hard to get them perfect again (playable yes, but not perfect).

Slav

 

[germangallardo]

Man I'm sorry about that, but better safe than sorry. I hope you have a NGD soon!

You got me thinking about my own guitar, there's no reliable tech in the area that I'd trust my BABY with...

On the other hand it could be a major disaster, I do the cleaning of the guitar and the setup hasn't changed much since I don't experiment with strings gauges or tunings so I manage to do them...still, I'm worried now! haha

I wish you the best on your quest for a new ball Slav!

 

[browndog]

Slav, so sorry man. Those LE’s were a real beauty!

K, now I’d go for the doubleneck, a white one.

Or go nuts and get some sort of Luke.

 

[lukather101]

Sorry to hear about your Luke Slav.
I had a similar problem with mine, bought it used but condition wise it looked new.
It had a high action and it was strung with 10's ,also the trem was flush so as soon as I got home I put 9's on it and put the trem back floating (factory spec).
There were a few dead frets, buzzing and from the 12th frets bending strings made it choke so took it to a guitar tech that Spud recommended.
He said there were a lot of uneven frets from the 12th up and had to grind them down a lot to get it to play properly (the neck was ok though), the set up cost me a bit of money but now it plays great.

 

[Slav123]

What's Next?

Thanks guys! I'm just glad that I didn't buy the EMG 81 pickup for the 85 swap. That's the risk you take when you buy used, I guess that I have been lucky in the past. Only my HRR HH AL and my Tobacco Burst BFR RW Neck ASS were purchased new, all of the rest were pre-owned (actually my '97 Trans-Red Hardtail Axis was NOS).

I wasn't going to post a thread about it but, I just have a bad feeling that the NY GC will send the guitar back to the TN GC and they will just put it back on the wall for sale without trying to fix the neck or even adjust the price for the necessary neck repairs - original sale price $1,450 (my guitar tech quoted me a price of $300+ for all of the neck and fret work and he still couldn't guarantee me that I can get it setup to my very particular setup - with very low action). The 30 days money back guarantee saved me, I just lost $18 for the shipping fee (which is BS).

If you were in my place what would you get next? Get another Luke or maybe Dubaldo's used Desert Gold JP6 (I don't have anything with a piezo)

Thanks again,
Slav

 

[browndog]

Curses... no doubleneck again!

How bout a Koa Luke.

 

[Slav123]

Thanks bro but, lets be realistic - I don't have $3K+ to spend on a Ball? I wish I did but, I don't.

Slav

 

[brokenvail]

Get another Luke. Maybe one of the RW necked ones they still have floating around....

 

[petruccirocks02]

Slav, since you only have 1 JP, I'd go for the desert gold JP that Pete has. That color is great in person and the piezo's in the JP rock.

-Phil

 

[lukather101]

Luke for me , plays like butter and sounds superb.

 

[Heeboja]

You can never have too many pets as Ernie would say.

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

Slav, get a Gold Roller or the Desert Gold JP6!

 

[Stratty316]

Slav, get a Gold Roller or the Desert Gold JP6!

I think Pete is sitting on some guitars he wants to move, haha

 

[Slav123]

Slav, get a Gold Roller or the Desert Gold JP6!

I actually went to a local store and tried a Gold Roller after I dropped off my Luke at GC on Friday. The Gold Roller was a beautiful guitar and played really well but, in the end I realized that I need Axis output pickups. I just got used to the sound of my Axi guitars and my HH AL (output wise). I called your store early this afternoon Pete to buy the JP6 and I was told that you were out until Monday. Which made me think about some of the other guitars that I would also consider.

I've had my eye on a dead mint used BFR ASS for a few months now and never thought that the store would ever go down on their already low price but, I said what the heck and so I called them. Long story short, they made me an unbelievable deal and I couldn't pass it up. The guitar comes as new with the BFR G&G case, COA, and case candy (she's in an unplayed collectors condition and I made sure to ask how she played - neck wise and how she was setup). The store will even set her up for me with new strings and low action. Thanks again for the offer Pete and if I make that transaction I had mentioned to you within a month or so, I will definitely buy that JP6 (if she's still available of course).

I should get the BFR ASS this week. Here are the store pics - after seeing the pics you will understand why I had to get her (especially for the price that they offered her to me)...

I'm not sure if I can beat these pics but, I will do my best when I get her. I will try to do my first outside pics with this one. I might put black plastic knobs on her in the near future, I think that she would look better with them vs. the cream ones.

Here are two pics from the BFR Sticky Thread:

Slav

 

[Stratty316]

that headstock kind of sucks...

 

[Slav123]

that headstock kind of sucks...

Hater! Did anyone guess your future ball yet? Mr. Las Vegas...

Slav