Installing a tone control on a LUKE I?

[flukather]

I love my Luke Is to death, and feel that they are much better guitars than the LUKE IIs.

However, I do really miss having a tone control on my guitars. Playing jazz or more mellow kind of music with a clean sounds just doesn't sound right without a tone control rolled off. So I though of having somebody who knows his stuff remove wood from the guitar so the compartment that houses the pickup switch and volume control is the same size as the new LUKE IIs, hence having enough space to install a tone control in the same maner as in the LUKE IIs.

I know I will loose a bit of tone due to removing wood from the guitar, and that it's maybe not the easist job in the world. Is there anything more that I need to think about? Can it even be done??? Would it be expensive? Is there another way to do it? Etc etc...

Regards
Niklas

 

[Colin]

Have you tried a Dual Concentric Control Pot? This will allow you to have the tone and volume on the same pot. So no drilling will be required.

Colin

 

[Dcareaga]

Have you tried a Dual Concentric Control Pot? This will allow you to have the tone and volume on the same pot. So no drilling will be required.

Colin

+1

Definitely the way to go, I use 2 on my Luke 2 so My single coils "see" 250k and my humbucker "sees" 500k on the Volume and Tone pots.
Way better than Chopping up a Great irreplaceable guitar


DC

 

[flukather]

+1

Definitely the way to go, I use 2 on my Luke 2 so My single coils "see" 250k and my humbucker "sees" 500k on the Volume and Tone pots.
Way better than Chopping up a Great irreplaceable guitar


DC

That's a great suggestion only EMGs need 25Kohm instead of regular 250 or 500k.

 

[smk5150]

You can buy a 25k concentric pot from EMG, it's called 'A25KX2 dual concentric 25K pot'.

 

[flukather]

You can buy a 25k concentric pot from EMG, it's called 'A25KX2 dual concentric 25K pot'.

Wow! Thats great! Can I wire it all so it works as voulme and tone seperatly?

 

[Colin]

Wow! Thats great! Can I wire it all so it works as voulme and tone seperatly?

Yes that's the whole idea

 

[flukather]

Ok, I didn't know they made those. According to mails and replies from EMG that pot wont work in volume/tone wiring with more than one pickup.

 

[Dcareaga]

Ok, I didn't know they made those. According to mails and replies from EMG that pot wont work in volume/tone wiring with more than one pickup.

I may be wrong but I think the use of the PC board that is wired into every Luke may solve that issue.....
The board serves as a Hub that may be able to run through that pot correctly.

 

[flukather]

I may be wrong but I think the use of the PC board that is wired into every Luke may solve that issue.....
The board serves as a Hub that may be able to run through that pot correctly.

Damn, one of my Lukes didn't come with orginal pickups so I installed a set of SLV20. There is no PC board in the SLV20.

 

[JDouglee]

Did you notice if the PC board affects tone at all?

Just curious, the I & II sound so radically different...

 

[Antoine]

...Just curious, the I & II sound so radically different...

Can you discribe their sound please? i've got a Luke II and for several time now, i've readed comments on this forum about how the Luke I sounds better than the II ! Thanks.

 

[beej]

I would have thought the dual concentric pots were the right way to go, too - suprised EMG says that won't work.

 

[Dcareaga]

My observatons from Before I changed the pickups in my Luke 2:

The Luke 2 is a GREAT guitar and does sound awesome BUT,
Honestly, to me the Luke 1 is a Far better sounding guitar. That is because I prefer a
guitar that is geared towards a heavier sound.
They really are different animals and each have their uses.

The Luke 2 is Thinner sounding, with more treble. The Single coils have Much more sparkle and snap, a bit too much in my opinion. There is not a lot of low end, when you dig in there isn't a lot of chunk. The single coils are very "Sultans Of Swing" sounding.


The Luke 1 has Way more sustain. It is Darker sounding. It is a much heavier sounding guitar overall, more low end and really nice mids. Unplugged it is much louder and it feels more solid to play. The single coils are very "Bold as Love" sounding.

It is almost like the Difference between a Les Paul and a Strat....

The Luke 1 has more balls, low chunk and low mids with a dark top end.
Very robust and full, warmer.

The Luke 2 is brighter and thinner. More focused High-mids...lots of snap, a little flatter sounding. To me it loses something with a High Gain setup.

I never use them for the same thing:

My Luke 1's are my Rock guitars... Great for High Gain and old school Hendrix chordal stuff. Not good at being Delicate... if you know what I mean

My Luke 2 is my Pop/Country Guitar... Great for Light to medium overdrive and Pristine super tight clean sounds. A much Prettier sound.....

I think a Huge difference is the Bridge.

The Luke 1 just seems more Solid. There is more there to grab, more sustain. My alternate Picking is pretty hard with a heavy attack and there is never a loss of definition.

The Luke 2 just feels, thinner... weaker, somehow. The notes don hit as hard.
I would even go so far as to say you need a lighter touch on the Luke 2. If you pick too hard the notes flatten out.

I am not sure how the PC board affects the tone. I have heard that it is only there for ease of wiring. That is probably true but I think it has a few caps and resistors on it and that is bound to affect the sound. The SL sets you buy from EMG (I have both versions) Do Not sound the same. They are missing something. Probably that PC board

The best way to look at it is to look at Lukathers sound on both guitars.
The Luke 1 was used on the "Candyman" CD and the "Tambu" CD

The Luke 2 was used on "Mindfields" (the LUKE CD was Mostly old Strats and Les Pauls) "Through The Looking Glass" and "Falling In Between"

The difference, if you listen to songs from these CD's back to back, is astounding.

Hope this helps....
DC

 

[JDouglee]

I'm coming up for a refret on one of my Lukes IIs, thinking about trying the
solid saddles on the bridge. I'll report back on any tone changes after I do it.

 

[Antoine]

Thanks a lot Dcareaga, great detailed explanations you have given here .

 

[flukather]

It's not so much about the pickups as about the guitar itself. I have a blue Luke I with original pickups and a red one with a SL20 in it.

The difference in singe coils is not so much. If I don't switch back and forth between the guitars while playing by myself I can't tell the difference. In a band situation there is just to little difference in sound. The SLV are a bit brigther and has more mids, but not extremly when set in the same guitar.

About the concentric pot thing, after talking with the folk at EMG and a couple of guitar tech I have come to the concluision that you can make it work in Luke I. I will not work in all cases of pick up configurations but it will work in a Luke. Or at least I have been told so and think so myself.

Well down to the guitar store I go!

 

[beej]

Cool- let us know how it works out!