Question Looking at LIII OLIVE GOLD: All ROSEWOOD Neck. Need Input!!! FIRST EBMM

[Gsharp9]

As you are calling for our advice on your choice... I might add that I'd hate to have a sunburst on a Luke. Get the discontinued Olive gold/rosewood combination.

Gotta love strong opinions !

The Sunburst was a GC exclusive (as far as I understand it...) believe it or not that made me like it less... LOL. Tending to agree with you...

G

 

[Magic Jason]

I own a GC exclusive run : an Albert lee HH.
The only difference is the electronics that allows you to split humbuckers and it's a great option.

But ... a sunburst LIII...you can't be serious.

It so"UNLUKY"

 

[look_at_her]

@mtrejo,
Mario , this is the combo I was dreaming of - sold my OG LIII cuz all rosewood neck wasn't my cup of whiskey but loved the colour. Now , loving my RM neck and ( shhh, not gonna say a word about BB colour �� ) . Stunning !!!

 

[meloney0]

Heya, I currently own the Olive Gold HH model along with the HSS in Emerald Sparkle and the HH model in Neptune Blue. Out of the three the Olive Gold gets the least playtime. Something about the neck-/fret-combo doesn't really kick for me. Also the rosewood Lukes are not as punchy sounding as the roasted maples. The neck humbucker works best for me with the all maple neck on the Neptune LIII (too dark with the rosewood). Given the choice again, I would definitely go for the HSS configuration. That said, I am pondering selling my Olive Gold Luke to buy a nice Piezo equipped Neptune Luke II with all maple neck - it's become my absolute favourite.
Like you I always wanted the HH version in Olive Gold and was so happy when I found a dealer here in Germany that still had one in stock. Ironic how everything turned out.

Long story short - if you can make the frets work for you, go with the HSS Olive Gold! Or PM me if you have more specific questions.

 

[Magic Jason]

So Gsharp9... what did you end up doing?????

 

[Gsharp9]

So Gsharp9... what did you end up doing?????

OK !! so...... today I got play the Traditional sunburst, HH. I have to say, when they opened the case, it did look mighty good. However, as the session went on, I lost the warm fuzzy feeling over the finish and starting deciding I definitely wanted the Olive Gold.

This guitar had some issues. Like someone else on the forum, this guitar ( a guitar center only special run in that color) was frought with problems. It made me wonder if the "GC" special run did not get the same care as the others, or could it be that it just hung in some store for a long time and got abused. Either way, it was a turn off. The "push" gain boost was permanently stuck in the "on" position no matter what you did. The 5 way switch felt like it had been "bent" in some way that caused it to feel as if it "dragged" all along the path and had almost no noticeable "notch" at each position. The setup was laughable and made it feel as if it was difficult to play. They promised that they had talked to EBMM and they were waiting to hear back about a replacement pot and switch. As I listened to all this chatter, i became more and more convinced that I did not want this particular guitar. It may have been the things that needed to be fixed or it may have been the "sales" jargon that was being hurled at me like the last man standing in dodgeball.... whatever it was, I asked to be left alone and just played the guitar in a private room for a bit. I took the liberty of pulling a few utensils out and doing a field "setup".

The real question for me was the neck anyway. was it to narrow for me at the nut? did I like the shape? Did I like the feel of the Rosewood? To all: a RESOUNDING YES! (Except for the nut width - I think I can get used to that...) I left with a clear decision. I do love the LIII guitars. (as hard as it was to come to that conclusion under the circumstances. It's the Olive Gold, used HSS for me.

BTW, that neck is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

G

 

[Magic Jason]

Told you!!!

1) Buy it
2) Play it
3) Thank Big Poppa for building these beauties!

 

[DrKev]

It made me wonder if the "GC" special run did not get the same care as the others, or could it be that it just hung in some store for a long time and got abused.

I'm pretty sure most of the EBMM workers would find any suggestion that they deliberately did a less acceptable job to be very insulting. I'm sure you didn't intend to but please think before you type, eh? IIRC, it was a GC exclusive because it was sunburst. Anyone else in the world had a choice of black or olive gold. That's the only major difference.

The first thing with the push gain boost is to ensure the knob is correctly fitted to the pot shaft. If it sits too low on the pot shaft the switch will still move up and down but won't work properly. That's easy to check - remove the knob, try switch again. And the 5-way switch is a standard component and cheap and easy to replace.

Sometimes when we try a guitar it's only as good as it treatment it had in the store. Having worked as guitar tech in a large music store, believe me when I tell you that I was sometime shocked at the condition of some guitars that were display models - lousy setup, cruddy strings, covered in dust and greasy finger prints. Shouldn't happen but it does. This is why discounts are often given on display models. That sunburst LIII has been there a long time, they need it out the door. You could negotiate a bigger discount on the guitar for the poor condition that it's in that what it would cost you to fix the small issues, which should be covered under warranty by EBMM and you can deal with them directly.

For me, I wouldn't mind those switch issues too much. The only question would be colour. And you will wait to find an Olive Gold HSS? They are not easy to find and I doubt people will let go of them too quickly. I'd be thinking about the sunburst again. Guitar needs a good home. And you could fall in love with it.

My two cents.