Is the sustainer a current or after market option on the luke, or standard on the new ones? I think I may order a Luke in Sunburst once the holidays are over. These guitars rock and one of the best necks out there. I saw Toto on pay per view a while back (I think Amsterdam) and Steve rocked as well as the rest of the band.
From what I've seen, Luke owns a Blue (original Luke 1 colour) and Candy Red Luke 1 and a Luke Blue, Black Sparkle and the two Radiance Red Luke 2s.
Having said that, he probably has about 50 of them hiding somewhere. The Black Sparkle also has teh sustainer and was his main guitar for about 5 years until the Radiance appeared.
Luke rarely plays a painted headstock...must be the $100 extra charge
His son, Trevor in the band Hydra, plays a Sunburst, though it looks a lot darker than standard.
Is Luke as good as Vai? In terms of theory and skill, quite probably, but in terms of delivery they are absolute polar opposites. I love them both but can only listen to Vai in 30 minute stints, I could listen to Lukather all day.