Question Luke 3

[Martin Solevid]

Hi

I now own a Luke 3. A wonderful guitar. But I have som questions:

- Is there a need to unplugg the guitar all the time in order to save battery life? Or can I leave the cable in?

- When I use the built in bost together with my distortion pedal the guitar signal sometimes breaks up, becomes muffled and the overall tone sound like crap! Why is this - is the battery life fading? Is the signal chain incorrect or something else?

Help!

// Martin

 

[DrKev]

Q1 - Unplugging will save battery life. I wouldn't leave it plugged in over night but I wouldn't unplug it if I was taking a coffee break either.

Q2 - Hard to tell without hearing it but my guess is than in this case the boost is too strong for the distortion pedal, and/or too much distortion. Remember these pickups are already pretty powerful even before the boost kicks in and some distortion circuits 'mush' if the distortion is too high or the input signal is too strong. Turning the distortion down on the pedal, or turning the boost level, or both, will probably solve the problem.

 

[Martin Solevid]

Thanks!

About Q2: I use a VOX AC15 with a Wampler Pinnacle Deluxe stomp box. Even on low gain the problem exist?

Also - a similar problem occours when having a signal chain containing a overdrive/distortion pedal and comming back to play (going from standby on the amp). Then the sound, even without bost, takes a while to appear. It can be described as going from turning on a tube amp... going from quiet after witch the sounds to appear. But not "in a nice way" its a broken up sound that have elements of a broken chain in itself. Like jiggling on a bad cable..?

So I start to belive that the problem might be in the signal chain?

But I want to know if I with my new Luke 3 with bost should re-think how I set up my signal chain?

// Martin

 

[beej]

Hard to say from that description, but I agree with Dr Kev.

First thing I'd suggest is to plug directly into your amp and see if the problem persists. Could be a cable, the pedal, etc. Also try testing your battery- if the voltage is low you might get the symptoms you describe. Try a fresh one and see.

Beyond that, if you make a video of the problem it might be easier to diagnose.

 

[Martin Solevid]

The problem only exist if I have a stompbox in the chain. In this case my Wampler. But I have to try with another box...

I made a short poor video. Sorry for "The Swedish Chef"- accent

MVI 6336 - YouTube

 

[beej]

Nicely illustrated. When you slam the Wampler with too high an input, you get tons of fuzz and it's a bit of a mess. Once you run out of headroom, it starts to cut out. All pedals have limited headroom, so beyond a certain input voltage you get unpredictable behaviour. Is it running on a battery or power supply, btw?

I would probably start with Wampler- ask him what he thinks about this, and go from there.

 

[Martin Solevid]

The Wampler is at the moment running on battery... will test with adapter.

So, as I and understand; the combination of the pickups AND the stompbox creates a to high input that breaks the sound to fuzz and break up. Correct?

Will contact Wampler - and also try with another stompbox.

Thanks // Martin

 

[Martin Solevid]

A new question on the Luke guitar...

When I pick hard on the G string (it also occurs on the B string) the tremolo moves/vibrates and creates a fast vibrating sound. Not what I want as a player! But is this the "price to pay" when using a floating tremolo system?

Is it possible to adjust but still have the floating tremolo system?

 

[PBGas]

A new question on the Luke guitar...

When I pick hard on the G string (it also occurs on the B string) the tremolo moves/vibrates and creates a fast vibrating sound. Not what I want as a player! But is this the "price to pay" when using a floating tremolo system?

Is it possible to adjust but still have the floating tremolo system?

One option you could consider is something like an ESP arming adjuster or black box type of setup. I have the ESP on all of my locking trem guitars and my new JP12 7 string. It works great. I can pull up on the bar if I need to and at the same time, if I break a string while playing live it stays in tune as the counter spring in arming adjuster hold the bridge in place with the reduced tension from the string breaking.

 

[beej]

The Wampler is at the moment running on battery... will test with adapter.

Yeah- I thought it might be. When the input voltage is too high, it might be power starved and cutting out. I suspect you might have better luck with the adaptor. (I'm sure Wampler would have a much better idea than me.)

When I pick hard on the G string (it also occurs on the B string) the tremolo moves/vibrates and creates a fast vibrating sound. Not what I want as a player! But is this the "price to pay" when using a floating tremolo system?

It sort of is. Though, if you set it to float less- so it's closer to parallel with the body, you'll probably find it less susceptible to flutter.

I'm not familiar with the ESP device, but there have been a few things on the market over the years to help stabilize floating trems. Lots of guys just embrace it- it's part of the charm. For example, you often see Luke hit the bridge and use the flutter sounds musically.

 

[DrKev]

Seeing the video I can get similar behaviour with two OD pedals together, or one one high gain pedal and with a loud clean boost before it, or with a loud OD pedal before a distorted amp. It's clearly not a problem with the guitar and may not be problem with the pedal (though until you've tried it with a other pedal we can't say for sure). I think it's just what happens when signals that big hit a high gain distortion stage. DiMarzio even mention it in the FAQs.

Frequently Asked Questions | DiMarzio

 

[dannymusic]

my L III sounds fabulous into my Mk IV and GNX4 pedals. Sounds not so good into my VOX. My Gretsch is BLISS into the vox and ASS into the others. So, I don't let them cross over anymore.

Luke III just says NO to Vox.