LUKE back in the house! Tech help, please

[ebmmboy_]

(They) say the third time is the charm. So I got me a LUKE... AGAIN! This time I'm really feeling it. But I need some help. I know that the trem is supposed to float; mine isn't. I've also noticed that the bridge feels tight, i.e. too many springs. And the bar is very loose. What is the factory height at the rear of the bridge? Can the bar be tightened? And how many springs are there supposed to be? If there's a link with this info, please guide me to it. Thanks in advance.

-Bobby

 

[Johnny Guitar]

If you have a piezo on your LUKE then the trem won't be set to float from the factory.

 

[ebmmboy_]

No piezo. Regular ol' LUKE/LUKE blue, natty headstock.

-Bobby

 

[Johnny Guitar]

Oh ok... someone more knowledgeable will be along soon

 

[leftyguitarblue]

I don't know the actual height, but I was told that the bridge should be able to be pulled back "one full step on the B string"

 

[beej]

From the factory, the Luke has 9's on it and 2 springs. It's floating so you can pull up about three semitones on the G string. To get it back to this, remove a spring and then loosen the trem claw (and keep re-tuning the strings) until it gets where you like it.

As for the bar- if you dive the trem, you'll see a little set screw underneath, in line with the bar. You can tighten the bar with that.

 

[Roubster]

I believe you should be able to pull up a whole step from the G string. To tighten the trem arm, just lower the trem as if you were dive bombing, and look in the back of the bridge, where you should see a small whole...that adjusts the tension of the trem arm. As for the Springs I think 3 is fine. All you have to do is screw in the trem claw in the trem cavity little by little, until you get the desired height. Of course you have to tune after every time you adjust the trem claw.

 

[Roubster]

Beej, you beat me to it haha. Well there is different ways of achieving what you want. I set mine up with 10s strings, so I put in the 3rd spring.
I really need to get me a Luke again as well. I realized that I absolutely love that guitar. BFR would be nice, but not too sure where to get the money, hehe.

 

[roburado]

As beej said, EBMM sets the Luke to raise the pitch of the G string by 1.5 steps or 3 semitones.

 

[Spudman]

I just got my brand new Luke yesterday and the rear of the bridge is amost 1/8 inch off the body. Subtract maybe 1/64.

 

[ebmmboy_]

Twas a good day for LUKE's! Spudman, Casper, and myself all getting LUKE's on the same day.

Thanks for the info, gang. I'll report back after it's set up to factory specs.

-Bobby

 

[Lucious]

many thanks guys

Every guitar player like their guitars set up a little different. They come off line set up like I play them but as some like heavy strings and or more or less tension on the whammy, its up to individual taste. I think an easy fix for all the probelems I read here.
Hope it works out for all of you and thanks for diggin the guitar!
Luke

 

[Spudmurphy]

Looking forward to trying a "Luke" at the UK Knucklehead bash !!