Help! Luke I lacks of brightness

[PinkPR]

Hi guys !

I've got a Luke 1 and a 2. I first got the 1, which I loved. But when I got the 2, I completely stopped playing the 1. Now I know why : the 2 sounds more "responsive". It actually is far brighter than the 1, especially on wounded strings and over the 12th fret. So I'd like to solve this brightness problem.

As tone woods and electronics are the same (almost the same, EMG SA vs SLV), I started thinking this could be 2 things :
- the worn out floyd (it kinda looks relic'd)
- maybe too old EMGs

Do you think the old floyd can affect the tone ? Or are EMGs known for loosing their tone over the years ?

I'd be please to read any advice about this problem !

Thank you guys

PinkPR

 

[Bryan]

I've got EMG's from 15 years ago and they sound the same. While possible, I wouldn't think that's the culprit.

Do both guitars have new batteries?

I've never heard of a FR making a guitar not be bright. But that could just be me.

SAs and SLVs aren't the same. SAs are more "modern" and brighter where SLVs are more "vintage" and could be slightly darker.

Maybe the bridge of the 2 is making more contact and therefore sounding brighter than the FR?

I've never heard of any EMG equipped guitar described as "dark", so I'd definitely check the batteries first, then work from there.

I hope this helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PinkPR]

Hi !

Yes I forgot to tell that even with very new batteries and strings the comparison is the same. Obviously, the 1 is a bit brighter than usual when strings are very fresh, but it loses this brightness after some hours of playing when the strings get stabilized.
The thing is, SA should sound brighter but not in my situation !

String angle seems sharper on the vintage trem (on the 2) than on the floyd, so the floyd maybe is the culprit.

 

[Craiguitar]

That is odd, because my Luke 1 sounds WAY brighter than my Luke II. (and my Luke 1 is quite a bit older!).
I had originally put it down to there being no tone control in the circuit to suck top end off the signal, but I've since installed a no load tone pot in my Luke II and it doesn't make the Luke II as bright sounding as the Luke 1. The single coils in the Luke 1 are SA57's which sound a lot spankier than the more 'vintage' SLV's in Luke II's.

So... from what the OP describes, i'd get the guitar to a tech, look it over, there may be an issue with the circuit, or something that can be solved quite easily.