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Question Luke III HSS DiMarzio pickup question and NGD

GoKart Mozart

GoKart Mozart

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Joined
Nov 21, 2002
Messages
1,054
Location
Florence/Muscle Shoals, AL
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Took delivery of this beautiful 2015 Luke III BFR in Blueberry burst today (older model with the DiMarzio pickups). I bought the LIII HH in Bodhi blue pictured beside it brand new in 2013 the first year that color was available; it's been my main guitar since then and I've kind of always wondered how the HSS model compared.

After playing the '15 BFR HSS this evening and comparing it to the '13 Bodhi HH, I've noticed a couple of things regarding the pickups that I'm having a bit trouble adjusting to.

1) The bridge pickup on the BFR HSS is noticeably hotter than on my older Bodhi HH and it's been difficult to balance it with the neck single coil even after adjusting the the trim pots in the cavity. Looking closer, it's pretty clear that the BFR HSS bridge pickup sits a lot higher in the cavity, which explains the extra output. Wonder if this is just a routing difference on the BFR body since it has the maple top?

BFR HSS:

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Bodhi Blue HH:

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2) Are the custom DiMarzio single coils in the neck and middle the exact same pickup? The reason I ask, the middle pickup position is a LOT hotter than the neck, which seems counter intuitive. Seems that on just about every electric guitar I have the neck pickup is always louder due to the extra string vibration. Again, adjusting the trim pots doesn't help here.

Do any of you guys with a LIII HSS notice the same thing on the two singles?
 
GoKart Mozart

GoKart Mozart

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 21, 2002
Messages
1,054
Location
Florence/Muscle Shoals, AL
Update : I figured out the issue and turns out the neck pickup is faulty. It’s measuring about 3k less than the ~8k spec that customer service gave me. Keep in mind this guitar is going on 6 years old and has had several prior owners, so who knows what could've caused this.

I moved the middle single to the neck position and it sounds great there! Apparently they're the same pickup.

Spoke to Joel at MM customer service earlier (great dude, as always) about a wiring diagram and a replacement pickup. They do have a replacement available but I may just replace it with an Injector since the specs are almost identical except for the magnet material (I think).

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