Luke III owners, distortion opinions please?

[Bryan]

I'm still new to the Luke and the Transition pickups.

So I'm asking for experienced advice.

What types of distortion pedals seem to work better with this guitar?

Right now I've got a Mesa Grid Slammer that handles the low gain stuff nicely.

My 5150 OD is good, but not great. It prefers my EVH Stealth (duh!).

So what are you all using?

Oh, I'm playing through a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier.


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[Gio_Force_One]

Check out the Steve lukather overdrive pedal by tone concepts. I've been using the brad paisley overdrive by wampler and an xotic bb preamp both which sound really good.

 

[mikeller]

Personally I mostly use amp distortion (via Mesa Electra-Dyne) but have a Barber Gain Changer (low gain OD) and a Suhr Riot on my board. This combination works well with everything for me.

 

[JasonT]

I can't really help because I'm with mikeller. I just use the distortion from my amp (Engl Powerball). Between the amp's boost and the LIII's boost, I don't add a distortion pedal in front. However, I'll say that the Transition pups work great with all the different distortion options in my amp from crunch to high gain.

 

[tonechaser1]

Fulltone Full-Drive 2 & Xotic EP Booster.

 

[GoKart Mozart]

I kind of had a re-awakening a few years back after I started wanting more tonal versatility (clean & semi-dirty sounds). I went from playing nothing but high gain heads (Peavey 5150, JSX, Jet City, etc) to a clean combo as a blank slate.

I'm definitely in the minority that uses a LIII through a "clean" amp (Fender '68 Deluxe Reverb reissue) and pedals for gain. In my opinion, higher output pickups like the Transitions don't sound as good running through just a Tubescreamer type pedal (TS9, Xotic BB, Fulltone Fulldrive, etc). I've found that the Wampler Plexidrive works great as my main dirt sound; for additional gain, I stack the Plexidrive with a TS-style pedal, like the Joyo Vintage OD or Xotic BB. Tone for days!

Wampler released a deluxe version of the Plexidrive a couple of years back that has a built-in Tubescreamer-style boost. That would probably be the ultimate dirt pedal, IMO.

 

[agt]

I am also a pedal-into-clean-amp (65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue or Super Sonic 22) guy. I do not have a LIII but I have used various Wampler pedals (Pinnacle, Plextrortion, Paisley) with good results with my Luke IIs and other EBMMs.

What took it to the next level for me was the Bogner Harlow (I run it pretty much clean, but it is on all the time whether my tone is clean or dirty) and the Bogner Burnley (for the actual distortion). Very articulate, tight, but not thin or harsh. Check 'em out.

I also received the new JHS @ (Andy Timmons) pedal for Christmas. That is another beautifully voiced pedal.

 

[Jorge ven]

Can't go wrong with the suhr riot and riot reloaded. Amazing tone combined with the transition pickups.. That little pedal does sound like a cranked up amp..

 

[Bryan]

Speaking of Bogner, anybody try the Ecstacy Red pedal?

Let's be honest, Luke's tone through the Bogner ain't too shabby.

I'm avoiding my amp's gain because the Mesa is too "modern" for what I want.

Keep these suggestions coming! It's very helpful.


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[Gio_Force_One]

IF i used my mesa live I always used a regular ts-808 with it both on the clean and dirty channel. on the clean it would give it some nice dirt and on the dirty channel it gave it more sustain and beefed up tone. However when i used my jcm800 live i would use a boss sd-1 overdrive and it did basically the same but for me they really didt work the other way around.

Sometimes I noticed the most simple regular pedals work the best , to me its just seems like everything is just based off the original overdrive pedals from years ago. It seems like everything is a modded ts-808 and I know joe bonamassa uses one SRV i believe kirk hammet uses one also. There are so many players that use one. its worth checking out

 

[kimonostereo]

I've used my Lukes with the Bogner Ecstasy Red pedal. Plugged into my Fender Princeton or Roland Blues Cube Artist, it sounds just like Luke and is extremely versatile. Should work well with any good pedal taking clean amp though. Highly recommended.

 

[Bryan]

I've used my Lukes with the Bogner Ecstasy Red pedal. Plugged into my Fender Princeton or Roland Blues Cube Artist, it sounds just like Luke and is extremely versatile. Should work well with any good pedal taking clean amp though. Highly recommended.

Thanks!


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[Moosevfa27]

I used a Bogner Ecstacy Red for a short time through my Mark V as an additional gain option and I eventually switched to the Bogner Burnley. I love the tightness I get out of the Burnley. From my experience all of the Bogner pedals are solid options. When I'm playing through my AC15 or AC30, I use a Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret as well as my Burnley. For a little added boost I have an Xotic EP Booster. I haven't tried the Transitions through it but it has worked for my Illuminators, Suhr Aldrich models, and my Dimarzio Titans.

 

[Tollywood]

Hello Bryan.

My Luke IIIs sound great through either my Wampler Pinnacle for an evh brown sound or a Suhr Riot for higher gain.

 

[GoKart Mozart]

What took it to the next level for me was the Bogner Harlow (I run it pretty much clean, but it is on all the time whether my tone is clean or dirty) and the Bogner Burnley (for the actual distortion). Very articulate, tight, but not thin or harsh. Check 'em out. .

Wow, just checked out some demos of the Burnley. That thing sounds FAT!

 

[Bryan]

Ok. Researching the Burnley, Pinnacle, and Riot

Anybody got experience with the Zvex Box of Rock?


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