Luke iii owners question on trem setup

[PeterVV]

Just got hold of a used L3, Never set up a guitar with a floating trem before ( my cutlass and stingrays are decked so they go down only ). Got to change the strings and give it some tlc, can anyone advise me on setting the trem up to float please when I change the strings?
Thanks in anticipation.

 

[Magic Jason]

My advice is that you adjust it to YOUR liking. You are not Steve Lukather (I assume), you are not me, nor the next "advice giver". I like my trem slightly floating so that I can pull (and push) it just little bit to give a subtle tremolo effect. Does it mean it is any good? Will it work for you? Are other/factory settings better? Who knows? Only fact is that it is YOUR guitar, YOU must love it and make the best of it! So, I'd recommend you experiment. It is not rocket science : you just 1) gently (un)tighten the screws linking the springs on the back of your trem block to the guitar body, 2) re-tune the guitar, 3) play the guitar, 4) repeat steps 1-2-3 until it feels comfortable.

 

[Fro]

I kept my MM’s all decked except for my LIII. It’s set up with 10s with the G string able to pull up a full note with the trem.

 

[beej]

The Luke is set up to pull up three semitones on the G string. But yeah, do it to your liking ... I'm about to deck mine so it's down only.

 

[PeterVV]

Thanks everyone, I decked it in the end, the same as my other two EBMMs

 

[tbonesullivan]

I have mine with just enough to keep it off the top so I can get a good up/down vibrato. I don't do any real pull up things, and have considered decking it. I also need to replace the output jack soon, as it's gotten wonky (i'm not the first or second owner).

 

[Mario2017]

Do you guys set up the trem parallel to the body or slightly angled? I have a Luke II (angled) and now a Luke III (parallel) and I'm wondering what is best cause it has an effect on the string action. And I wonder how Lukather uses it.

 

[Phrankenstrat]

I deck my LIII's because we do a lot of drop D tuning. It's my thing!

 

[beej]

I decked my LIII and much prefer it that way as well.

 

[BrickGlass]

I am 100% on board with how Lukather does it. 1 and 1/2 steps up on the G string. Not a fan of the decked approach. I like to be able to lower AND raise the pitch. I use that option of raising the pitch a fair amount. The lower option only is one of my only complaints about the Axis guitar. That’s why I prefer the Axis Super Sport.

 

[Craiguitar]

I am 100% on board with how Lukather does it. 1 and 1/2 steps up on the G string. Not a fan of the decked approach. I like to be able to lower AND raise the pitch. I use that option of raising the pitch a fair amount. The lower option only is one of my only complaints about the Axis guitar. That’s why I prefer the Axis Super Sport.

I agree. My Luke's (the ones with the vintage style bridges) are all set up to float, but I prefer slightly less than 1.5 steps of upward pitch on the open G. I probably have them closer to 1 step these days.