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StingRay 2026 Collection

Luke III stock setup

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dcarroll

New member
Hi All,

I have a music man luke III that was setup whonky by the last owner.

Just wondering what the stock factory trem setup is? 2 or 3 springs? How tight should the two-point tremolo bolts be?

I usually set up strats with 1/8 clearance on the tremolo bridge from the body.

If someone has a side view pic of the bridge setup that would be epic


Thanks!
dcarroll
 
It should be 2 springs. With the bridge set floating, with 1.5 steps of upward bend on the G string when pulled all the way back.
As for the bridge posts, well, that tends to vary, my LIII came with the posts set quite high, and for whatever reason, they decked the bridge, I have no clue why, but it happened when I bought my Luke II also. My Luke II bridge posts were really low from new, I actually ended up raising them a bit because the bottom of the bridge plate wasn't fully clear of the body, so the tuning stability was hindered. Again, I'm almost certain either the distributor or the retailer made these setup changes, not the factory.
 
Here is a nice pic from DrKev:

floating-trem-setup-14812.jpg
 

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That's the one! That's obviously from my Silo Special with a pickguard but the Luke is set up identically at the factory.
 
What about the factory pickup height? I had to raise the saddles a bit and noticed the tone changed. I believe it is because the strings got some far from the pickups. What is the distance from each pickup to the bottom of the strings? My Luke is the HH version. I want to raise the pickups and want the factory settings please.
 
The pickups on the Luke are fixed height, screwed directly to the body. The height is adjustable if you put shims or pieces of foam under the pickup.

I'm sure the Luke experts can chime in here with more info.

Factory height is approximately 6/32" (4.8 mm) on the humbucker, 5/32" (4.0 mm) for the single coils, measured from the bottom of the open strings to the top of the pickup.
 
sanderhermans said:
I allways tought that 3 springs was stock. Then set up floating so you can pull up the G string up to A#
Click to expand...

It's definitely 2 springs only as stock. My Luke's 1, 2 & LIII all came setup with 2 springs, although with the LIII they sent another 2 brand new springs with the guitar, I assume incase the user preferred to add more springs themselves.
 
Mine is HH version and i know they are not adjustable, but i have refretted the guitar with taller fretts and the action was increased. I need to know the right distance of each humbucker to the bottom of the strings. Anyone, please?
 
luiscesaripad said:
Mine is HH version and i know they are not adjustable, but i have refretted the guitar with taller fretts and the action was increased. I need to know the right distance of each humbucker to the bottom of the strings. Anyone, please?
Click to expand...

Read. My. Post. Above. Right to the end. Those are the correct numbers.
 
The distance is bigger on the bridge picku than the neck? I thought it was the opposite. Normally the bridge pickup is closer to the strings than the neck pickup, is that correct? That is how my Luke came from factory.
 
Maybe the numbers are correct, just the order of the pickups are wrong. I will use these numbers but changing the order of pickups
 
My apologies, I've just realised something - the document I'm looking at has has no specific entry for the LIII, just lists "Luke (fixed)". It may only apply to the standard Luke model with EMGs.

Sorry about that!!
 
luiscesaripad said:
The distance is bigger on the bridge picku than the neck? I thought it was the opposite. Normally the bridge pickup is closer to the strings than the neck pickup, is that correct? That is how my Luke came from factory.
Click to expand...

For twin humbuckers, the neck is usually twice the distance from the strings as the bridge if they're equal output. But most neck humbuckers are slightly lower output so would be a little closer. That's probably not helpful, is it?
 
I always just use my ears for pickup height. I put foam underneath my Luke EMG single coils to get them adjusted how I feel they sound best. The neck pickup is still a tad quieter than I'd prefer, but I like the tone.
 
Yes, very helpful. Actually the pickups are hard mounted, and i just liwerde the bridge a little to get the strings closer to the pickups. And i noticed it solved the problem and the tone is perfect in all positions. Thank you so much, guys, this place is really full of amazing helpful people!
 
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