Luke True Gold

[ctenney1]

Hello all, new to the forum but owner of a Luke 2 Pewter Color and a new Olive Gold III HH. So dont be too hard on me lol. I have a question, I know that the Luke Gold was $2500 when it was " In Stock"..I have the opportunity to get one for $2000 in showroom condition with case and candy. Just wanted to know what you guys think about them and that price? I read quite a bit about the tone control but couldnt wrap my head around it all. Both of my Lukes rock. Thanks in advance and glad to be here.

 

[kimonostereo]

Hello all, new to the forum but owner of a Luke 2 Pewter Color and a new Olive Gold III HH. So dont be too hard on me lol. I have a question, I know that the Luke Gold was $2500 when it was " In Stock"..I have the opportunity to get one for $2000 in showroom condition with case and candy. Just wanted to know what you guys think about them and that price? I read quite a bit about the tone control but couldnt wrap my head around it all. Both of my Lukes rock. Thanks in advance and glad to be here.

That's a fair price considering that they were a PDN item and they are all signed by Luke.

Tone Control: I believe the story is that it was wired incorrectly but it ended up that Luke didn't want EBMM to change it to the way it was supposed to be wired because he felt it sounded good. EBMM ended up wiring the PDN in that way. It really was just about as close as you can get to the one he had minus the pigtronix sticker.

 

[ctenney1]

Thanks alot Kimo..that really cleared up that issue for me. I am just thinking down the road as an investment. You know? Say in 25 years will it still be worth what I paid? Luke would be about 80 then and still killing it on the guitar. Such a cool looking guitar and dude. I see you have one too. Thanks

 

[straycat113]

A bit of advice? Don't ever buy a guitar as an investment.When you buy make sure it is a guitar you enjoy and in 20 years if it goes up in value that is a bonus. I would say the 2K is a good price and if you like Lukes buy it.

 

[ctenney1]

Well you know...as there is only 200 of them around and luke plays these things like crazy. Sill not sure if he has the X pickups in the one you see all the time but oh well. Thanks Stray Cat

 

[Jorge ven]

I think it's a good price... Have one and like the X pickups better than the ones on my Dargie... Good luck

 

[kimonostereo]

If you are thinking about that $2000 in 20 years, consider that it only adds up to $100 for each year or $0.38 a day.

I for one would never buy a guitar as an investment. Sure, if I have a guitar that one day becomes worth a ton of money, then fine, but that doesn't necessarily mean I would sell it. Guitars have value to me because I love to play 'em vs. ones that I don't because I'm not attached to them in some way. I've sold a TON of gears/guitars that are now worth way more than I've sold them for, but you can only look forward and not backwards.

As for Luke's and EMG-X: I believe it when Luke and Sterling say that the guitar was built as close to his True Gold guitar as possible. In the end, I like the sound of the EMG-X compared to the SLV-EMG's in the Luke 2. I like the EMG's in the Luke I even more.

 

[Gio_Force_One]

I loved the look of mine and the way it played but I didn't like the pickups all that much but that's just me. I hope one day to get a Luke three I am not a big fan of active pickups.
But that true gold colour is amazing now if I could only get a Luke three double humbucker in true gold.
I could never buy a guitar as an invesent I like to play to much and I am not gentle on my guitars at all. So after twenty years it would look very road worn.

 

[JasonT]

I would guess that's probably a fair price because there were a limited number of them. But I won't tell you what do with your money - whether to buy a guitar as an investment or not. What I will tell you is that the True Gold Luke is a very cool guitar. For me, personally, I like EMG-X pickups WAY better than the Luke II pups. [full disclosure - I like the passive LIII HH pups even better] I also love an all rosewood neck. Those two features there make it a winner to me. Then you add the true gold paint job, which is excellent, shifting between gold and orange depending on the light. If I could get another set of the EMG-X pups, I'd put them in another Luke I have.

With regard to the tone control, IIRC, the story was that it may not have been wired "correctly," but that is the way that Luke preferred it, so that is how EBMM made them - to Luke's specs (as they do with all their artist guitars). You should know that the tone control does not have as wide a spectrum of adjustment from all the way down to all the way as you would have on the regular Luke II. It doesn't bother me, but maybe it would bother you?

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

I'll try and find the source but from what I remember the pickups were tossed into the guitar on super short notice right before a gig and they didn't have time to swap the tone pot. Luke loved the way the pickups sounded during the gig and then when the "recommended" pot was installed after the fact he decided he preferred the way the guitar behaved with the 1st pot.

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

Ok here is Dudley's post on this subject

Originally posted by Guitarburetor


Wouldn"t it be nice if questions were directed to the people who could answer them? But then, I suppose drama has it's own life to live...

The story goes like this- I installed the EMG-X pickups in Luke's Gold guitar at a gig. I had every intention of installing the active Tone module, but sound check was looming and Luke said "just put the new pickups in there and let me check it out". After the sound check he said "I love 'em, let's not mess with it. Later, we put the active Tone module in a guitar for him with the EMG-X pickups, but he wasn't digging it, so we left his main guitar alone. Whatever affect the passive Tone control has on the output, he likes it better and was able to get the sound he wanted. As always, when we make a production model, we make it just like the signature artist uses it.

Now, to address the other issues in the link BP forwarded to me-

This version of the 5-way switch is used because it has a lever long enough to go through the wood, since there is no pickguard. Kinda boring, but true.

Whatever percentage of the time Luke DOES use a pickup combination other than Bridge alone, or Neck alone, is why the other 3 positions are there.

The PC board IS there to neatly, and reliably, make all connections to the pickups, the DC power, and the controls. No need for tape, heatshrink tubing or lots of bulky connectors and screw terminal connections.

Rob Turner is certainly the expert on the design of his products, and someone I respect. Having read both Rob's and Bruno's comments, I did what any wise person who cares about their products and reputation might do- I got Luke guitars with both X and non-X pickups and checked them out. From Rob's explanation of the pickup's (active) output impedence, it made sense that connecting the same tone control to the non-X pickup with 10k output impedence would also affect the sound, if connecting it to the X pickup with a 2k impedance did. What I found out is connecting the typical EMG passive tone control (25k pot and .1uF capacitor)to either pickup had a similar result, which was a slight high frequency roll-off and a slight (but noticeable) drop in output.

Luke is one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and the expert on what he likes, which in this case is the EMG-X pickups with the passive Tone control.

 

[lukather101]

Ok here is Dudley's post on this subject

Sorry to act a bit dim but what is actually in the production TG.