Question Music Man Luke Guitar

[Martin Gathard]

Can anyone tell me why when I play Guitar solo's on the Bridge pick up on this Guitar it's powerful enough and seems to have plenty of bite, but the moment I click over to the Neck pickup I seem to loose all power, (and I know it is a single coil at the neck position), it seems very thin even the Stratocaster has more power in the neck position against this Luke guitar.
The Luke guitar by the way has two EMG standard pick up's
Any information would be very valuable to me
Many thanks.
Marty

 

[spkirby]

You've answered your own question...its because its a single coil. Personally I like to play on the Lukes neck pup then hit "top gear" by selecting the bridge for solos.

As to comparing the Luke single against others, its a bit of a lost cause. There can be a huge variety of output designed into pickups hence the amount on the market!

If you arent happy get a clean boost pedal for those single coil moments.

 

[Shadowbox]

I've never played a Luke, so I don't really know about that particular guitar, but I've had the same problem in numerous SSH-configured guitars, most notably my Yamaha RGX-TT Ty Tabor model.

I used my amp to work around the problem. I use Line 6 gear most often when playing live, and created different patches for different tones. If I used the neck pickup for a certain sound or song, I would create a patch specifically for it. If you have a four-channel amp, like a newer Marshall or Mesa, you can set the channel volume for your clean or blues drive channel with the neck pickup in mind by setting the channel volume so that it's a little hotter for the neck pickup than your patch or channel for your humbucker rhythm/lead work.

Hopefully some folks who are fortunate enough to play Lukes live will weigh in. Dwells? Thoughts?

 

[beej]

Martin- is the neck pickup substantially weaker than the middle one? Trying to understand if there's something wrong with the pickup.

 

[douglasspears]

I notice a definite loss in volume when I switch to the split single coil options on my Axis SS. I'd say a 10-15% drop in volume.


EDIT: to add, the sound of the single coils is fantastic, but just a little less volume. You mention a "loss in power" and it seeming "thin" when switching to the single coils......single coils do have a thinner sound, by design.

 

[kbaim]

another method would be to set the volume you like for the single coils and use a volume pedal (or the knob) to back off the vol a little when you use the humbucker position

I don't ever use the hum in a live setting these days so it's not an issue for me.

But I remember having an axis ss with humbuckers and the volume drop when the coils were split in pos 2 and 4 bothered me a lot too.

 

[dwells]

i love the sound of the single coils in the neck but i use a Zakk Wylde over drive to boost my leads it has a smooth bottom end boost that works great with the Luke ! check it out
i used a yngwie malmsteen pedal on this video for the boost it still sounds great have a listen Martin ?
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMwkSs6hTlo]YouTube - Guitar Shred Dean Wells Teramaze Studio Recording[/ame]

oh by the way the older Lukes single coils do sound different to the newer ones too
cheers

 

[DrGonzo5150]

i love the sound of the single coils in the neck but i use a Zakk Wylde over drive to boost my leads it has a smooth bottom end boost that works great with the Luke.......oh by the way the older Lukes single coils do sound different to the newer ones too
cheers

+1

Love the single coil sound.
Luke 2 or BFR i boost the neck p/up - Wylde OD, Malmsteen OD, DS1.. They'll all do the trick.

Dean is spot on... Luke 1 single coils are totally different.
I find them hotter and have to be careful boosting it... I find an OD can over-compress the sound, to get around this i run 'even/unadjusted' EQ in the effects loop with the volume up a fraction... I find this gives a superb clean boost.

Another alternative is to raise the single coils up a fraction using small washers... Though i don't do this, i have heard about it being done with positive results on a few occasions...

Let us know how you go. Cheers

 

[TNT]

Neck pickup, what's that??!!!

Can I be blunt - I hate all neck pickups. I'm not singling out any guitar, and certainly not my Axis. But actually, I do (technically speaking) use a neck pickup.

I called DiMarzio a while back and asked when are you going to come out with a "neck" pickup like the one I have? lol,lol,lol

Then I told him what a "neck" pickup is supposed to sound like.

Because of the "location" of the neck pickup it can only do so much. So, if you really want to have a dynamite neck pickup read on (secret disclosed):

Flip your bridge pickup on, roll the "tone" knob to 7 1/4, and you have the absolute BEST neck pickup in the world!!! But, mind you, this is going to spoil you for any future neck pickup.

See, if only EVH knew this in advance he couild have two knobs instead of one!

 

[Slingy]

Thanks for the tip, I must try it. I love the Luke neck pickup with a fuzz tone.