New Luke (to me) Gen2 & cavity question

[GoKart Mozart]

Was originally going to post this in the “pics o’ my guitar thread”, but thought I’d start a new thread since I ramble a bit.

I’ve had two other 2nd gen Lukes over the years and bought a new LIII the first year they were offered in Bodhi Blue. As awesome as the LIII is, I’ve been missing the smaller body on the original Luke. I bought jptortor’s gorgeous Luke in the Lava Pearl color that he listed in the for sale thread. jptortor (Jason) is a great guy to deal with, BTW. We did a trade via the forum about 4 years ago!

The Lava Pearl color is awesome, much like any of the other Music Man pearl/flake finishes. The curvy Luke body shape really accentuates it; don’t think I’ve ever seen a color on a Luke body that I didn’t like.

This particular Luke came with a couple of upgrades. The bridge pickup was switched from the standard EMG 85 to a EMG 57 with exposed pole pieces. It’s been so long since I had a guitar with an 85 that I can’t recall how it sounds in comparison to the 57, but Ive got no complaints.

Second, the factory saddles have been swapped out with the locking Wilkinson saddles that have become pretty popular over the past couple of years. These are really well made; I’ve got an extra set that I ordered and tried out on a guitar for a while. Ended up trading that guitar off but I kept the Wilkinson saddles since they’re kind of hard to get right now. I’ve been meaning to swap those saddles over to one of my MM trem guitars but all of them seem to stay in tune just fine with the factory saddles!

First thing I did when I got the guitar was do the cap / resistor mod that Kimonostereo posted about several years ago. It lowers the volume of the bridge humbucker only in position 2 on the switch so that it blends with the middle pickup better for that “quack” sound. Did this on my last Luke as well; this should be a mandatory mod for all Luke owners!

Something I noticed while comparing the photo of my last Luke; the control cavity on this guitar (a 2007 model) is recessed. My last Luke was a 2011 and had the non-recessed control cavity with the textured metal cover. Anyone know roughly when the change to the non-recessed cavity happened? Was this across the entire line on other models? My 2000 Axis Sport has a recessed cavity as well.

Here’s a group shot of the stable.

 

[GWDavis28]

Wow nice congrats that's a great collection you've got there.

Glenn |B)

 

[TripHazard]

Sweet collection you’ve got there. I think you have the greatest Axis SS finish I’ve ever seen on that guitar.

 

[GWDavis28]

Sweet collection you’ve got there. I think you have the greatest Axis SS finish I’ve ever seen on that guitar.

Yup or the purple finish similar to that.

Glenn |B)

 

[beej]

That Luke is gorgeous. And holy smokes, that Axis is stunning!

I can't recall when the change happened- I've had a few that were recessed as well. I'm sure someone here can pin it down.

 

[kimonostereo]

I think the reason they stopped doing the recessed parts on the back were paint tolerance issues and burn through when doing final polishing. I could be wrong, but that's what I recall. As someone who has painted a body with those types of recessed parts, it can be an issue if paint goes on a little heavy. Fit can be an issue or cracks in the finish. It's also very easy to burn through the pain while color sanding and buffing those edges if you're not careful... or say, a robot was doing it.

 

[DrKev]

Sucha great color. In fact that is a beautiful collection of guitars!

What's the resistor and cap on the switch? Is that the high pass/quack mod on position 2? I've tried that.

 

[GWDavis28]

I think the reason they stopped doing the recessed parts on the back were paint tolerance issues and burn through when doing final polishing. I could be wrong, but that's what I recall. As someone who has painted a body with those types of recessed parts, it can be an issue if paint goes on a little heavy. Fit can be an issue or cracks in the finish. It's also very easy to burn through the pain while color sanding and buffing those edges if you're not careful... or say, a robot was doing it.

Really good point Kimonostereo, another point is that's a cnc operation, so it was probably a cost cutting measure as well.

GoKart, do you have the link (thread) for the cap/resistor mod? I've got a Silo Special project going for way, way, way too long that's putting the Luke EMG's in.

Glenn |B)

 

[beej]

I recall BP saying that the reason they stopped recessing the neck plates was that people would frequently overtighten them, leading to cracks in the paint. Perhaps they stopped this for a similar reason.

 

[GoKart Mozart]

Sweet collection you’ve got there. I think you have the greatest Axis SS finish I’ve ever seen on that guitar.

Thanks! I always dig the two BFR runs that they did in aqua quilt and purple quilt. It’s just an all around fantastic guitar.

GoKart, do you have the link (thread) for the cap/resistor mod? I've got a Silo Special project going for way, way, way too long that's putting the Luke EMG's in.

Glenn |B)

Sure thing Glenn:

http://forums.ernieball.com/ernie-ball-music-man-guitars/62834-mk-suhr-mod-emg-85-mid-pickup-combination-luke-ii.html

-Jacob

 

[GWDavis28]

Thanks! I always dig the two BFR runs that they did in aqua quilt and purple quilt. It’s just an all around fantastic guitar.



Sure thing Glenn:

http://forums.ernieball.com/ernie-ball-music-man-guitars/62834-mk-suhr-mod-emg-85-mid-pickup-combination-luke-ii.html

-Jacob

Jacob, thanx man!!!!

Glenn |B)

 

[GoKart Mozart]

It's also very easy to burn through the pain while color sanding and buffing those edges if you're not careful... or say, a robot was doing it.

Definitely! Anytime you have a thin edge like that, there is an increased chance of having to do rework if something gets messed up. Don’t blame them at all for switching to the non-recessed cuts.

I recall BP saying that the reason they stopped recessing the neck plates was that people would frequently overtighten them, leading to cracks in the paint. Perhaps they stopped this for a similar reason.

Good point, beej. I recently ran across a cool older Axis Sport MM90 nearby in the Pearl Purple color that had a recessed neck plate.Tried to work out a trade on it but no luck. It had some serious cracks on the back that lined up perfectly with a couple of the screws in the neck plate. What’s even worse is that the crack on the south end of the plate had extended onto the neck heel area where the paint isn’t as thick and had caused it to flake off exposing bare wood.

 

[click track]

Look at that collection !!!!!!

That is exctly what I want someday very soon....as soon as my Son graduates college....

 

[Virtuoso]

That's one of the best colors I've ever seen on a Luke! I'm (Dargie) green with envy!