• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan

coldsummer

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 2, 2012
Messages
610
Location
Gloucestershire UK
I've been looking out for a nice Luke III for a little while and love the Bali burst limited run so when Keith Sweat decided to sell his I just had to have it. Sorry if anyone else had their eye on it.

Well it arrived today and I have to say the Bali burst looks even nicer in the flesh, it's a gorgeous finish, hat's off to whoever came up with that idea. First impressions are good, the neck is very different to what I've been used to with the AL HH, more of a V and the fretboard radius feels flatter to me. Of course the finish and detail are stunning as we have come to expect from EBMM. I love the rosewood neck although I would have liked to try a roasted maple one.

I was really looking forward to trying out the Transition pick-ups. I play Luke's last couple of albums a lot whilst I'm driving and I love his tones so I was pretty sure I'd like the Transitions. Having said that, they are very different to the ones I am used to in the AL and 25th, very high definition with a vocal quality yet not as hot as I expected. It's early days but I'm sure I'll like them plenty, just need some more playing time to become accustomed to their unique voicing.

I did notice one odd thing when I played it for the first time, positions 1, 3 and 5 are all pretty full bodied and clear but 2 and 4 sound too thin yet very sizzly, like a distorted piezo (but not that bad). I think the outputs may be set a bit high on the trim pots so I plan to adjust them. It's not a problem with the guitar, more a case of needing to match them to my equipment. Apart from that it is brilliant and I'd extremely pleased, it feels like the last piece in my EBMM jigsaw, the only downside is that I'll have to sell a couple more of my EBMM collection to pay for it.

Finally, I know it's been said before, but Keith is one great guy to deal with and did everything to make this a very pleasant buying experience, so cheers Keith!

Oh, yes, yes, I know, pictures - will be up shortly:)
 

mikeller

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Messages
2,759
Location
Central Ohio
Congrats on the new guitar - killer!!!

I wanted to comment on the positions 2 & 4 not sounding correct. If you remove the panel on the back of the guitar opposite of where the volume/tone knobs are, there are two trim pots. One controls the amount of boost on the push/push control, the other is used to balance the the single coils with the humbucker. You can get a schematic off Music Man website to see which is which. You might try tweaking that and see if that helps....
 

coldsummer

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 2, 2012
Messages
610
Location
Gloucestershire UK
Thanks guys, I do feel incredibly lucky but to be honest if I only had my AL I would be happy, the others are cherries on the top.

Bluesboy82, as you know I've had to sell a few in order to buy more (I'm still hurting after a couple of them) and now I will probably have to sell one or two more but it's a fun ride.
 

PY38

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2012
Messages
287
Luke 3's are just the next level in the Luke series let alone the majority of the line up for EBMM - IMO
 
Top Bottom