What do you think about this Luke 1?

[Doobietime]

Bit of backstory (I have adhd, so bare with me )
I decided to take my guitar playing to the next level so I can play gigs. Signed up for classes while studying in Plymouth. My teacher let me try one of his guitars, it was a Luke. I instantly noticed a difference. My hands glided like butter, pressed frets effortlesly, and the sustain..... my days the sustain! I asked him where could I get one? He said they are £3000 (about $4,500 at the time). Disappointed. I spent the next 6 years looking for EB Music man guitars. I think I saw a string ray last summer in a shop. But the shopkeeper wouldn't let me try it unless I was going to buy it. How generous It cost €2000 and I couldve done it, but it would've been an impulsive buy. Fast forward about 6 months. I finally found one on a classified ads website for about €1400 with an amp.

TL;DR what thoughts come to your mind when you see/hear about this guitar? 2008 model, serial number checks out, won it in a radio music show, wanted to learn to play, broke his fingers, gave up on that dream. He says he let his friend borrow it for a gig no more than 3 times. I believed him. I'll say no more until after a few replies then I'll explain the rest of the story.

 

[GWDavis28]

Let's start with Welcome. What's the serial number, I'm pretty sure that's a Luke 2. I think the Luke 1's had a Floyd Rose bridge. Have you been able to play it? How much are they asking? Always hard to tell what's up without more pictures.

Good luck, Glenn |B)

 

[Rbg]

Just an observation: I think it is too much scratches after a couple of gigs, don't you think? (not that it matters, just pointing out )

 

[dibart77]

Welcome Doobietime! A cool guitar you have there. This is indeed not a Luke 1. It's a Luke 2. (Luke 1 had a floating Floyd Rose trem and the EMGs, Luke 2 still had EMGs but switched to a vintage trem -- like yours, and Luke 3 had a slightly bigger body size and switched the EMGs for first DiMarzio's and then EBMM-custom pickups).

It's a nice color. The serial number would let us determine the date. I do agree with Rbg that the wear seems to show more than a few gigs' worth of playing, but some of that could just be the flash photography highlighting fingerprints and swirls.

That price seems fair, especially with an amp.

 

[Doobietime]

Let's start with Welcome. What's the serial number, I'm pretty sure that's a Luke 2. I think the Luke 1's had a Floyd Rose bridge. Have you been able to play it? How much are they asking? Always hard to tell what's up without more pictures.

Good luck, Glenn |B)

G40245 He was 4 hrs away, we met halfway, strings were rusty, tension was off (as expected). I asked how much without the crappy amp, he said 1250, I thought it was fair.

Just an observation: I think it is too much scratches after a couple of gigs, don't you think? (not that it matters, just pointing out )

I inspected the frets when we met up, there was no wear on the frets, no skin buildup (this couldve been cleaned but anyway), no visible dents/deep scratches. The only thing was that he didn't think to take the battery out (very few know to do this), it got swollen and stuck in the battery holder. Had to break the plastic out (cost me €35 to repair later).

Welcome Doobietime! A cool guitar you have there. This is indeed not a Luke 1. It's a Luke 2. (Luke 1 had a floating Floyd Rose trem and the EMGs, Luke 2 still had EMGs but switched to a vintage trem -- like yours, and Luke 3 had a slightly bigger body size and switched the EMGs for first DiMarzio's and then EBMM-custom pickups).

It's a nice color. The serial number would let us determine the date. I do agree with Rbg that the wear seems to show more than a few gigs' worth of playing, but some of that could just be the flash photography highlighting fingerprints and swirls.

That price seems fair, especially with an amp.

Thanks ^^ I spent ages trying to figure out if it was a L1 or L2. It doesnt have push pull which was disappointing
G40245 March 6th 2008.
AND You're absolutely right! Nice eye! The bad lighting made it look much more worn out (I had just finished playing it and didn't wipe it down). So I cleaned it but didn't take more pictures.
We agree on €1250 without the amp. I didn't play it until a few days later when the luthier set it up because I didn't want to spoil the memory of what it should feel like to play a properly set up Luke. I told him I like playing metal but hate having to change tunings. So I took the 3 highest strings of Hybrid Slinky (9, 11, 16) and 3 low of Power slinky (28, 38, 48). The idea was to be able to play the Luke in standard or D standard as lowest, and leave my ibanez's for drop c and higher.

And my oh my... once it was ready and I picked it up, I got teleported back in time to when I first held my teachers Luke. It's like I had to slow myself down because the notes were flying off the fretboard xD the guitar can read your mind and play the notes for you or some crazy voodoo is going on. Such a joy to play, because it's given me new challenges to learn to master this specific one.

I now understand the value of a good instrument. The feel is so important. It allows you to stay in the flow without getting distracted (already a challenge for my brain ).

Now I just need any information I can get on taking good care of it. I want it to last for many many years. Ideally longer than me xD I noticed the luthiers workshop had a hygrometer, maybe I should get 1 for my case and 1 for my room?

Thanks to everyone for all the input! I'll add more pictures later.

 

[GWDavis28]

Push/Pull is only on the Luke 3. The Luke 2 is a great guitar and totally worth having, I use to have one for a period of time, let it go and wished I never did. Nice man congrats on the purchase, can't wait to see more pics.

Glenn |B)

 

[Rbg]

Congrats on the guitar! I recently got my first EBMM Luke and it is the L2 as well. I absolutely love the instrument. After playing well setup Luke I can't even touch my chunky neck Strat anymore.