Which one is the better instrument? Morse or Luke?

[Malmucci]

Yeah yeah, I know. These types of threads are pretty lame, the whole x vs y thing. But what I actually meant is:

Which of the two instruments are the most versatile? The Luke III or the Steve Morse Standard and Y2D. I've owned so many guitars over the years, and I would like to sell a bunch of them and settle down with preferably two guitars. I have a Tom Anderson Short Hollow T that I'm not going to sell.

I play all kinds of music really, think rock/pop/country/soul and the list goes on. I'm sure both instruments are capable of doing all styles, but what are your thoughts? The brand new Luke III HSS looks pretty bad-ass. But Morse's pickup-selections are great as well.

 

[Jack FFR1846]

I've seen Steve Morse play both his #1 and Y2D and he's incredible with the different sounds he gets out of them (esp the #1). He's the best impression of 3 guys doing solo battles that I've ever heard. Then again, Steve could probably take my iPhone cord and wrap it around a notebook and sound great.

 

[Malmucci]

You are so right. He could play any guitar and it would sound bad-ass! I've owned a Steve Morse with a roasted maple neck, so I'm very familiar with the standard version of the Morse models. I've never actually played a Y2D or a LUKE III. Is the Luke III a more rock-oriented guitar, or is it the same versatile instrument as the other two? Good for gigging and studio-use?

Thanks

 

[NoUse121]

I think the Luke III H/S/S would be the best bet for you. I played one the other day and it was fantasic! The HSS one has A LOT of the sounds that cover just about any style. Also the neck feel was killer.

 

[mikeller]

I haven't played a LIII yet, but I can tell you the Y2D is hard to beat....

 

[FantasyMetal]

The Y2D has crazy good versatility! Just look at what Bonamassa does with it!

 

[Roubster]

My Y2D is my favorite guitar of all time...however I would definitely like to get the LIII in the future. I like the HSS configuration almost as much as a HH or HSH. Both Y2D and LIII are incredibly versatile, but have different tones in them. The feel is also quite different, but to me the transition between the two is not all that bad. The Morse has a few more unconventional tones and the LIII is kind of a straight forward HSS configuration in terms of the pickup selections. The LIII in the HSS config has more of the "traditional" start like tones wheres the Y2D is bit more of an LPish kind of machine. However the addition of the EBMM preamp and the boost tone knob on the LIII is definitely something worth having. I was able to get tons of different tones out of the LIII between the 5 way selector, tone knob and the boost...it would sit perfectly next to my Y2D .

 

[Malmucci]

Roubster, that's my thoughts too. The Morse seems more like a LP-type of guitar, and the Luke will sound more like a strat. Don't get me wrong, I love strats but I'm not sure if I want a "thin"-sounding guitar (I'm gonna get killed for saying this).

The Luke is cheaper though. And there's no used Morse-guitars for sale ever.

 

[Roubster]

The LIII is by no means thin sounding. I really like the combination of alder body and all rosewood neck. To me it sounds fatter than a maple neck. And I think a big roll in achieving a fat tone is the combination of your amp, effects and the way you play. Plenty of strat players out there that have fat tone with single coils. The LIII in HSS config is kind of best of both worlds between a strat and LP type guitar. The humbucker will give you nice fat lead and rhythm tones and the neck pickup is actually pretty fat sounding as well. I find the tone knob very useful when I want to roll off a bit of the high end. I dont know how people dont use the tone knob and volume control in conjunction on their guitars.

 

[Malmucci]

Hm, so the answer to all of this should be to get both. That's what we can agree upon yes? Hehe.. Stop making it so difficult for me Nah, I really don't know what to choose. Any Luke owners who can help me choose the L3? Or maybe some Morse fans?

What I kind of don't like with the Morse is that the neck pickup isn't as warm as I hoped it would be. It can't compete with the warmth of a.. say Les Paul. Is that because of the placement of the pickup itself? On a Les Paul it is placed right next to the fingerboard.

Is this just my bad experience, perhaps my amp or something else?

 

[Roubster]

I've read that from someone else before about the Morse neck pup not being warm/fat enough. However I have yet to actually hear a neck pickup that is as warm and sweet sounding as the Morse neck pup!!! the thing is it still retains clarity, but I think it really depends on how you set up your amp. The SM pickups are quite uniquely voiced...he uses a ton of midrange on his amps. The difference with an LP is also that it is a shorter scale, so that will impact the tone...but I personally think the shorter scale guitars sound a bit too loose and tend to get muddy easier.

There is no easy way to choose, because both guitars are amazing yet different from each other. Do you NEED a humbucker in the neck? You can get the LIII with HH configuration if the SM model is bothering you somehow. There is also the difference in feel, since the SM has no contours and also the necks are different. But again, to me both of these guitars are really comfortable and I can switch between the two quite easily. I dont have the LIII but spent a good hour with it in a store, and it was literally the first EBMM I have tried in a store other than my Y2D that just also fit perfectly and had no issues adjusting to it.

 

[FantasyMetal]

The Morse neck pickup is unbeatable.

 

[Malmucci]

I guess that I'm reaction on the sounds I get from the Morse pup is because I'm so used to playing with a les paul type of guitar. That type of shape and pickups is very special sound that I have gotten used to. The steve morse guitars sounds absolutely phenomenal, I'm sure it has something to do with how I'm used to tweak my amps. I guess I should have tried to dial in some more mids, but that's too late now. I don't have that guitar any longer.

I'm sure the Luke III is very comfortable. I'm used to so many different types of guitars, so I tend to like pretty much everyone I try. The musicman guitars generally feels nice and they sound great.

 

[Colin]