Music Man Luke II.

BGG

Always had a hankering for one of these.
Anyone owned one ? thoughts good and bad ?

Majorscale

Excellent "stunt" guitar, great build quality, plays effortlessly. Neck width and profile just a little on the too skinny side for me.

guitars4you

BGG said:

Always had a hankering for one of these.
Anyone owned one ? thoughts good and bad ?

Sold a few Luke's over the years - a good versatile guitar - Maybe look at it as a Strat on steroids - if you want vintage flavoured Strat tones then the Luke is not for you - but a  great versatile guitar that covers plenty of styles - maybe works better on gain channels than clean, but that is the flavour of an EMG in my opinion

Fluid easy action - slightly V neck profile based on a 50's Strat - easy to handle - No bad comments from me, but play one to see if you bond with one

If I was in a good covers band, it would be a good option for me to look at, but if I was in a blues based band then no

welshboyo

Had a few, great guitars but the necks do take a bit of getting used to..

V profile which is based off an old VA guitar but essentially very 50's Strat with vintage frets and a fairly flat profile.

Never really loved the EMG's if I'm honest and much prefer the L3 with the non-active Di Marzios.

Very versatile guitar for covers etc.

guitars4you

You get a lot of good guitar for your money, especially if you find a good used model

siraxeman

even the man himself seems to have left EMGs behind........

fretmeister

Majorscale said:

Excellent "stunt" guitar, great build quality, plays effortlessly. Neck width and profile just a little on the too skinny side for me.

That's the reason I've always wanted to try one.

Never had the chance though.

matt_sefton

I've always wanted one too Ains - played a few and they feel tiny but really comfortable. Have to say the build quality has been quite inconsistent on the half dozen I've played which put me off a bit. The last one I played the top E was literally falling off the edge of the neck at the 20th fret.

Majorscale

matt_sefton said:

I've always wanted one too Ains - played a few and they feel tiny but really comfortable. Have to say the build quality has been quite inconsistent on the half dozen I've played which put me off a bit. The last one I played the top E was literally falling off the edge of the neck at the 20th fret.

Doubt they left the factory like that, I'm an ex Musicman collector and have owned loads in my time. Every (new) one was perfectly setup with no playability issues. I got a taste for more traditional designs and bigger necks so moved onto other brands but EBMM make fine guitars.

matt_sefton

Majorscale said:

matt_sefton said:

I've always wanted one too Ains - played a few and they feel tiny but really comfortable. Have to say the build quality has been quite inconsistent on the half dozen I've played which put me off a bit. The last one I played the top E was literally falling off the edge of the neck at the 20th fret.

Doubt they left the factory like that, I'm an ex Musicman collector and have owned loads in my time. Every (new) one was perfectly setup with no playability issues. I got a taste for more traditional designs and bigger necks so moved onto other brands but EBMM make fine guitars.

It was a brand new off the shelf instrument in guitarguitar. I was very surprised myself - I'd gone in to buy the guitar and that stopped me. The OP knows me and he knows that not much stops me buying guitars!

BGG

I'm still gutted I missed out on a black sparkle with matching headstock years ago on eBay, I had to pop out and missed the end of the auction
Used prices are under a grand now, so may keep an eye out

Cheers lads.

welshboyo

Just keep in mind that the Luke 2 have smaller bodies than the L3 as well and for me the L3 is a lot more comfortable - the 2 can look comically tiny on those who are quite tall - Luke himself is fairly small!!!

BGG

welshboyo said:

Just keep in mind that the Luke 2 have smaller bodies than the L3 as well and for me the L3 is a lot more comfortable - the 2 can look comically tiny on those who are quite tall - Luke himself is fairly small!!!

I'm six feet tall and twenty five stone, it'll look really shit LOL

welshboyo

BGG said:

welshboyo said:

Just keep in mind that the Luke 2 have smaller bodies than the L3 as well and for me the L3 is a lot more comfortable - the 2 can look comically tiny on those who are quite tall - Luke himself is fairly small!!!

I'm six feet tall and twenty five stone, it'll look really shit LOL

Yeah, just bear it in mind......

jaytmon

Not much to add that hasn't been said already - I own a blue one and used to gig (function band) regularly with it. Gorgeous birds eye maple neck, definitely on the narrow side but very playable. Feels very solidly constructed, more so than my '07 deluxe tele, and the trem was excellent and never went out of tune.

Had the humbucking EMG swapped out for the coil tap version as I wanted the middle/bridge strat sound. Found the pickups could be a bit sterile sounding sometimes. Sometimes they'd rock. Our singer loved the sound of it. Also as @welshboyo mentioned, it is a small guitar, which didn't bother me, but a few people commented on it. 

Having said all that, I don't use it any more so could be persuaded to sell it if you were interested..! 

Have you looked at the Silhouette models? Worth considering. 

BGG

I had a Silhouette years ago, great guitar and sounding superb on some recordings I did.

No idea why I sold it ?? usual GAS fro something else I guess

KrisGee

siraxeman said:

even the man himself seems to have left EMGs behind........

I've seen Luke live a few times since the release of the L3 with passive dimarzios and he seems to favour the emgs for the majority of the shows. 
On Toto 35th anniversary he uses the L2 again for most of the songs and must say these are his best tones. 

Small nut width and soft v profile make for a really tiny neck, has to be played before buying. Personally I can't play it properly, shame as everything else about the guitar is just great.

welshboyo

KrisGee said:

siraxeman said:

even the man himself seems to have left EMGs behind........

I've seen Luke live a few times since the release of the L3 with passive dimarzios and he seems to favour the emgs for the majority of the shows. 
On Toto 35th anniversary he uses the L2 again for most of the songs and must say these are his best tones. 

Small nut width and soft v profile make for a really tiny neck, has to be played before buying. Personally I can't play it properly, shame as everything else about the guitar is just great.

hmm, not sure about the L2 usage - every time I have seen him he is using the L3 in either HSS or HH guise - I've seen the reissue L1 out a few times, but the majority is played on the passive DM's??

jaytmon

This has to be a good excuse to check out some Lukather skills - on a Dimarzio equipped Luke III...

BGG

guitars4you said:

You get a lot of good guitar for your money, especially if you find a good used model

I see you have one in stock. Are the matching headstock models more expensive ?

welshboyo

SomeNeck guitars have a matching headstock Luke 2 (in Luke Blue) in Dublin.

Was there last week, really nice guys and a really nice shop!!

They post a lot of stuff too - they were just finishing up a deal to the US so UK wouldn't be an issue.