Musicman Luke - one guitar to rule them all?

[herbychimp]

Due to a new arrival at home and time invested in changing nappies and trying to differentiate between my head and *rse with this level of sleep  deprivation, I haven't been able to post in a while but I was still reading the forum and was very interested in the recent post about 'If you could only have 1 guitar + amp from your collection what would it be'  I am approaching a 'significant' birthday and I am considering purchasing another guitar to celebrate my advancing years. The only trouble is that due to baby clobber, I really don't have any more room for new stuff therefore I may have sell / trade what I do have in order to get a new one in.  This time I want to spend a little more and go up the quality ladder but also get something that is very playable, versatile and classic. 

Having done a lot of research I have discovered that I am more limited by dimensions than anything else. That is to say neck profiles. I have a Tokai LR and a hard-tail strat which I like a lot but in truth neither is totally comfortable for me to play. They pretty much cover all the ground I need in terms of sound but neither is quite the ticket (despite excellent set ups by Feline and BKPs) As a result, I have been looking at Musicman which seem to have narrower, comfortable neck profiles. Aesthetically I can say that I like the whole range but feel particularly drawn to the Luke III. I love the idea of the boost and the trem gets excellent reviews. Crucially, every review I have read compliments the 'V' profile neck. I am not so sold on the DiMarzio transitions but these could be changed in time.  I have played a few MM models and loved the feel but never a Luke - this is proving pretty difficult to rectify as very few retailers seem to stock them. 

I would be very grateful if anyone could chip in with their experience of this model and where I might try one. Additionally, if I wanted to upgrade with BKPs for a warmer alnico sound what should I go with? I was thinking Crawlers...

cheers

Stef

P.S In truth, if I had 3-4k I would be asking Jon@ Feline to build me something as lovely as his recent Lions but that is still a pipe dream..

[James C]

I've only played the Luke II (non-Floyd, with EMGs).

Tonally very balanced (playing through a Laney Ironheart Combo) - Great snap and Bell like tones from the SC's and both fullness and definition to the Bridge HB

The Neck was very comfortable, not too thin (i have large hands/long fingers) but still speedy feeling with enough chunk when digging in for bluesier moments.

I tried the Guitar at Andertons in Guildford, they have Luke I's II's and III's in stock iirc so you can try the range.

Hope that helps

[herbychimp]

Thanks - I have always wanted to visit Andertons. Their videos with the Captain & Chapman are always .. informative. There looks to be some serious high-end gear in there. I think I would be like a chubby kid in a cake shop - albeit one with a limited amount of change in his pocket. There is a particular finish that they had (Olive gold) which they did a demo video on - however I think that they may have discontinued it.

[Philly Q]

I agree Andertons are good for Music Man, I bought an Axis Sport from them years ago.

Interested in your comments about the neck, I love the way they make their necks with the smooth contours, rounded fingerboard edges and oil/wax finishes.  I quite like the narrow nut too, but I find the actual neck profiles too skinny for my current taste.  I haven't tried any Luke models but I believe they have even slimmer necks than most of the other MMs (or at least the original Luke did, I'm not up to date on the II or III).  Horses for courses!

Lovely guitars though, the workmanship is as good or better than anything I've ever owned, including PRS, Tyler and a (low end) Huber.  If only they made an Albert Lee with a huge neck I'd buy one tomorrow.

[Telerocker]

I bet Crawlers will be perfect in a Luke. They split wonderful too. I like the MM-necks and for me they're not too skinny.

[herbychimp]

I think that my mission has to be to locate / try-out as many quality guitars as I can over the next few months. I was discussing the Luke with a guitar playing relative (who is, it has to be said, an awesome player and has owned both an Axis and a Silhouette) and he said he wouldn't bother as it was just 'A really expensive silhouette with a few extra features and a gain boost  However, he hasn't played one and neither have I so I will have to check it out myself.  To be honest, there are so many top-end level guitars that I have never played (PRS, Suhr, Tyler to name but three) that my experience is narrow - but I think that neck-profile is a massive thing. I own a nice strat with a modern 'C' profile which is o.k but not that comfortable for me. I have heard that once you try a Musicman neck it is difficult to go back to everything else..