Ernie Ball Music Man Luke III 2018 - Wet Black

Music Man Luke LIII in WET BLACK – Officially "Very Good," but most folks would call it EXCELLENT!

Could the Music Man Luke III be the mythical “one guitar to do it all?”

Guitar Player’s Art Thompson: “It’s so playable, with a voice that makes it a comfortable fit for all kinds of styles.”He continues that it possesses “a range of tones that beg you to deploy it on practically any gig” and that the design “works for all the different applications that Steve Lukather encounters in his professional life as one of the hardest-working guitarists around.” Thompson awarded it an Editors’ Pick.

Chris Gill in Guitar World: the Luke III offers “a wide range of tonal possibilities for any musical application” and a midrange voice “perfect for soloists.” He notes that Lukather’s decades of session and stage experience are plainly audible in the instrument.

This guitar was made in the USA (California) in 2018. I’m the second owner and I bought it in 2018, so I have had it since essentially brand-new. While I’ve owned it, this instrument has been kept exclusively in a smoke-free private recording studio. It’s never been gigged. It’s in excellent condition. If you get bright light at just the right angle, you’ll see extremely faint swirl lines on some parts of the body, but under everyday light they’re pretty much impossible to see. There’s a picture where I worked hard to show the swirls, if you’re interested.

I recently replaced the strings with .009-.042 Elixir strings (see below). While the strings were off, I also carefully applied Dunlop Formula 65 Lemon Fretboard Oil. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I’m an idiot and incorrectly restrung the high B so the tuning peg operates backward. I thought about taking the brand-new Elixir strings off and throwing them away, but I figured I’d give the new owner (you) the choice of living with the incorrect winding, or removing them and putting on.a brand-new set. I’m including an unopened package of .009-.042 Elixir strings for you to use as you wish. I’m also including a brand-new 9v battery to power the 12db boost circuit this guitar is famous for. You’ll receive the guitar with a battery in place so you can immediately play (you’ll get two batteries total).

Guitar comes with the Original Hard-Shell Case and some case candy (minor paperwork). The case is also in like-new condition.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I used AI on the pictures with the rust/purple gradient background to remove some background clutter and to make them “pop” a bit in the ad. NOTHING about the guitar was modified or cheated using AI. I have included the original photos in the ad so you can compare before and after for verification.

Specifications:

Year

2018

Country of manufacture

USA

Body

Alder

Body construction

Solid, flat-top, double-cutaway

Body finish

High-gloss polyester

Finish

Black

Body dimensions

12½" wide × 1¾" thick × 36 15/16" long

Scale length

25½" (648 mm)

Neck

Roasted maple

Neck profile

Steve Lukather signature profile; generally described as a soft/medium V

Neck finish

Gunstock oil + hand-rubbed special wax

Fingerboard

East Indian rosewood

Fingerboard radius

12" (305 mm)

Frets

22, low-profile/wide

Nut width

1⅝" (41.3 mm)

Width at 22nd fret

2 3/16" (55.6 mm)

Fret markers

Dot

Neck joint

5-bolt sculpted neck joint

Truss rod

Adjustable without removing strings

Tuners

Schaller M6-IND locking

Bridge

Music Man floating vintage tremolo

Saddles

Bent steel

Tremolo hardware

Chrome-plated hardened steel

Pickup configuration

HSS or HH, depending on the specific guitar

HSS bridge pickup

DiMarzio Transition humbucker

HSS middle/neck

DiMarzio custom single-coils

HH pickups

Two DiMarzio Transition humbuckers

Pickup selector

5-way lever

Preamp

Custom Music Man active preamp

Boost

Push/push volume control, adjustable active gain boost

From 12db-20db

Tone control

Passive 500 kΩ

Tone capacitor

.022 µF

Battery

9V for active boost/preamp

Factory strings

Ernie Ball RPS 9 Slinkys: .009–.042

Left-handed

No

Case

Music Man molded/hardshell case