An innovation decades in the making, the HT pickups headline the latest installment to the Lukather line of signature instruments, offering a dynamic and responsive playing experience
(Image credit: Future)
This year, Ernie Ball Music Man and Steve Lukather celebrated 30 years of partnership – and did so by releasing one of 2023’s standout electric guitars, the Luke 4 SSS.
Released as part of a wider Luke 4 range – which is the fourth edition of Lukather’s signature guitar lineup – the SSS model helps usher in a new pickup technology that EBMM has spent over a decade developing.
That new technology has been used to create EBMM’s proprietary HT pickups – the highlight of the new build, which Guitar World’s Paul Riario says help provide “supreme tonal firepower”.
Available in both single-coil and humbucker formats, the HT pickup technology is a new material-based innovation from principles and insights learned from the research and development of cobalt and M-Steel string technology.
Here, the Luke SSS comes loaded with three HT single-coils, which can reach ultra-high-output with a powerful low-end response, while never losing sight or compromising on the clean, clear tone they provide at lower volumes. In practice, this results in an incredibly dynamic and responsive playing experience.
To make the pickups even better, they are wired to a versatile control circuit that includes a Push Push Boost circuit. This activates the Luke 4 HT preamp boost, which is factory set to 12dB – though this can be increased to 20dB via an internal trimpot.
There’s also a five-way selector switch, and an innovative Silent Circuit that creates and infuses opposite frequencies to neutralize 60-cycle hum, leaving just the clear, unadulterated natural tone.
The premium performance pickups are joined on the spec sheet by an equally premium selection of high-end appointments not too dissimilar to standard Luke models. This list includes a double-cut contoured roasted alder body, roasted maple neck, and 22 nickel fret rosewood fingerboard, as well as a Music Man vintage floating tremolo.
To summarize, Paul says: “Ernie Ball Music Man Luke 4 SSS is truly a superb guitar packed with innovations and modern refinements of every detail, to provide a wealth of first class tones and true pro performance.
Ernie Ball Music Man Steve Lukather L4 in Redburst (Image credit: Ernie Ball Music Man)
“The Luke 4 SSS signature is an absolute player guitar with effortless playability and supreme tonal firepower courtesy of its brand new pickups, onboard preamp boost and adjustable silent circuit technology.”
The Luke 4 SSS ships with a tremolo case personally signed by Steve Lukather, a certificate of authenticity and a Mono case.
As mentioned, this is only one of the overhauled Luke signature guitars to come equipped with the HT pickups: there’s also an HH version with okoume body and maple top and an HSS model with a Floyd Rose tremolo, that latter of which is limited to 150 units.
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