Ernie Ball Music Man has refreshed its Steve Lukather signature guitar series, offering the Luke 4 with HSS and HH pickup configurations, giving the maple-topped HH models a makeover, and unveiling a limited edition Ball Family Reserve model with a double-locking vibrato.
As a high-end electric guitar for all things hard-rock and pop, it surely doesn’t get much better than the Toto guitarist’s fourth-generation model. Note: it is still available with three single-coils (in Scoville Red and Diesel Blue).
All of these models come fitted with a push-push onboard preamp boost that is set at 12dB, enough to give the front end of your guitar amp a bloody nose, but with an internal trimmer allowing you to set it at a whopping 20dB in case there was every any risk of you not standing out in the mix.
All of the usual luxuries of an EBMM build are present and correct – the gunstock oil and hand-rubbed special wax blend on the neck and graphite acrylic resin coated body cavity and aluminum control cover to help put the squeeze on unwanted hum.
A feature of this Lukather signature model is his soft V profile neck. The vibe is a contemporary reimagining of vintage Fender. These measure in with a 25.” scale length and 12” fingerboard radius.
Now, however, you have more choice, and perhaps it is only polite to start with the BFR Luke 4 HSS, which is limited to just 150 units worldwide, is sure to sell like hotcakes, and in that Green Tide finish – with the headstock matching the body – it strikes us of a pleasingly radioactive take on the BFR Luke 4 HSS Steamroller that was launched a couple of years ago to celebrate Lukather and EBMM’s 30 years of collaboration.
“Every time I put one of these guitars on it’s just a reminder of the relationship with my friends,” said Lukather, in 2023, adding that he and Sterling Ball were friends first before they even talked guitars.
Each of these has Lukather’s signature on the back of them. It has a Music Man-branded vibrato with a Floyd Rose-esque double-locking design. As with the rest of the series, you get Schaller locking tuners across the board. These are super-stable in the tuning department.
This BFR edition pairs a lightweight okoume body with a highly figured maple top. The neck, too, is figured maple, topped with an ebony fingerboard, and is bolted to the body with that typically ergonomic heel.
There is a Music Man Heat Treated (HT) humbucker at the bridge, two HT single coil electric guitar pickups at the middle and neck positions, and a five-way pickup selector switch, volume and tone controls with your push-push function for the boost.
It’s a lot of guitar. And it comes in a little more expensive than its siblings at £4,399/$3,999.
The Luke 4 HH and HSS models, which are solid alder and have rosewood or figured maple fingerboards on the Fireball options, are priced £3,629/$3,299. These new 2025 models are offered in Butane Blue, Black Spark and Fireball – an incredible red to yellow burst.
At those prices, these are serious instruments, outwith the reach of a lot of players.
But the EBMM product family does have some good news for those looking for an electric guitar under £/$1000 bearing Lukather's specs, with EBMM's more budget-friendly brand, Sterling By Music Man, unveiling the LK100 in Bodhie Blue and Purple Sparkle.
They are a chip off the old block. Okay, we don't have the HT humbuckers. Sterling By Music Man uses nyatoh for the LK100's body. But the onboard boost feature is present and correct.
There's more. The LK100 shares a similar soft V neck profile. The neck is roasted maple. The 5-way pickup switching still makes it a seriously versatile guitar, and again, at $649 street it's a pretty good deal.
Both of these models revert to the floating Music Man vintage tremolo, and you have roasted figured maple necks as opposed to the white figured maple of the BFR.
The Luke 4 Maple Top is a dual-humbucker model with an okoume body and a figured maple top. The 2025 finish options include Afterburn and Grape Slushie, and you can still get it in Gator Burst and Blue Dream. These are priced £/$3,699 street.
For more details on the Steve Lukather 2025 models, head over to Ernie Ball Music Man and Sterling By Music Man.
In other Lukather news, the Toto guitarist has set the record straight about reports linking him to a new Van Halen record. While he did confirm that Alex Van Halen had approached him to work on previously unreleased material, he was not going to be playing guitar on any Van Halen release.
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