Valley Arts Custom Pro Steve Lukather

I bought the luk used in australia for about 450$ u.s.
sold my usa fender strat to do it.I t is made of warmoth parts
which is a good thing,24 frets.emgs p/u,2singlesand a hummer,
cherryburst finish. one volume control,no tone.I added a spc circuit
to it ( a fat boost).I believe it is swamp ash because it is so light.
floyd rose tremolo

the emgs are quiet,good jass and rock tones, it does not quack
like a strat,but it has more kahunas than a strat

plays as fast as my paul,had to have the frets crowned but what
do you expect for a twelve year old guitar.this guitar was put
together beautifully,by guys who cared,beautiful cherrysunburst

solid as a rock,I play out with it as much as I do my tele
don't need a backup ,stays in tune the for a couple of weeks at a time

not around

played 25 years,if it was stolen I would look for another and never quit looking for the guy who stole it. sounds great ,plays like a dream.I use a tech 21 triod preamp into a 1976 50 watt marshall
with an effects I had added and its a hard to beat tone.the hummer in
the rear kicks.trouble is luk are hard to find

this BEAUTIFUL Valley Arts Custom Pro Steve Lukather signature model axe was built in California around 1984-85. (serial VA 01767)
It has probably one of the most beautiful sunburst styles I've ever seen, and you can see the wonderful mahogny.
It's a strat model, and the pickguard is like on a regular strat.
It's loaded with two EMG single coils and one EMG-85 humbucker bridge position. Gives you that wonderful Lukather-sound from the mid 80s until around 1992.
5 way switch, and a volume controll only.
22 frets jumbo (?), gold hardware, Kahler Floyd Rose tremolo ( I love diving bombs)...came with an original hard shell case.

(because it has a volume controll only, and because it's such a pain in the ass to change strings on Floyd Rose guitars, I give it 9 pts)

I use it to pop, rock, blues, jazz, AOR/westcoast...anything!!!
I play it through my Marshall 1960 4x12" cabinet and 100W head...I've been trying it on an Elmwood 100w (which makes the BEST amplifiers in the world) and it sounds AMAZING!
It doesn't make any noise, as quiet as a mouse...except for when you play it!
Very brigt, rich and full sound...

To make it easy for you I'll tell you like this;
have the switch UP and you get the signature Lukather sound...VERY special sound no other than EMG can make...have it on the 2nd from the top and play through a CLEAN amp...some reverb and maybe a little reverb and you get the most beautiful clean guitar sound...fantastic for solos, funky grooves, jazz/blues solos, rock solos, rhythm guitar EVERYTHING!
If you want more rocky sound, take it all down..like you do with all kinds of guitars!
When it comes to the sound, there's NOTHING I dislike!

I got this used...made in 1984, and it's still beautiful like new!
The pickups were adjusted after Lukather's own decision...
When I got the guitar, sent all the way from North Hollywood to Norway, the guitar was TUNED RIGHT when it arrived in Norway!!!

It's a great guitar to play live shows with, but the shit is the strings which goes off too often...of course it depends how much you use the whammy bar, but if you use it like me (like Lukather), there are no questions why you should change strings after two songs...you'll probably need a backup guitar and a guy who can change the strings on this one while you play the other one...it's boring to change strings on a Floyd Rose WHILE you're onstage...during a gig!
The hardware will last for a looooooooong time...it's just the screws which I need to change out...they are like 16-17 years old now.
The finish is INCREDIBLE....beautiful! it will last for as long as you want it to last!!!
The strap buttons are very solid, but the back button on my guitar was loose when I got it.
I can depend on it----I can depend on it that it will give me the best sound there is....I can also depend on it that it will break a couple of strings each week....but who doesn't change strings that often?
No, I would not use it on a gig without a backup...sadly!

Well....Valley Arts doesn't excist anymore.
They got broke and the name was sold to Samic..and they made the name Valley Arts a shame with their (Samic) BAD guitars!
The best guitars from Valley Arts are the Custom Pros (they were VERY expensive as well)

No warranty for me...but, please, it's 16-17 years old!

I've been playing it since summer of 2000...I also own Marshall 1960 + 100w head, Peavey Pacer 50W, VOX ac30, boss, digitech, cry baby wah, line 6 Dl-4, marina, Ibanez, Santana, Fender...also, thanks to this guitar I am now going to buy a Music Man LUKE axe...why? Because 1) it's a total different neck and frets 2) the single coils are different 3) no Floyd Rose, but I can still dive 4) tone control 5) this one is mahogny, the Music Man LUKE is alder

If it were stolen, I'd hang myself!
I love everything except for changing strings on Floyd Rose...and that's often!!!

I don't wish it had anything else, because Lukather did have other guitar with other features, and if this had it all he wouldn't need any other, and then this guitar wouldn't be that special!