Musicman Majesty-John Petrucci signature review

Started by myksara, July 05, 2015, 07:06:01 AM

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myksara

Thought I should post a detailed review of my Musicman Majesty tht I purchased 3 months back.
The guitar arrived in perfect condition with a very nice hardcase and a very good set-up ready to be played out of the box.
The guitar is absolutely stunning and like a dream (theatre) guitar- very well balanced, all the fancy electronics,
very light weight, superb color (mine is the sapphire blue) solid pups and astonishingly stable floating tremelo bridge without a lock nut!

The body size takes a little bit of adjusting to especially of you are a strat/super strat player. The guitar looks small
and has impressive sustain. The attention to detailing is such that you just can't find a flaw at all- ofcourse it is
Mr. Petrucci's signature guitar! The neck plays fast and is very comfortable, not flat like the wizard necks but a shallow
D if I may call it- very comfortable.

I have been using it in the house for the past 3 months every weekend- it is yet to see a gig.
Basswood body with a laser etched maple top, ebony fingerboard all work superb together.

The whammy without a locknut is an icing on the cake especially because you can tune move to alternate tunings quickly.
Whammy works like a charm and can take quite some abuse-dive bomb, flutter, melodic phrasing etc. without any problems.

You get strong humbucker sounds, split coil sounds,
a 20db boost and sweet piezo sounds that you can blend with the mag pups. You also have a mono and stereo mode. I use the
mono mode only.
2 selector switches- 1 is a 3 way mode selector: map pup only, mix of piezo and mag, piezo only
the 2nd switch is a 3way mag pup selector: neck, both, bridge. you can do a coil tap by pressing the tone control knob. Volume knob also can be pushed to engage
the 20db boost.
The illuminator pups can produce cleans and dirt very faithfully.

I can say that this probably beats other high end signature models-and so do a few guys I know who have played other signature models like a JEM7V or JS1200.

All in all as long as it is all working, it works heavenly!

Not so good:
The entire guitar work on 3 AA alkaline batteries which last for days but If there are no batteries you can't play- no not even the mag pups.
If you keep the jack plugged in, batteries are drained out so you must always remember to plug the jack out after you finish playing.

My guitar's bridge pup has suddenly gone dead in the humbucking mode, however the split coil for it works. Also, the bride humbucker selector switch position
produces a piezo sound when the piezo volume is increased whereas it should ideally be controlled by the mag pup volume control. Note that the mode selector switch
is in mag pup position so no piezo sounds should be produced at all.
Now struggling to get the issue fixed.
I have read a few stories of the guitar being dead and that's not a good sign. Ideally would expect a signature model spot on with no issues whatsoever!

To sum it up- a great guitar with less reliability for the price of 2.8K!
Guitars: Ibanez Prestige S5470, Ibanez Jem 7v, Ibanez JS2410, PRS SE Custom24, Cort  Ltd G16, Ibanez RG370Ahmz,
MultiFX: Roland GR55, Zoom 1on, BOSS GT00
Loopers: Digitech trio+, Line 6 JM4
MIDI:, MAudio Axiom24 keyboard, Alesis IO Dock with iPad air 2

Chumly

Sounds like a fine guitar minus the electronics problems, as to not having a preamp bypass and the high price, it seems most signature guitars are more expensive than similar non-signature equivalents and assuming it's faithful to the artist's intent then not having the bypass would have been what he wanted (for reasons unknown to me).
I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. - Richard P. Feynman

gumtown

It was only just today I was looking at one (blue too) at my local music store, it just came in and I watched as it was un-boxed.
It was all that you described, also with locking tuners.
Surprisingly small looking up close, it also has a stereo jack so the mag and piezo tones can run out separate.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

myksara

Yes. Very versatile guitar. You can switch between mono and stereo by pressing the piezo volume knob.
Mine is with the tech here for 1 week as he tries to locate the problem with the support from a EBMM tech.
We are countries apart.
Guitars: Ibanez Prestige S5470, Ibanez Jem 7v, Ibanez JS2410, PRS SE Custom24, Cort  Ltd G16, Ibanez RG370Ahmz,
MultiFX: Roland GR55, Zoom 1on, BOSS GT00
Loopers: Digitech trio+, Line 6 JM4
MIDI:, MAudio Axiom24 keyboard, Alesis IO Dock with iPad air 2

myksara

Well after a long time of 2 months they have not been able to fix the guitar. They shipped a new circuit board to the dealer here and his tech said that the new circuit board doesnot work either!! So now my dealer is offering me a replacement which will take over 1 month to arrive! I have refused that and just claiming a full refund of the amount paid to purchase the guitar. Hope Musicman are able to honor the request and give me my hard earned money back. Infact they should also compensate for all the mental stressI have hone through. Can anyone throw some light of my request for refund will be fulfilled? If they are not able to, I am afraid to say that you should stay away from their complex electronic guitars such as this JP majesty! Its a great guitar if it works!!
Guitars: Ibanez Prestige S5470, Ibanez Jem 7v, Ibanez JS2410, PRS SE Custom24, Cort  Ltd G16, Ibanez RG370Ahmz,
MultiFX: Roland GR55, Zoom 1on, BOSS GT00
Loopers: Digitech trio+, Line 6 JM4
MIDI:, MAudio Axiom24 keyboard, Alesis IO Dock with iPad air 2

Elantric

#5

Best I can do is tell you contact Ernie Ball  / Musicman President  - Brian Ball
http://www.music-man.com/contact/brian-ballhtml.html

https://www.facebook.com/brian.ball.94849

myksara

Thanks Elantric.
I have written to him but not yet heard back.
EBMM sales / tech team reps are not responding to my emails too.
I am shocked as to how poor responses from a 'big' company have been
Guitars: Ibanez Prestige S5470, Ibanez Jem 7v, Ibanez JS2410, PRS SE Custom24, Cort  Ltd G16, Ibanez RG370Ahmz,
MultiFX: Roland GR55, Zoom 1on, BOSS GT00
Loopers: Digitech trio+, Line 6 JM4
MIDI:, MAudio Axiom24 keyboard, Alesis IO Dock with iPad air 2

Elantric

#7
 I have not been involved with EB/MM since 2001, and its a whole different crew over there now.

contact the EB/MM forum
http://forums.ernieball.com/music-man-guitars/


Elantric


Now_And_Then


How did this turn out for Myksara, I wonder...

myksara

I ended up buying an Ibanez js2410, digitech rp360 and epiphone LPultra 3 as exchange from my dealer.
Kind of him
Guitars: Ibanez Prestige S5470, Ibanez Jem 7v, Ibanez JS2410, PRS SE Custom24, Cort  Ltd G16, Ibanez RG370Ahmz,
MultiFX: Roland GR55, Zoom 1on, BOSS GT00
Loopers: Digitech trio+, Line 6 JM4
MIDI:, MAudio Axiom24 keyboard, Alesis IO Dock with iPad air 2

Now_And_Then

Quote from: myksara on May 09, 2016, 11:41:59 AM
I ended up buying an Ibanez js2410, digitech rp360 and epiphone LPultra 3 as exchange from my dealer.
Kind of him

I would have sued him for a full refund. Not that the gear that you ended up with is bad, but just because you originally spent the money for an expensive item that was both defective and unfixable. And I would have wanted my money, and not equipment that I would have been forced to buy because the dealer wouldn't give me a full refund.

Oh well... :(

Elantric

#12
One must remember that Myksara is far away from Ernie Ball HQ   - he is in India.
I imagine Legal recourse would be a hurdle
QuoteI have written to [CEO - Brian Ball] but not yet heard back.
EBMM sales / tech team reps are not responding to my emails too.
I am shocked as to how poor responses from a 'big' company have been
Many companies tend to leave it to the local regional marketing supply chain to deal with "local" customer complaints.   (Which in EB/MM's case is OnStageMusic
https://electricuniverse.in/2016/04/23/list-of-equipment-distributors-in-india-instruments/
http://onstageindia.in/

But I find it most disturbing that even after I forwarded details of Myksara's problems to the current Ernie Ball / Musicman management , nobody there stepped up to render a solution, and this reflects poorly on the product line.



MM neck Profiles have been too thin for my needs for years,  so their products dont hold much interest to me

The internet creates a smaller world, with a deep memory.
IMHO, If Ernie Ball was still alive, Myksara's situation would certainly have been met with 100% customer satisfaction in a timely manner.


http://www.bajaao.com/pages/buy-from-bajaao-with-confidence
http://www.bajaao.com/collections/music-man

Now_And_Then

Quote from: Elantric on June 29, 2016, 11:35:31 PM
One must remember that Myksara is far away from Ernie Ball HQ   - he is in India.
I imagine Legal recourse would be a hurdle

You are very possibly correct but here in the US we have small claims court and were set up specifically for people like myksara. Does India have such courts? Dunno.

As for the "responsible party" being myksara's local dealer versus Ernie Ball: the money was paid to the local retailer and so that's who has to return the money. What happened to the money after the retailer got it is no concern of myksara's.

admin

confirmed and he has had a run of bad luck with guitars he purchased in India

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=5838.msg32699#msg32699

Myksara wrote>
QuoteWell, my guitar is a brand new one purchase just about 2 weeks back from a dealer in India.
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=5838.msg38115#msg38115
QuoteNow I need to shoot at the Godin guys as to how this basic stuff was wrong and the guitar was let out of their QC procedures!!...Shame on a company who boast of quality guitars...

Now_And_Then

Quote from: admsustainiac on June 30, 2016, 04:21:20 PM
confirmed and he has had a run of bad luck with guitars he purchased in India

It would be understandable for someone to think that these manufacturers are purposefully sending their defective merchandise to India because the time and distance involved means that the retailer purchasers have no recourse. (And I'm not prone to this sort of thinking.)

myksara

Elantric.thanks much for taking a shot at EBMM for me. And you are absolutely right that I have had a bad experience with high end guitars purchased in india...especially those that have a lot of electronics like a godin lgxt or the eh..ebmm majesty.
I have moved back to ibanez guitars and quite used to the thin necks on those.
Gr55 gk3 and ibanez...my fav combo
Guitars: Ibanez Prestige S5470, Ibanez Jem 7v, Ibanez JS2410, PRS SE Custom24, Cort  Ltd G16, Ibanez RG370Ahmz,
MultiFX: Roland GR55, Zoom 1on, BOSS GT00
Loopers: Digitech trio+, Line 6 JM4
MIDI:, MAudio Axiom24 keyboard, Alesis IO Dock with iPad air 2

gumtown

A local muzo here (in NZ) has the same blue MM Majesty Petrucci sig guitar,
I asked if he hade any issues with it, seems to be a good one.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/