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Mace13

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Apr 22, 2019
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Hi, Just wanted to check here before I write EBMM... There is an issue with the brand new Majesty. Just received it Tuesday. When the high E string is bent the tone dies quick because there is audible contact with some other fret (I think 23 or 24). This only happens with bends in the region of 12th to 23rd fret on the high E string. No other string buzzes or dies like this when bent, even with big bends.

When playing unplugged there is a distinct buzzing sound and the tone gets pinched off when bending above 1/2 step. Anyone know how to adjust this? I don't really want to do a truss rod adjustment since the neck looks nice and flat. Maybe a saddle adjustment? Or, is something off with the fret height? I've never had a guitar do this in my many, many years of playing.
 

beej

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The neck shouldn't be exactly flat. You need some relief, or it's going to choke out.

The usual advice is to adjust so there's a bit of relief in the neck, and there's no buzzing on the lower frets. When that's good, you can tackle the saddles.

The saddle heights don't change over time. If you're getting buzzing, something has changed. Usually it's neck relief (truss rod). But it could be something else- bad set of strings, high fret, etc. In which case, contact customer service and get their opinion.
 

Mace13

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Apr 22, 2019
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Yeah, I'll give some ever so slight tweaks to neck and saddle tonight and see if the "bend buzz" goes away.

Has anyone else ever had fret buzz only when doing a string bend? I've just never seen that before.
 

DrKev

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Without seeing the guitar in person it's obviously difficult to diagnose but my rule of thumb is as follows...

If the problem is closer to the nut, think truss rod.
if the problem is on the tiny frets (12-23) look for a saddle height issue (because truss adjustments have very little effect, if any, on the highest frets).
 

nervous

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Yeah, I'll give some ever so slight tweaks to neck and saddle tonight and see if the "bend buzz" goes away.

Has anyone else ever had fret buzz only when doing a string bend? I've just never seen that before.
Absolutely common and I believe even more evident on Fender style 7.25" or 9.5" radius necks. Flatter necks give the feeling of a faster playing neck and the smaller radius necks are said to be easier to chord on. I don't know nothin' about that but I do know that I have rad about your condition of 'fretting out' when bending in those forums. There are limits of how low you can practically take your action and every guitar has a sweet spot of relief and saddle height.
 

Daniel

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Sorry to hear that you're having an issue with your new Majesty. Have you tried changing that string? Sometimes the strings get damaged in shipping. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] and I'll help you out.
 

Mace13

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Apr 22, 2019
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So, even though I was highly skeptical that a string change would resolve this...

After messing around more with the bends tonight I noticed the string was pinching out/buzzing even when bending on the 24th fret. I looked carefully and nothing could be contacting it after that, maybe the saddle I guess. Anyway, I changed the high E string and the full sustained bends seem to have returned!

I have no idea how shipping can damage a string. But I’m happy that the string change fixed it. I really am curious why it fixed it?
 

Vadauco

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I have no idea how shipping can damage a string. But I’m happy that the string change fixed it. I really am curious why it fixed it?

I'd say it was not the shipping, but the string was botched from the start. It just happens.

Anyway, good to see the problem had an easy fix.
 

Mace13

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Apr 22, 2019
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Well, I replaced the string with a Slinky. Maybe EBMM used a different brand of strings? :cool:
 

Daniel

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Well, I replaced the string with a Slinky. Maybe EBMM used a different brand of strings? :cool:

Hi Mace13,
I'm glad to see that fixed the issue. Our Majesty guitars are shipped with 10-46 Gauge RPS Slinkys.
There are any number of ways a string can get damaged in the shipping process. We do bend test all of our guitars before they leave the factory to test for this very thing.
If you have any other questions feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected]
 

Mace13

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Apr 22, 2019
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yep, I always use 10-46 Slinkys and tune to Eb standard. Thanks for the help!

PS I did *not* do a saddle or truss rod adjustment. I really didn't want to mess with the factory set-up (set to Eb standard by EBMM). So, first thing I did was changed the string and that did the trick.
 

Lou

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Glad it worked out for you but it blows my mind why anyone would want to adhere to a factory set up regardless of an issue or not. A guitar is a personal thing and feel so you should always set it up the way you want it. Same thing applies if you have a tech at a shop do a set up. It should be what you want not the guy behind the counter and you should never leave the store until it feels right to you.
 

Vadauco

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Glad it worked out for you but it blows my mind why anyone would want to adhere to a factory set up regardless of an issue or not. A guitar is a personal thing and feel so you should always set it up the way you want it.

Same for me.

Just like all my guitars, I tweaked my Majesty in every possible way... saddle height, bridge height, truss rod, intonation, tremolo arm stiffness, different string gauges... until the guitar was completely set for me. Now it's unique. :cool:
 

Etudica

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FYI I had the exact same symptoms happen to me last week after doing a routine setup on my JP15-7. Everything was 100% fine but then I noticed bends of +1 or more on the high E would die out like you described. It turned out to be a defective string the same as you discovered. In my case, I discovered that the brand new string (standard super slinky 9s) was defective at the ball end. Slapped on a new set and all is good.
 

Daniel

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FYI I had the exact same symptoms happen to me last week after doing a routine setup on my JP15-7. Everything was 100% fine but then I noticed bends of +1 or more on the high E would die out like you described. It turned out to be a defective string the same as you discovered. In my case, I discovered that the brand new string (standard super slinky 9s) was defective at the ball end. Slapped on a new set and all is good.

Hi Etudica,
Sorry to hear that you had an issue with your Ernie Ball strings! Shoot me an email at [email protected] and I'll make it right.
 

Etudica

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Hi Etudica,
Sorry to hear that you had an issue with your Ernie Ball strings! Shoot me an email at [email protected] and I'll make it right.

Thanks Daniel. Just to be clear, I wasn't knocking EB strings at all. Instead I was just trying to convey that this type of fluke can happen even if you are using quality strings and not some cheapo set.
 

Chris Brightwel

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May 29, 2020
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A Different Take on the "Fretting Out" Issue

I have this same problem with my brand-new EBMM Majesty. But it's not a string issue, it's a bridge issue. The way the bridge is designed, both the top and bottom saddles are pushed away from the middle saddles. When I drop the bar down, the high E string moves to the top of the saddle as shown. Then when I bend the string up past the last 12 frets, the string touches the edge of the saddle in front of the contact point, causing the "fretting out" sound. I have to manually push the string down to the middle of the saddle... but when I push the bar down to bring the guitar back in tune, the string works its way back to the top of the saddle and the "fretting out" begins again. I don't see any fix for this, aside from filing a slot in the contact point of the saddle. But correct me if I'm wrong here... won't that damage the piezo in some way? Or at the very least, affect tuning stability?

Is there any fix for this? I hate that I'm having this issue on a $3500 guitar.
 

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Mace13

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Apr 22, 2019
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142
Is the saddle not level? That's all I can think of which would cause that. The heads of the little hex screws look like they have been adjusted (slightly scuffed). Make sure each screw is adjusted until the saddle is level. Then, when adjusting saddle height turn both screws the same amount so the saddle remains level. It also looks like there is a small kink in the high E saddle just to the right of the right screw, which is odd if the guitar is brand new. It looks like someone was wrenching on the saddle and damaged it.
 
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