Question About Majesty 6

[Raoul77]

I was wondering if there are any Majesty owners who are not happy with the sound of the Dimarzio's.
This summer I bought a EBMM Majesty 6 string Arctic Dream. I am really happy with this guitar in terms of craftmanship, how it plays and feels. When I first got it I played for an hour unplugged. I loved it. Great sustain and resonance.
However, when I got my Kemper Profiling Amp back from Germany I noticed that all the profiles I loved didn't sound so good anymore. Shrill, sterile, thin are a few words to describe what I hear.
I own 2 custom guitars (Strats) that are identical except for color and pickups. One has emg's hss (SAV x2 + 85), the other one has 3 Seymour Duncan HB (Little 59 x2 + JBJr).
Both guitars make the Kemper sound great. The Majesty however makes it sound pretty crappy. I use different amp-profiles. My Diezels and Mesa's sound shrill and thin compared to the other guitars. A Plexi profile makes it sound even worse. And when I try the middle position with coil tap on a cranked Plexi, well...it sounds like an angry and psycotic duck on meth. No tone, just quack.

On the off-chance there's something wrong with the wiring, I need to run by a luthier. But given the demo's on Youtube, I am afraid it's just how the pickups are supposed to sound. I've seen only one EBMM dealership in this country and they have no Majesty in stock. It's all on (back)order, so no chance to do a A/B test with another Majesty.

So I was wondering if I'm the only unhappy camper or maybe there are other. Maybe somebody who already swapped the stock pu's? because I was thinking that would be the only solution. Maybe throw in a couple of Bare Knuckle's?

Also, I would really love to install some strap-locks. Schaller has them in the same color as the Majesty's hardware, so that would be cool. But I read some concerns about the upper horn being so thin when installing strap-locks. Has anybody installed some on his/her Majesty?

Sorry for the long story. I tried mailing EBMM directly, but I get no reply. They must be too busy to be worrying about customerservice.

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

I think they have great customer service, AJ will help you out.

 

[Warg Master]

It's your guitar, do what you will with it. I am very happy with the dimarzios pickups. I get great tones all over the place with them. Sounds like they just aren't for you.

 

[Tollywood]

Hello Raoul, and welcome to the forum. It sounds like the stock pickups don't match your usual tone. I would suggest a new set of pickups. Yes, the bare knuckles do sound really good. Throw in a new set of pickups and then enjoy that fine craftsmanship.

 

[Lucas LeCompte]

You may just want to change out the bridge pickup. Also though changing pickups on a maj maybe in interesting considering they have a LOT of stuff in the cavity. Is it just rhythm stuff you dont like or is it leads too? John's neck pickups have always been amazing. If you want BPKs, I would look into either the nailbomb or blackhawk. Both would sound great in the maj.

 

[bhull]

If you want to hear what they sound like through an awesome Mesa setup, check out the teaser vids from the Breaking the Fourth Wall release. Of course youtube won't do them full justice.

I put Schallers on my Majesty. I tried using the original screws that came with the guitar, but they were too long. The screws that come with the strap locks are the wrong thread count. I ended up going to the hardware store, finding shorter wood screws that were the same threads (I think they were #6). That was about 2 months ago, haven't had a single problem.

 

[Booker1000]

It's a lower gain pup than the crunch lab and yes it's noticeable. Much more definition in each note though. You have to update your settings to the new guitar/ pup. That's common sense. Especially with a profiling amp. My majesty sounds huge


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kenji20022]

^ The Crunchlab/Liquifire and Illuminator set have the same amount of output. The Illuminators aren't lower in gain, they're EQ'd slightly different.

There must be a problem with the wiring or something if it doesn't sound normal like other guitars you have in your collection I'd recommend getting it looked at. Hope it's nothing serious though.

 

[Barry1977]

My friend has a majesty 6,with a kemper,and he loves it..In fact,he said the pick ups are so hot,he doesnt even use the boost

 

[smd24fan]

I like the pickups in my Axis slightly better, but the Illuminators have been fantastic for me. I use a Fractal axe FX II, and I have noticed that the guitar sounds a little fatter to me when running my Fractal in FRFR mode instead of Fractal-->Power Amp-->Guitar cab setup. Sounds like you need to revisit your profiles and maybe change some EQ'ing. I have never heard a DiMarzio pickup that I didn't like, but tone is subjective. Give EBMM Customer Service a shout and cover all your bases. Good luck, I'm certain you will figure it out.

 

[Raoul77]

Thanks to you all for taking the time to reply. I'll take your tips into consideration, although by now I'm fairly sure I'll go with replacing them. I have no problem with the DM's not having enough output. They have plenty, if not as much as my EMG 85. I just don't like the tone, which to my ears is too bright and a bit sterile. More so with the bridge pu, than the neck though. I also don't get the wiring on the middle position, which I expected to be straightforward like a Les Paul.
Next month I'll go to a friend of mine who is a (as of this month) retired luthier and see what we can do. Just hope that replacing pu's isn't a problem with that new switching system and all.

As far as strap-locks go, thanks for the tip. Curious as to which ones John uses himself.
EBMM Customer Service I seem unable to reach by mail for some reason or other. They do not respond. Using the phone is not really an option, given that I live half-way around the world.

Well, I never owned a stock guitar I liked 100% from the getgo. Mostly the pu's, so I ended up changing them. Never was a fan of DiMarzio, so I always stuck with Seymour Duncan or EMG's. But I'm curious about Bare Knuckles anyway, so it seems a good opportunity. If I do, I will post a thread to share my findings. Understanding that there's nothing objective about tone.

 

[PaoloGilberto]

I'll consider that first!
the guitars and pickups you mentioned are very different from Majesty or a JP...how can one expect his presets to sound the same.
the presets I have for Luke sound very different on JP and viceversa

about the screw length from Majesty vs the one from Straplocks, I always used the factory screw that comes with the guitar (Luke, JP6, JP7) and buttons although is longer than a dimarzio cliplock screw for ex
never had any problem...
I've just ordered today Schaller strap locks for my JP , will see about the screws if they fit if not I'll try using the original once again

I You have to update your settings to the new guitar/ pup. That's common sense. Especially with a profiling amp.