EBJPMM Majesty vs Sterling Majesty

[Crossroads]

Edit to make this easier reading

I've been trying out the 2019 EBJP Majesty with the rainmaker, dreamcatcher, Piezo and 20 db boost.
I really like the guitar but don't love it. At that price I feel I have to love it.
The 20 db boost is nice but I can get 12 db on a Sterling Music Man.

It is 3x the price of a Sterling Majesty with stainless steel frets, and DiMarzio LiquiFire and Crunch Lab Pickups. Mahogany set neck with 3-way pickup selector, and 12dB “Push-Push” volume.

I love the feel, fitment, looks, neck thru and the weight of the EB Majesty and the wang is fine. Don't think much of the Piezo.

So a couple of questions

Are there any tips to making the piezo sound more like an acoustic? I did not mess with the EQ on the back, but I don't think EQ will fix it.
I would feel a lot better with an extra $1800 in my pocket.
Is the feel and fitment of the Sterling Majesty much different than the MM Majesty?
Are the LiquiFire and Crunch p/u a major step down from the rainmaker, dreamcatcher?

So would you
2019 EBJPMM Enchanted Forest Blem - Nothing Noticeable w case $2919
2020 Sterling Majesty Flame Top Royal Red B Stock with bag $1090

I am trying to get both here at the same time, but don't think that can happen.

Seems like it really comes down to the feel and fitment and the PUs. In your opinion is that worth $1800?

Thanks in Advance

 

[racerx]

If new is too much, keep your eyes peeled on the used market, you can find good deals there.

The EQ controls can help, as can the source you're plugging into (and notably speaker selection). At the end of the day a piezo isn't going to compete with a beautiful acoustic with stereo+ mics. It will, however, be useful for sound reinforcement when tracking, playing in stereo, or trying to approximate an acoustic sound at a gig without the overhead of an acoustic guitar/feedback/hauling/etc. You could consider using an 'acoustic preamp' pedal of some sort to augment the sound as well if authentic acoustic tones are important to you (that would be true of any piezo system, not just a Majesty).

I can speak to the Majesty's quality - its an impressive instrument. It feels like the super-car of guitars. Its perfectly balanced, exceptionally ergonomic, everything is easy to reach, its light, flexibility is unmatched, tuning is stable, floating bridge is superbly smooth, and it can sound great in about any context. The only reason I didn't keep mine is because I don't love the shredder neck profile, but I do miss it because it was perfect at what it does.

As for the comparison to the Sterling - I'm sure the Sterling is a fine instrument, but I'd recommend at least trying to get your hands on a Music Man persuasion before committing (maybe a retailer with a forgiving return policy and swap it for the Sterling if you must).

 

[JamieCrain]

Majesty and Sterling are poles apart in quality. I have a Majesty and it's amazing. I bought a Sterling JP160 and I had to return it. The frets were rough and I couldn't bend the strings without it audibly scraping the fret. Had the frets been smooth, it might have been a reasonable guitar for the price, if you are happy to live without the piezo.

The piezo should always go straight to FOH or at least avoid the preamp. If you run the piezo through your amp via the normal input you won't get an "acoustic" sound, it will be significantly dampened. I use a stereo Y cable, and run the mags to the guitar input in my Helix, and the piezo to the FX Return. It sounds as good as any electro/acoustic guitars.

 

[jayjayjay]

Majesty and Sterling are poles apart in quality. I have a Majesty and it's amazing. I bought a Sterling JP160 and I had to return it. The frets were rough and I couldn't bend the strings without it audibly scraping the fret. Had the frets been smooth, it might have been a reasonable guitar for the price, if you are happy to live without the piezo.

I had the same experience when I bought one of my SbMM Axis - the frets felt like sandpaper. On close inspection it appears they used a coarse grit sanding beam to level the frets, then nothing else, leaving a lot of tooling marks on the frets.

I spent a couple of hours with my set of fret erasers working up through the grits, then fret polishing paper, and now they feel great.

 

[JamieCrain]

I spent a couple of hours with my set of fret erasers working up through the grits, then fret polishing paper, and now they feel great.

I could have done that I suppose, but in the end I acquired a mistreated but fully loaded JP6 for the same price as the new Sterling, and then I fully restored it for a few hundred bucks. It is unquestionably a better instrument.

Also to the OP re boost, have you really tried it out? Cos I feel like the boost function is a bit of a gimmick. I'm yet to find a useful application for it, it just makes cleans sound fuzzy, and no significant difference to high gain. My 2c.

 

[Sweat]

Sorry Sterling products are horrible, love EBMM but the licensed products are terrible. Poor quality over all, they were decent in the beginning but have gone downhill over the years.

Save up and by the real thing which rocks!!