Help with new Majesty guitar

[MetalEgon]

Hey guys,

So I just ordered and received from Musicians Friend a 6 string Majesty in Arctic Dream. Received it yesterday very excited. But when I went to play I had very bad buzzing from the bottom 3 strings. Mind you I'm no expert at "setting up" a guitar, so I did some research online to try and figure out how to fix.

First I turned the truss rod wheel counter clockwise to loosen it a little bit (love that feature by the way, makes it easy for a noob like me to adjust.) I did it a little bit at a time and kept checking the strings and it didn't seem to help much. Finally it got loose enough I could turn it with my finger so I didn't want to go any further, buzzing still persisted.

Next I tried the string saddles and after raising those up a bit the buzzing went away almost entirely, but by then the strings were crazy high off the fretboard It just didn't seem right.

I did call Ernie Ball Music Man and they answered the phone and transferred me to a tech almost instantly. AJ I believe his name was, and thank you for actually answering the phone and not making me push 100 buttons. I do appreciate that.

I play him a few notes unplugged over the phone and he heard the pretty terrible buzzing as well and he suggested adjusting truss rod, etc. which I did. He offered for me to send it to them to fix or I could go through Musicians Friend since I purchased from them.

I called Musicians Friend and they were very helpful setting up a return. They offered to refund my shipping and give me a discount off the guitar which was nice. Even so I am still on the fence about having a replacement sent once they get mine back or not.

Is this a common problem with this guitar? Did I just get unlucky? Is it normal for the guitar to perform like that out of the box without serious adjustment? Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[CaseyBall]

Hi Egon, that definitely is not normal. We do our best to make sure every guitar that leaves our doors is set up and playing correctly. we actually have to play them once they are finished being assembled and set up.

But, anything can happen during time in transit or for the time that the guitar/bass is in the shop waiting to find its home. Once you receive it back from its return to the factory everything should be cool.

Sorry to hear your new majesty was not 100% when you got it, Customer Service always does their best to take care of you.

 

[DrKev]

Welcome to the forum family!

I did call Ernie Ball Music Man and they answered the phone and transferred me to a tech almost instantly. AJ I believe his name was, and thank you for actually answering the phone and not making me push 100 buttons. I do appreciate that.

AJ is awesome! Music Man CS have a great reputation in the industry. Now you know why.

Is this a common problem with this guitar? Did I just get unlucky? Is it normal for the guitar to perform like that out of the box without serious adjustment? Any insight would be appreciated.

No, not common, but can happen to any guitar from any brand. Like Casey said, could be a transit issue, a store employee or customer trying it out who wanted their own setup and botched it, who knows. Not difficult to fix once you have the know how.

Everything will come out fine and you'll have an awesome guitar!

 

[tonechaser1]

+1 on Musicman's CS department and specifically AJ's efforts! He has helped me several times. Very satisfied life-long customer here.

I would like to offer one thing that I learned with my Majesty when it returned from the MM factory and was set up perfectly to JP's specs. AJ even played it personally before they sent it back. JP likes his action very low and with the neck (truss-rod adjustment) very straight, and this sometimes causes a little fret buzzing on the lower strings but the string buzzing shouldn't come through the amp. This is how mine was set-up and aside from the slight buzzing, I found that when set-up this way the pickups sound and interact incredible so I left it that way, even though I was a little OCD back then about string buzzing.

Now, slight string buzzing doesn't bother me at all, as long as it doesn't come through the amp.

 

[DrKev]

JP likes his action very low and with the neck (truss-rod adjustment) very straight, and this sometimes causes a little fret buzzing on the lower strings but the string buzzing shouldn't come through the amp.

Actually, listen to JP live (especially the clean tones) it does come through sometimes! He's mentioned it in interviews - higher action gives cleaner buzz-free tones but he prefers lower action for more fluid playing style. Depending on your playing style, picking technique etc., and how much buzz you are willing to accept, action as low as JPs might not be possible for some people without buzz.

Now, slight string buzzing doesn't bother me at all, as long as it doesn't come through the amp.

I'd even say as long as it's not intrusive when playing is of no consequence. That's important because when doing a setup we hyper focus and can drive ourselves crazy trying to get rid of issues that nobody, including ourselves, will notices when we actually play real music.

 

[tonechaser1]

Actually, listen to JP live (especially the clean tones) it does come through sometimes! He's mentioned it in interviews - higher action gives cleaner buzz-free tones but he prefers lower action for more fluid playing style. Depending on your playing style, picking technique etc., and how much buzz you are willing to accept, action as low as JPs might not be possible for some people without buzz.



I'd even say as long as it's not intrusive when playing is of no consequence. That's important because when doing a setup we hyper focus and can drive ourselves crazy trying to get rid of issues that nobody, including ourselves, will notices when we actually play real music.

Great points!

To elaborate just a little further. There was a drastic performance and sonic difference between the way that I was trying to set up my Majesty with no fret buzz, and the way that it came back from CA set to JP's specs.

They really do have it all figured out with the factory specs, for my tastes, and for me it really makes this guitar magical, set up that way. Keep in mind as well, I'm not the biggest DT fan and don't really play that style of music much.