Majesty Artisan vs JP6 BFR vs JP7 Koa Tonewise

[laimon]

Hi guys, I own a JP6 BFR and a JP7 Bfr Koa, and I am now considering purchasing a Majesty Artisan.
The problem is, I am trying to figure out what it sounds like with respect to the other two.
I would imagine that the sound is much closer to the Koa (mahogany body and neck, ebony board) than to the JP6 (alder body, maple top, rosewood board), but I was really hoping for something in between, neither as bright as the JP6 nor as boomy as the Koa (I don't say this in a derogatory connotation, I just mean that I hope the Majesty is somewhat in a mid territory between these two).
Does anyone have experience with some combination of these guitars to chime in?
Thanks a lot!

PS: anyone liking the standard Majesty better than the Artisan? (I'm really not big on the colors on the standard, but maybe basswood makes for a more different guitar from the Koa)

 

[MrJJoncas]

First, I dont have or play the artisan but i had a JP 6 BFR. Since the artisan is all mahogany with a maple cap and a neck throught, the sound should be more warm, closer to your koa. But it comes with the Illuminator pickups which have more high/prescence than the CL/LF in the bfr. The side on the painted Majesty is bassewood, so it should be a bit brither but on a neck through guitar the most effective part sound wise come from the neck wood and in this case it stills mahogany. Try one if you can and judge for yourself. If it's really the guitar you want you could swap the pickups for brither ones.

 

[laimon]

First, I dont have or play the artisan but i had a JP 6 BFR. Since the artisan is all mahogany with a maple cap and a neck throught, the sound should be more warm, closer to your koa. But it comes with the Illuminator pickups which have more high/prescence than the CL/LF in the bfr. The side on the painted Majesty is bassewood, so it should be a bit brither but on a neck through guitar the most effective part sound wise come from the neck wood and in this case it stills mahogany. Try one if you can and judge for yourself. If it's really the guitar you want you could swap the pickups for brither ones.

Well, that's the problem: they're really hard to find over here (Europe, and more specifically Switzerland), especially the Majesty model. The closest ones are in not-so-easy-to-reach places in Italy and Germany. Blargh.
Btw, more presence than the Crunchlab? It sounds to me like that has already plenty!

 

[MrJJoncas]

The crunch lab is really mid focus. The illuminators are a bit more open.

 

[lydianb79]

For Switzerland I can recommend thomann.de
Got two from there but ordering something special like this without having tried it before sucks somehow. Music shops are dying out as times are changing and it's a hard business as a local shop. I am not a tonewood believer and I would say if the construction / pickups are similar and the instrument is plugged in, the difference in tone is minimal. The feel might be slightly different tough...
I can only say that I highly recommend the Majesty in regards of weight and playability. This Instrument is very well developed and versatile. The sounds are amazing and it just feels like entering a new world of guitar playing. The JP6 BFR is also something very special - hey it's a BFR but feels more traditional than a Majesty. As I said I don't care about wood too much as long it is a proper construction.The BFR's are top notch quality.
Between a Artisan a "normal" Majesty you will not really hear any difference.

 

[Axis-of-Evil]

It sounds like you should look to the standard majesty. You mention 3 guitars, 2 are totally made of mahogany with ebony boards (JP7 BFR Koa/Majesty Artisan) and the other (JP6 BFR) has a mahogany tone block in it. The standard majesty is Basswood and it will definitely sound different. Now it also has a mahogany neck so you can't get away from it totally but the body will make a difference. Think the Axis when you think of basswood. Brighter and full sounding.

 

[laimon]

Hi guys, thanks for your input!
In random order:
- I actually believe that the wood makes a lot of difference; for instance, I tried guitars where the Crunchlab sounded horribly muffled and dark, and in my JP6 it's as bright as it goes. I'm not saying they have no impact, quite the opposite, but they are anyway modifying (in terms of eq/compression/clipping) the unplugged sound of the guitar - not only the strings as if isolated from the context, but also how they interact and resonate with the wood. I mean, I wish it was as easy as picking the right pickups
- I know Thomann, yeah. In general these high end instruments are really hard to try before buying, typically one just ends up biting the bullet and worst case selling it at his own loss. It sucks
- I don't have great experiences with basswood, tbh. It sounds a bit hollow to me. I wonder also how all these varieties of Mahogany (honduran, african) different from standard mahogany in tone. Oh, and another thing about the standard Majesty is that the colors are terrible - Polar Noir is the only one that I find ok, bland but not a punch in the eyes. I honestly don't know who ever though those colors - and the hideous shovel - were a good idea. And the DT inlay in the first fret. Other than that, it's a pretty awesome looking guitar (superficial rant over).

 

[bhull]

The standard majesty is Basswood and it will definitely sound different. Now it also has a mahogany neck so you can't get away from it totally but the body will make a difference.

It's more than just the neck that's mahogany. The entire neck-through the body is mahogany with basswood "wings"

If he wants a basswood only tone, that leaves a standard JP6 or a JP16.

 

[Mariner-aaron]

I have a Koa7 and a bfr7 as well. I find the koa to rather muddy on the low B.


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