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Majesty bridge string notches? / more springs more tone!

M

mildew

Member
Had my Majesty for a few weeks now, getting used to the thin neck and light weight - i really love this guitar, planning to sell off my PRS collection and just keep one Strat and the Majesty.

One problem i am having however is with the lack of any string slots on the bridge. The skinny e string (.010 tuned to E) slides sideways across the saddle when i bend notes, and winds up sitting offset from the center of the saddle! - making the space between the E and B strings closer than the other strings.

I could just take it to my local luthier and get him to put a notch in the saddle, but im worried about how this might effect the pizeo pickup response. (I emailed EBMM support about this but no response.)

Does anyone have any idea of problems i might face adding a string notch to a Majesty EBMM pizeo bridge?

Another thing i have found is that going from 3 springs to 4 looser springs has noticeably improved tone! - I am going to add a Rockinger type trem stabilizer, and in preparation i rebalanced the trem for 4 springs to make space in the middle for the stabilizer. To my surprise it has clearly improved the tone. More treble, liveliness, and character. I was planning to swap out the shredder pickups in my Majesty for some PAF's, but now i might not need to.

cheers,

Dylan
 
update - looked on youtube for how to add a notch myself, tried the "center the string then hit it with a hammer to make an indent" but was unable to make any impression on the (hardened steel? ) saddle.

Tried cutting an indent with a sharp hobby knife, and after about 5 minutes sawing i seem to have made enough of an indent to hold the string in place when bending notes.

Installed the trem stabilizer, and having kept it floating but made the action of the trem much heavier (more force required to trem the note) there has once again been a tonal improvement. Awesome ! :)
 
mildew said:
update - looked on youtube for how to add a notch myself, tried the "center the string then hit it with a hammer to make an indent" but was unable to make any impression on the (hardened steel? ) saddle.

Tried cutting an indent with a sharp hobby knife, and after about 5 minutes sawing i seem to have made enough of an indent to hold the string in place when bending notes.

Installed the trem stabilizer, and having kept it floating but made the action of the trem much heavier (more force required to trem the note) there has once again been a tonal improvement. Awesome ! :)
Click to expand...

Seriously ? Using a hammer ?????
 
Hitting the guitar with a hammer is just asking for trouble, especially when the part being hammered is a fragile piezo crystal which works by way of sensing vibration. Hopefully the crystal was not damaged!
 
PeteDuBaldo said:
Hitting the guitar with a hammer is just asking for trouble, especially when the part being hammered is a fragile piezo crystal which works by way of sensing vibration. Hopefully the crystal was not damaged!
Click to expand...

Thanks Pete then I'm not the only who think this is insane :)
 
Welcome to the forum, mildew. Please post all of your usernames for ebay, Reverb, and any other buy/sell platforms you may use so that I can be sure to never buy used gear from you, ever. Thanks!
 

I was very careful, and when my hammering had no effect tried something else. Still no response from EBMM support on my query about how to notch the saddle.
 
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mildew said:

I was very careful, and when my hammering had no effect tried something else. Still no response from EBMM support on my query about how to notch the saddle.
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I'd give them sometime, i'm sure yesterday they were going thru all of the weekend requests for info and what not. If you wanted too you could give them a call and ask them. But, I'm sure they'll get back to you pretty soon.

Glenn |B)
 
Got a response back from EBMM support, TLDR "dont even try, you will break the pizeo". Guitar was basically unusable for me before notching the saddle (bending E string would cause it to move sideways across saddle and after a few hours snap at the point where it was rubbing). Cutting a tiny notch in center of saddle with a craft knife seems to have worked, pizeo still works, but not officially sanctioned.
 
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mildew said:
Got a response back from EBMM support, TLDR "dont even try, you will break the pizeo". Guitar was basically unusable for me before notching the saddle (bending E string would cause it to move sideways across saddle and after a few hours snap at the point where it was rubbing). Cutting a tiny notch in center of saddle with a craft knife seems to have worked, pizeo still works, but not officially sanctioned.
Click to expand...

You're a braver man than I.
 
mildew said:

I was very careful, and when my hammering had no effect tried something else. Still no response from EBMM support on my query about how to notch the saddle.
Click to expand...

Hell, I respect your willingness to go for it. The technique did come from a reputable source so... Perhaps not not my choice but good on ya for gettin' in there and taking a (literal) swing. I've broken more than my share of many things maximizing both the trial AND error portions of the learning curve. But then I fix 'em, learn the lesson and move on. I'm 57 and still doing bonehead things. Guess that'll never change.
 
Thanks shadow and nervous. I think "delicately tapped" would be a more accurate description of how hard i hit it.

I am really liking my Majesty. It does not have the classic clean/mid gain tonez of my 22 fret wide/fat PRS'es. but it is just so playable. The neck, fretwork, and nut are the most accurately assembled i have ever encountered.

And having tremset the trem so tight that i can do two fret bends without the rest of the notes dropping in pitch has dramatically improved the tone - still not 70's style PAF dadrock tone, but good enough.

Im guessing at some point the fancy lectronics will fail and ill end up pulling it all out and installing low output alnico5 pickups and a homemade preamp for the pizeo - but im hoping that day is in the far future!
 
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Hey, I do lots of stupid things to my guitars I shouldn't. Enjoy it. Fix it down the road if need be. It's just a guitar after all, not a priceless artifact. Make it work for you.
 
Hate to resurrect an old thread, but I'm having this problem with the 1st and 2nd strings on my Majesty. I recently went to 9's and it exacerbated the issue - but it was there with 10's, too.

One step bend on high E or B, the string slides up on the saddle and I'm about 12 cents flat.

Trem is level with top of body, on all sides. Two springs atm, E standard tuning. Had 3 springs when I used 10's.
 
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