Help! New Monarchy Majesty Questions

[Ibanez1998]

Please help, my Monarchy Majesty won't stay in tune. Moving the whammy bar I can hear all the tings of the strings getting caught. I chalked it up to "new guitar, new strings", but after a week? No, something somewhere is catching.

Also, what gauge strings does this thing come with? They are wicked beefy! I'm used to 9's and this thing's got my fingers feeling like I just started to learn to play again.

The tremolo is dead level so I'm hesitant to make any setup changes, but the action is way too high on this thing. I watched a video about them being perfectly setup to play right out of the box from the factory. Is this still the case because I can't imagine John Petrucci playing like he does with the action this high.

Love my Majesty by the way. I've been wiping it with a micro fiber cloth since I got it for Christmas. Friggin' sick machine, man!

 

[Rick C]

Something's wrong; you should not hear the strings tinging. I suspect that there is a nut slot issue.

My Majesty arrived with 010-046 strings (RPS 10 Slinkys); yours are the same. My initial experience was the same as you described; I was expecting super low action and a really fast playing guitar but got a cheese cutter instead.

Although my Les Paul dwarfs the Majesty, the Majesty has a longer scale length; 25.5" vs 24.75". The extra 0.75" does make a difference in feel, especially with the 010" strings. I'm used to using 008-038 strings so my new Majesty was just wrong; I tried to get used to it but after a week, the thicker strings had to go. I changed to 008-038 and had to take out a trem spring and adjust the trem claw, neck relief and saddle heights to get the guitar to feel as playable as the Les Paul. If you do the same, block the trem first! Lots of YouTube vids on how to do this.

If you want a more slinky feel, I'd suggest that you drop down to 009s or even 008s; depends what guitar you have been comfortable playing with. Strats and Teles have 25.5" scale lengths, I think all Gibsons are 24.75", PRS are 25".

Anyhow, dropping down gauges will give the strings more room to move in the nut slots so the catching may stop. The guitar should not be doing this from the factory. Others will advise the use of graphite or nut sauce to lube the nut. I add a tiny amount of graphite to my Gibsons only.

Good luck!

 

[johnnyboogie]

Congratulations!! Epic Red =D

It comes with '10s. And it is also a 7-string which makes it tougher by default (the low B pulls quite a bit). You could switch to '9s, but it is still going to be slightly tougher than a 6-strind model.

 

[JamieCrain]

Hi there, good choice with the majesty. It’s a well built guitar. 10 gauge strings are standard which I think work better than 9s for acoustic/piezo work. They are also more stable when it comes to tuning, but they do give your fingers a workout!

Re the tinking, check how many wraps the strings have around the tuning posts. There should be less than one. If there are many wraps then it has been strung incorrectly. With locking tuners, you should have the minimum amount of string around the tuning post. If there are lots then the tink is the string losing its grip when you use the whammy.

Re the action, you are right, it isn’t as low as you get on other guitars. I have tried to lower it to the same as my UV777 but I will get buzzing at very low heights. Even with a slight truss adjustment. But it’s perfectly playable and now I’m used to it I really like it.

 

[Devnor]

The tremolo is dead level so I'm hesitant to make any setup changes, but the action is way too high on this thing

If the trem is level and the action is too high, you may have too much relief in the neck. I would check that first and apply some nut sauce. On my new Majesty, I had to raise the action on mine. Good luck.

 

[JamieCrain]

If the trem is level and the action is too high, you may have too much relief in the neck. I would check that first and apply some nut sauce.

In terms of order, you should lower the bridge first using a hex key, then adjust the relief it it’s still too high. Remember, truss rod adjustments can take 24 hours or so to settle so don’t rush.

 

[tbonesullivan]

I usually do relief first. About a business card worth with the 1st and 13th fretted.

 

[Rick C]

me too; block the trem, neck relief first then play with the saddle heights to your preference, unblock the trem and adjust claw screws to re-level the trem.

 

[JamieCrain]

You can get the right result either way, but remember that the primary purpose of adjusting the truss rod is not to change action, but to change neck relief. The action will change too, but that is a secondary effect.

 

[Devnor]

In terms of order, you should lower the bridge first using a hex key, then adjust the relief it it’s still too high.

Definitely not. I use a straight edge and shoot for .007" to .009" relief. Once the nut is in the right position, relative to the 24th fret, then start looking at bridge adjustments. I wouldn't mess with bridge posts at all, unless the bridge isn't flush with the top of the body. A Stew Mac string height gauge comes in very handy.

 

[thejone]

Ok....until now I don't see any real problem with your guitar. It is not unusual that new guitars don't have a good setting. Especially, majesties. I have three of them and it took them at least a year to get really "astonishing". However, they are of course good guitars immediately when set up properly.
Have you ever found a guitar properly set up up in a guitar store? I have not. This is for two reasons. First, those guitars are not properly set up second, there is personal preference.
Coming to the point now, this is how I prepare a new guitar.
1. Check stringe gauge and change to preference (not all of my majesties came with 10s)
2. Check string action. This is a tricky one and as mentioned above it is depending on personal preference. Unlike as told before neck adjustment is importend and directly influencing the string action but more on the first twelf frets. The saddle height or bridge hight is more relevant for the frets above 12. I like an ultra straight neck for example. Therefore, I eliminate the bowing of the neck until it is completely straight. This can be evaluated when pressing down the first and last fret on a string. If there is no space left at the 12ths fret, than it is at least straight. If no proper tones are coming out of your guitar in the lower fret region then the neck bowing to much in the wrong direction. If that is to my liking than I lower down only the particular string saddles so low that I get out a tone on every fret and without having to much buzz. I try not to lower the bridge to much but the saddles to get a more advantagious ratio of lever on the trem. I don't want force on a string to easily cause trem movement. This is dependent on string thickness, stiffness of trem springs and also the angle of strings in relation of the lever point of the trem. Stiffness of the trem springs is denpendend on the material, the thickness and also the state of elongation. So think of this before putting in more springs. Usually EBMM guitars come with the trem plate at the same hight as the body surface and that is estetically fine and also advantageous for string stiffness(for fast alternate picking[if the stiffness is to low you might accidently bend the string with your pick when stroking and the flow is gone]). That is basically the trick. You might have to re-adjust the neck once a week on majesties(the monarchies seem to be more stable) for a while until you get a very stable situation.
3. Adjust trem springs to the correct position of the trem plate.
4. Adjust the intonation with the intonation screws and start at point 2 again.... usually there should not be that much of a change. For intonation adjustments I use flageolette tone and fretted tone on the 12ths fret. It is important that you use your actual fretting pressure that you usually use for playing on the fretted tone to get accurate results. When that is okay you should try out lower frets; those can be divergent if the nut height is not optimal; however this rarely needs correction.
5. Put something into the trem springs to prevent their ringing which additionally gets picked up by your pickups! For that I use old clothes that I pull through using old guitar strings. This may impair the restoring forces of the trem springs a tiny bit but I think it is worth the price.
If all these points can be resolved you should be very satisfied with your guitar for a very long time.
Still, usually guitars are set up pretty badly. Actually, there is a rather famous german guitar seller who made the same discovery when he was young. When he asked his guitar seller if the guitars in the shop could be set up properly the seller just said that it is sensless and he does not know where to start. So.....don't expect to much. If you set it up your self might be even better fitted for you.
So congratulations on your new guitar! I think it will work just fine! Happy new year to everyone.
Regards, J

 

[Rick C]

Great comments Jonathon. My Majesty was my second floating trem guitar but without a lock; I have a little G3T Steinberger clone that has a really convenient trem lock lever. Any how, when I dropped string gauges it took several weeks for the Majesty to really settle in properly. I first tried doing the setup without blocking the bridge and got into a fight; every tweak resulted in the trem moving around. What string gauges do you have on your Majesties?

 

[thejone]

Great comments Jonathon. My Majesty was my second floating trem guitar but without a lock; I have a little G3T Steinberger clone that has a really convenient trem lock lever. Any how, when I dropped string gauges it took several weeks for the Majesty to really settle in properly. I first tried doing the setup without blocking the bridge and got into a fight; every tweak resulted in the trem moving around. What string gauges do you have on your Majesties?

Thanks Rick!
I changed all my guitar strings to 10s, thus regular slinkies. It's the first thing I do. Some of the Music Man guitars (JP and Majesties) come with 9s on them; I don't know why. Now all the specs on the EBMM website say that there should be 10s (RPS 10 Slinkys) on them.
Regards, J

 

[fjk1138]

First, congrats on your buy!

I have the 7 string version. My default strings are 10-56.

Regardless, all points above are excellent - keep all adjustments as minor as possible and check and recheck each one to see how it plays. However +1 to that nut lube. I use Big Bends nut sauce, but there are others you can try as well. Some guys use Chapstick (I haven't, so I can't vouch for it), graphite, or even a combo of both.

Also, I read here (or saw online somewhere...it's a blur at this point) that JP's tech Maddi said that he puts the necks almost flat and the action very low. JP would occasionally get string buzzing as a result but it was "acceptable" for what he was doing live (probably unnoticeable due to the overall volume of the concerts).

Lastly, not sure what your home humidity levels are at, but I'm on my 3rd JP guitar and for whatever reason(s) these things are highly affected by humidity in my experience. Until the winter heat and dry air kicked in, my Majesty was the most flawless guitar I've ever played, and needed only minor adjustments to play very well. I would highly suggest in these winter months that you either have a room/whole house humidifier going at all times and/or keep it in the case with Planet Waves humidity packs (or whatever else similar) when you are not playing it.

Good luck and enjoy!