Thanks Man! You know, sometimes you realize as you grow up that you're not only not as smart as you thought you are, but that you're a fucking idiot, and that's what I had to come to terms with. I'm going on and on about my feelings, my first impression, my love at first sight bond, when it was the tone all along. I hadn't bothered to set a proper tone for this guitar right away, like I normally do. I don't know why, but I just opened the Axe-FX III and fiddled around in a non-serious way, as if a random amp with random IRs was going to be magic with the guitar. With a real amp, it's not that involved, you just plug in and turn the knobs, but here the cab and the IRs are so pivotal.
When it comes to the wood grain and stuff like that, don't get me wrong, I love a beautiful guitar, like I'm dying over all of
@Planta Fantasma's stuff, and if I ever have the money I'll go for a Black Devil guitar, but the tone is the thing. I just had to adjust my thinking and remember, if the way I test guitars is plugging into amps at a store, with the Axe-FX III I need to create the store. I need to have the cabs and mics set already, and really, I should just record any new guitar dry, set the fucker aside, dial in many different tones, then just play through them and ride the knobs. With that, I found the voice of the guitar and instantly I was hooked. On top of this, now that I know the fretwork is so wonderful, I lowered it to an insane action that makes a set of 10s feel like 8s, and my playing has already taken off. I'm so glad many people recommended I give it another chance.
I'm glad that the problem with your Majesty (it's sounds like I'm adressing you as Your Majesty, which is awesome) is minor enough to ignore. Very cool that the company is responsive to defects even long after the date of manufacture. The store where I bought my shipping box for the guitar said, in their experience all the guitar companies are good about honoring warranties. I wasn't so optimistic because of a problem I had with Gibson in the aughts, but I'm heartened by this experience and by hearing your story.
It's a tough thing when it comes to beautiful tops, because it's like you're shopping for furniture at the same time, and I feel like that's a trap. You can get pulled in by a beautiful guitar that doesn't do what you need, but if you can find the right one, Man, it's magic. Years ago, when I ended up buying my Trevor Rabin, I went to a store that had an insane collection of gorgeous PRS SEs that had translucent tops. I mean, to a tee, they were completely gorgeous. I picked up one after the other, spent hours there, and I couldn't find a single one that would stay in tune with both bending strings the normal way or using the tremolo. It was one or the other. The owner, who was the store's guitar tech, saw what I was doing and even got in on it with me to adjust guitars to try to get them to stay in tune, and it just wasn't happening. I mean, these things were so beautiful I just can't tell you. I don't even know what model they were. But anyway, I of course needed something I could trust, so I passed, and I was so happy to find the Trevor Rabin at anthor store later. Anyway, when you find a match of physical beauty, tone, and functionality, you've really got something special.
