NGD Sterling Majesty

jamesmarshall

jamesmarshall

Inspired
Got the Sterling Majesty today. Killer price for a brand new MAJ100. There is one little tiny mark on the upper horn, but way less than I would end up putting on it over time. So $750 for a B stock sterling Majesty.. Totally worth it. I have played it for a few min. But once I really get to play it I will give more feedback.

The first thing is that it is very low-mid heavy. Too much 400hz. No biggie I have a feeling that a PEQ before the amp will even that out. About 4db seems like what I am thinking. Otherwise a solid guitar. I had heard others say it is so light it felt like a toy.
I disagree, it is light but has just enough weight to feel comfortable. It is in no way a Les Paul. If I want weight I will put the LP on and use it.

I love the neck on this guitar. It is thin but not Ibanez RG thin. I feel like it is between an RG and my Les Paul for neck thickness.

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That is a very nice guitar
Looks like my former Majesty "Maggy"
Neck, weight and sound is all perfect indeed.
At the time it seemed like a good choice to sell 🤦‍♂️

Tip: dont forget to unplug when finished playing, it loves batteries for dinner ;)


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Axelman8 said:
That is a very nice guitar
Looks like my former Majesty "Maggy"
Neck, weight and sound is all perfect indeed.
At the time it seemed like a good choice to sell 🤦‍♂️

Tip: dont forget to unplug when finished playing, it loves batteries for dinner ;)


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That is the guitar the Sterling is a licensed copy of. Sort of like the Epiphone Les Paul.
The differences are there, but to me it is about 85% of the MM. I played 2 different Majesty guitars a couple years ago and have had several pass through my studio and recorded several guitar albums with them. The sterling DiMarzio copies are the weak point of the guitar IMO.

The 12db boost seems to add a warble to the tone when engaged, so that pre-amp is useless to me. I plan on putting a set of Dimarzio Crunchlab and liquifires in it. The 12db preamp and electronics has to go. I plan on coil splitting with a push/push in each knob and probably a stone tone block.

The feel of the guitar is very nice. The tone is a little dark and has too much low mids (200-400hz) for my taste, however I can tell it is a warm Mahagony guitar and a set of slightly brighter pickups will even it out.

I never buy signature guitars, but the majesty just as a concept for a guitar and not the John Petrucci aspect, always intrigued me. It really is one of the best feel guitars I have played since my Ibanez prototypes in the 80s and 90s. I grew out of the Ibanez and started playing PRS in the late 90s and grabbed a few LPs over the years but have wanted a new "thin-neck" "shredder" for a little while, now. This guitar really scratches that itch well.

Funny thing is, there really isn't much info out there or good reviews of these beasts. When I say good I mean ones that are not paid or given something for the review. A few good run throughs on the MM forum, but still don't seem to give much criticism about things that could be better. The pickups keep improving on them over the last 8 years of the majesty so that is great that JP seems to work on it, still.
 
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A wish to build by myself a guitar like the majesty is growing day after day...
I know it's a long and difficult path and I should start with a tele... but what are we without our dreams?
 
guitarno said:
Nice axe! Great price too! Where did you find it at that price?
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https://www.proaudiostar.com/sterling-music-man-majesty-maj100-siberian-sapphire-b-stock123.html

Mine had 1 tiny little mark on the upper horn where the grey undercoat shows through the blue almost like a chip, but not a chip. For a $350 dollar difference that is totally worth it to me. The only thing is ProAudioStar does not ship as fast as some might like, so just be patient. I ordered last Thursday, got the shipping notice that evening, and it shipped at midnight on Saturday which I got yesterday. I have ordered a few things from them in the past and not had issues, however, there are a lot of bad reviews online about them.
 
Does the Sterling version have the controls and most of the wiring on a PC board, like I understand the originals do?

Harder to modify or even repair if so.

But nice! Congrats!
 
Dave Merrill said:
Does the Sterling version have the controls and most of the wiring on a PC board, like I understand the originals do?

Harder to modify or even repair if so.

But nice! Congrats!
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Yes it does. It really isn't any harder they have everything marked well on them. I don't really like the preamp in it, so I am going to gut it and put the dimarzio pickups in it and use some really good push push pots for coil split and have this sounding really close the 3.5k MM version and all of that for less than $1k.
 
I keep trying these out whenever I see them at GC, but by the time I get to them they’ve all been ravaged by the kids (my GC is directly next door to a high school and was put there because of that). I’ve played some awesome Sterling basses so I know they’re certainly capable of being great quality, but man those things have a bullseye painted on them for “Come drop tune me and my floating bridge, steal the whammy bar and rip a knob or two off….and then put me in front of a dehumidifier so my fingerboard feels like sandpaper” :tearsofjoy:

I love the way the upper fret access feels with that body/neck and dig the neck shape, I just need to play one that hasn’t been beat to hell before it’s even sold!
 
RevDrucifer said:
I keep trying these out whenever I see them at GC, but by the time I get to them they’ve all been ravaged by the kids (my GC is directly next door to a high school and was put there because of that). I’ve played some awesome Sterling basses so I know they’re certainly capable of being great quality, but man those things have a bullseye painted on them for “Come drop tune me and my floating bridge, steal the whammy bar and rip a knob or two off….and then put me in front of a dehumidifier so my fingerboard feels like sandpaper” :tearsofjoy:

I love the way the upper fret access feels with that body/neck and dig the neck shape, I just need to play one that hasn’t been beat to hell before it’s even sold!
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Yeah, that is the issue with GC. I only go there to try out guitars and know what I am playing is abused. For the most part, I only buy from GC if my pro rep can pull things from the back for me. I usually try out stuff off the shelf just to see if I like the neck feel, weight resonance, etc. then I either buy online or call my GC pro rep. I got my EPI Silverburst limited from them and he pulled the one out of the back and I got to open the box right there and tune and try it out before I walked out with it. He had a nice little room with JCM 800 combo for me since he knew I was a Marshall or modded Marshall guy.

Lately, my Guitar center has started asking for your ID when you try out guitars so that you don't beat them up too badly. The guy behind the counter told me they had a teen take down a 6K guitar and was trying to tune it and dropped it (it slid right off his lap). Chipped the finish pretty well and they said that has been happening more and more lately and they are being told by corporate they can't keep selling high-priced guitars as used because of this "abuse". Hopefully, this helps somewhat.

Try asking the guys there about trying one out that is not beat to heck. Tell them you are serious about getting one and don't want to try a beat-up one, fall in love and not be able to leave with one that is beaten up. They might have something in the back that can help you with, that is in the box. Or ask if you can try one out on the floor and ask if they have one in a box you can take home. They might and you might be able to buy, open, and play the new one right there before walking out. Never hurts to ask. I am never shy about that. The worst they can say is no, but I highly doubt they will if they think you are pretty serious about it.

Or you can just take a chance and get one as I did for 750 and deal with a small imperfection since it is a B stock. If you don't like it you can sell it and most likely make some money.
 
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