Question about Ernie ball Musicman guitars

[Fixated]

Hello I’ve been searching around for a new shredder guitar. I’m debating if I want to get a Caparison TAT, Jason Richardson 6 string or John petrucci JP15 musicman.

I almost pulled the trigger on the Jason Richardson but came across two comments on YouTube where people were saying that the pickup height cannot be adjusted on the JP15 or Jason Richardson guitars. The guy at Sweetwater told me that the height can be adjusted on both. I have tried contacting Ernie Ball as to whether or not the pickups can or cannot be adjusted but no one has responded to me.

The question is, can the pickup height be adjusted on either of those two musicman models?

If the pickups cannot be adjusted I think this will be a massive dealbreaker for me.

Thanks a lot

 

[frankenbeans]

I believe that is the case, yes. The pickups on these guitars are direct mounted to the body, not installed into pickup rings. I've also looked into the possibility of adjusting the height of my Majesty pickups (also direct mount), and the answer I found was "not possible."

That said, I only wanted to change the pickup height because the Majesty pups are hot. Outside of that, I've never felt I was missing out by not being able to change the height. It may still be a dealbreaker for you, and that's entirely fair. I'm just sharing my experience.

 

[Fixated]

I believe that is the case, yes. The pickups on these guitars are direct mounted to the body, not installed into pickup rings. I've also looked into the possibility of adjusting the height of my Majesty pickups (also direct mount), and the answer I found was "not possible."

That said, I only wanted to change the pickup height because the Majesty pups are hot. Outside of that, I've never felt I was missing out by not being able to change the height. It may still be a dealbreaker for you, and that's entirely fair. I'm just sharing my experience.

Thanks for fast reply. Damn that is unfortunate. Why would they do that? I want to be able to switch height for the very reason of the signal either being too hot. Or if I want to change string action I want to be able to change the pickups for new action. It may be Caparison then …..

 

[humpfrey]

use washer to highten the picks , easy. i play my jp 15 for years now ,, never had the urge to change the height of the pickups

 

[Fixated]

use washer to highten the picks , easy. i play my jp 15 for years now ,, never had the urge to change the height of the pickups

Great idea. Didn’t think of that.

 

[Rex]

There are ways to adjust the height of direct-mounted pickups. Hoping they chose that for the MM.

 

[Dave Merrill]

If it's the output level of the pickups you want to modify, just lower input level in your Fractal. Not talking about channel volume.

 

[Budda]

just grab a silhouette or other model?

 

[strabes]

Direct mounted pickups can be being adjusted using washers or foam. If you file the threads down on the screw under the head you don’t have to drill out the pickup’s threaded holes. Direct mount just adds more work so I prefer pickguard-mounted. The Ernie ball stuff is excellent though. I’ve replaced a couple rather expensive boutique brand instruments with Ernie Ball’s import Sterling line (with upgraded pickups).

 

[Fixated]

just grab a silhouette or other model?

Yea I liked these two models for scale length and 24 frets.

Edit. I see the silhouette does have 24 but I don’t want a middle pickup.

 

[chris]

Played Petrucci guitars now for 24 years and never needed to change pickup height. One less variable to worry about, and the guitar always sounds good.

 

[Budda]

Yea I liked these two models for scale length and 24 frets.

Edit. I see the silhouette does have 24 but I don’t want a middle pickup.

Grab a Luke ii ?

 

[frankenbeans]

Thanks for fast reply. Damn that is unfortunate. Why would they do that? I want to be able to switch height for the very reason of the signal either being too hot. Or if I want to change string action I want to be able to change the pickups for new action. It may be Caparison then …..

Eh. I’d rather have no pickup ring than the ability to adjust pickup height.

 

[Riccardo Ros]

I have direct mounted pickups (5 guitars) and the pickup is always adjustable... Are you sure there is no way to adjust? I cannot believe a 4k guitar hasn't that option

 

[Musikron]

You can adjust the pickups on this guitars. EBMM are the better build.

 

[Sashman]

I had five EBMM Guitars, you can’t adjust the pickup height on some models like the JP, Luke etc.
But there are some ways like washers or foam to rise the pickups.
Someone who started to mount pickups directly to the body was Eddie Van Halen because he thought that it sounded better.
Honestly my Luke’s sounded perfect and I never had to adjust the pickup height, so just play one and listen if it fits what you need or not.

I don’t play Music Man guitars anymore but there is a reason why they mounting pickups in a specific height.

 

[Chewie5150]

I had a JP15 for quite sometime. It's an awesome guitar and i recall being able to adjust the pup height ever so slightly. It was just basically compressing the foam a few mm underneath but the height was usually right were it needed to be. The pups are very hot and not everyone's thing but it is JP's sound. I think the newer models have the clip connector so if you like Dimarzios , for example, you can often order them with the pcb connect on many of their pups. Speaking of EBMM guitars, I see Rabea's Sabre models have been officially released at Namm. I'd love to try one of those out but I fear the cost will be substantial like it is with most guitar makers these days.

I just remembered the little DIY mod i did cuz i did swap out the pickups on the JP15. I did the Dimarzio Dominion in bridge and a luke Transition for neck with the pcb connect but the overall depth did not equal the stock pups so i cut some rubber feet i had from a pedal to put underneath. I was able to make enough adjustments with those.

 

[Stemacd]

Hi, I actually have a question about the body on the Majesty. I find the shape is really interesting and I’m just wondering about the sides and the bevels…I know the bottom side of the guitar seems somewhat normal thickness but the top side is really thin. I was just wondering if anyone knew what the thickness was of the sides? I’m in Eastern Canada and have no chance of seeing these in any stores here haha.

Thanks