Major guitar purchase (EBMM Majesty 7) and lack of motivation to practice/unsure if I am doing the right thing.

[Kosthrash]

ΙΜΗΟ as soon as you're just not motivated with your current guitar for any reason, you'd better keep looking for a new axe, this time (I'd suggest) with a fixed bridge (for tuning stability), like for example a Schecter Hellraiser C-7 (proven workhorse, nice-looking enough and smooth handling to motivate you to grab it & play, not expensive at all for worrying whether it gets beaten-up)

Schecter Hellraiser C-7 - Gloss White

7-string Solidbody Electric Guitar with Mahogany Body, 3-pc Mahogany Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Strings-thru-body Tail, and 2 EMG Active Humbucking Pickups - Gloss White

www.sweetwater.com

With the rest $$$ you could grab a nice amp like for example a EVH 5150 iconic, or - why not - even an AXE FX III perhaps (now that would be a great inspirational motivation... )

 

[Siggevaio]

Why not get a used Majesty? Shouldn't be too hard to find as they are kind of popular. People usually take really good care of their expensive guitars as well so it could be just as a new one but almost half the price.

 

[ReleasedtoReign]

Well…just so you all know I officially returned the Ernie Ball, my SW card was refunded and as soon as the funds have become available again then they will be charging it for the new guitar and shipping it to me. It’s got a friggin gorgeous top and I’m super psyched about it! Ironically enough my best friend (other than my wife) apparently got a 7 string Schecter for Father’s Day so you know what’s going to happen there lol.
Like I said I’m psyched and should have it within the next couple weeks at the most and I’ll let you all know how it fairs but I’m optimistically thinking it’s going to be of the same or better finest caliber as the Majesty was but even better for me because of the things I discovered I didn’t like about the Majesty. The only 2 things I’m a little apprehensive about are:
1. And to a much lesser degree this one is the comfortableness of the new scale length, really not actually worried about it in fact it’s one reason I wanted this guitar because I wasn’t real happy with the string tension or the sound/feel of the 7th string on the 25.5” scale of the other one and I know I’ll get used to it it should be negligible difference at first that I’ll quickly adapt to just like I did going from 6 to 7 strings…
2. This one is the bigger one but I’m being optimistic that it’ll actually be a good thing for me overall and improve my playing after the adjustment if I can make it: the extra jumbo frets. I have a tendency to make my arm and hand cramp by choking the guitar neck I have a real death grip at times and as a result anytime I briefly picked up a guitar with jumbo/extra jumbo or whatever frets like that I quickly put it down because I didn’t understand at the time what the purpose of them was and I was pressing too hard and making the notes sharp and making it hard on myself trying to touch the wood like normal etc… Now that I understand that whole aspect of it I hope it’ll help me loosen my grip and lighten up which theoretically should actually improve my playing and make me able to play longer without cramping up, hell maybe that won’t even happen anymore after a while right! We will see I will either make it work and fall in love with it or I won’t but again I believe I have it in me to make the adjustment and benefit from it.
Other than the foreign scale length and super jumbo frets everything else is well within my realm and the guitar looks to be a real one of a kind gem, I’ve looked up every picture I could find of every other one of that model and finish and none of them look anything like mine. They’re all unique tops I know but this one is amazing in my opinion anyways (they sent me high def photos of the one that is reserved for me).
I posted this in another thread first and I realized I might not have mentioned in this one yet which guitar I am getting instead…it’s a KM7 Mkiii in Blood Lust Crystal Burl finish.

 

[ReleasedtoReign]

Why not get a used Majesty? Shouldn't be too hard to find as they are kind of popular. People usually take really good care of their expensive guitars as well so it could be just as a new one but almost half the price.

As I said towards the beginning of this thread I am using a SW credit card for a big chunk of the purchase so that’s not an option but also I had mentioned through here that there were things I was unhappy with about the Majesty. For years I thought it was my dream guitar but nope! Turns out it was beautiful and a fine guitar in many ways but there were things that were just not ideal about it for me. This KM7 Mkiii I’m getting next instead I hope will be the one, I think it will be I am optimistic (see my reply to this thread immediately preceding this reply to you right above this one to read more about the current status of my situation if you all like)

 

[tian]

$3700 is a pretty wild way to find out what scale length and fret size you like but the guitar will certainly be of high quality.

 

[ReleasedtoReign]

$3700 is a pretty wild way to find out what scale length and fret size you like but the guitar will certainly be of high quality.

It’ll be fine. I do not have a “bad” feeling about it I know what I’m in for as Ive played guitars with super jumbo frets before and I just wasn’t used to it but I’ll adapt, if I can pick up a crap acoustic with the action an inch off the board and make it work then I’ll be able to do this lol and like I said I believe it’ll be good for me, unlocking new potential in my playing by expanding my skills. I played my buddy’s Schecter earlier today and it has some big frets too and it was fine I warmed right up to it it’ll be fine. This guitar is already hundreds cheaper than the majesty was and I got a good deal on it as well (not saying how much but it is less than the price you said I know that’s what they normally sell it for but they’re taking care of me on this) I’m not worried about it and if I don’t like it I’ll send it back but I do not think that’s going to happen. Of course I’ll let y’all know when I get it how it feels and show off pics.

 

[jephjacques]

this sounds like me when I was 17. Have fun chasing the dragon for the rest of your life

 

[jephjacques]

I have never caught that dang ol dragon

 

[MetalDestroyer]

$3700 is a pretty wild way to find out what scale length and fret size you like but the guitar will certainly be of high quality.

3700 is a wild way to find out you don't like floating trems lmao

 

[nickgray]

I wasn’t real happy with the string tension or the sound/feel of the 7th string on the 25.5” scale

The difference between 25.5" and 26.5" on the 7th string is tiny, it's the same as upping the gauge by 0.02. For example, 0.60 on a 25.5" will have the same tension as 0.58 on a 26.5". The tension increase is quite a bit more noticeable (and can be potentially undesired) on the higher strings though, and some stretches (like stacked 5ths) become way more annoying. It's a shitty compromise, unless you're going for really low tunings where every little bit counts.

I have a real death grip at times

Do that commonly recommended pressure exercise - press on the frets, and release slowly until the strings start to buzz, remember how much pressure you've put, rinse, repeat.

You really shouldn't pinch the shit out the neck with thumb and fingers, it's just plain bad technique and can easily lead to injuries. A lot of the fretting pressure should come from you sort of pulling the neck towards you. Try this - don't put your left thumb on the neck at all, just press on the frets with your fingers, it should be easy enough to figure out. In addition, you should try to relax your left hand and let the gravity do some of the work (this one is mostly relevant for when you're holding a chord for a while, especially bar chords).

 

[ReleasedtoReign]

I got the USA KM7 Mkiii. Absolutely in love with it but only had it a few days but have only played it maybe an hour or two total I’ve been working but tomorrow I start a three day weekend bet your ass I’m gonna be playing it a lot. By far and away the best feeling/playing guitar I’ve ever had, better than the EBMM Majesty 7 that I sent back to get this in every way including fit/finish/playability etc... Everything about this guitar screams USA made custom shop I’m highly impressed.
The only thing is I think the bridge pickup might not fully agree with me (I quite like the neck pickup for the most part) the bridge is wicked cool for metal but very abrasive for other things but then again it could be that it may just not agree with my amp/speaker which I’m selling anyways to get something else it’s been up for sale for weeks (currently using the 600w BIAS Head and a headrush FRFR speaker) I plan on getting something else once it sells, probably an FM3 but we’ll see. I’m going to take it to the local Guitar Center and plug it into a bunch of amps and modelers and see how it sounds on them all I may just need to find the right one and I want to give them some time to grow on me and worst case scenario is I put some other pickup/s in it, tons of options available and I would probably try a different fluence bridge pickup first because it’d be as easy as unplugging one and plugging in the new one and if that doesn’t work well for my ears there’s always my tried and true options I’ve used over the years.
I was greatly surprised by the frets, scale length and bolt-on neck. Almost no difference in feel with the frets (I can tell the difference but it took almost no adjustment to get used to it) and everything I read said with extra jumbo frets you don’t feel the wood but I do and I’m not pressing on them at all hardly it barely touches it but touches it nonetheless and either way it feels great. The scale length was super negligible in feel of where my fingers are but I can definitely feel the difference in string tension in a good way and hear it as a result as well, small difference but enough to matter and make me happy vs what I had. The bolt-on neck didn’t matter a bit because the guitar is so thin that even with the bolt-on it’s almost like the neck thru was in feel and plus if God forbid something happens to the neck I could get a new one, no need to worry.
I’m so glad I sent the Majesty back and got this USA Schecter and I’m definitely keeping it. I’ll post pictures tomorrow probably. I know some of you are probably laughing because it’s obviously honeymoon phase right now but I didn’t feel like this with the Majesty, I drooled over the looks of the Majesty and it felt great for the most part but this is superior to me in every way.
I sold a Dean Dime from Hell signed by Zakk Wylde and a Vintage brand Les Paul style guitar to pay for a big chunk of this, I’ve owned many guitars over the years and this one was definitely worth selling the others for and I’m glad I found it, I had never looked at the KM guitars before but so glad I found it because I thought for years that the Majesty was essentially my dream guitar and it just didn’t work out that way, this one….oh yeah!!!

 

[Kosthrash]

I guess your next purchase, a EVH 5150 Iconic

 

[ReleasedtoReign]

I amend my earlier statement about the extra jumbo frets……
I’m not touching the fretboard, not even close lol I can see straight through underneath my finger/string and the fretboard while fretting I guess it was just so comfortable and didn’t feel that much different that I assumed it was resting on the wood, nope. I pressed super hard deliberately bending the note out of whack until it went sharp until I could feel the wood and was like ‘oh yeah that’s what my other guitars feel like lol’ good grief, not a big difference in feel at all but had to correct myself on that, again it doesn’t come close to the fretboard wood really. Guess that means the action/setup and whatnot on it must be stellar for me to not notice because I’ve played other guitars with frets like these years ago and it was noticeable and I didn’t like it, maybe it’s just that my playing/technique has matured over the decades (I know it has but still)

 

[ReleasedtoReign]

Holy crap! Face melted away by the shear awesomeness of this guitar! Found totally usable clean and less heavy tones on the middle and neck positions and some nice things with the different voices there too and OMGHFS the bridge is straight up legit brutal sounding it totally reacts like a passive pickup they both do for that matter but that bridge especially in the custom voice is just wow. There’s something definitely unique about these pickups and they’re definitely different but they’re growing on me but anyways I’ll quit going on about it. I played on it for hours at the place I played through several amps I used a Lainey Ironheart tube head that was hooked up through an Orange cab, a blown out 5150 III that only the red channel worked on it through the matching cab on that one, a Mesa Boogie of some kind I forget which model but it was a very nice Mesa combo amp and a couple of fenders I believe a deluxe bass man or something like that and another one too.
Pictures incoming soon but I’m beat for now I’ll get em later and then I should probably retire this thread maybe because of the title and whatnot and I’m past all that that I was dealing with with the other guitar and I appreciate all the kind words of encouragement along the way.

 

[BabUShka]

Because of my playing style i had to go up a string gauge on a LTD that had huge jumbo frets. I press to hard on the strings, this led to out of tune sounds.

Schecter makes great guitars. Ive had several. Still have one. All of them have been just fantastic instruments.

And i also support the tube amp suggestions. After I bought back my JVM my motivation went to the roof. I love to play my HX Stomp and Bias FX when the Kids are asleep. But the real deal filling the room with big oumph and big sound brings me a different type of joy and motivation to play.

That being said.. I love my EBMM JP6. Bought it second hand for like $1500. Absolutely woth every penny. You should get one, eventually

 

[ReleasedtoReign]

Because of my playing style i had to go up a string gauge on a LTD that had huge jumbo frets. I press to hard on the strings, this led to out of tune sounds.

Schecter makes great guitars. Ive had several. Still have one. All of them have been just fantastic instruments.

And i also support the tube amp suggestions. After I bought back my JVM my motivation went to the roof. I love to play my HX Stomp and Bias FX when the Kids are asleep. But the real deal filling the room with big oumph and big sound brings me a different type of joy and motivation to play.

That being said.. I love my EBMM JP6. Bought it second hand for like $1500. Absolutely woth every penny. You should get one, eventually

I knew that I should have said this earlier it crossed my mind about 10 times already and nill from me sorry folks even if not for you BabUshka for others : I love the JP guitars I loved the JP6 so much that I had 10 years ago when I was about 30 that I thought I just had to have a Majesty but I needed just one super nice hot rod of a guitar now and I chose this instead if I had the money for both I would own both.
Question for you…..I am thinking I would be mostly happy with a Fractal FM3 or Kemper and this axe for anything but I am not absolutely certain nobody has a Kemper or Axe FX I can play on but as much as love the sound of the different tube heads I’ve had over the years I want effects too and more variety and I can’t afford both a tube head and cab and a pedal board too I just can’t and I am looking for the best I can. Do you really notice a big difference betweeen your Fractal and your Axe FX???

 

[ReleasedtoReign]

I knew that I should have said this earlier it crossed my mind about 10 times already and nill from me sorry folks even if not for you BabUshka for others : I love the JP guitars I loved the JP6 so much that I had 10 years ago when I was about 30 that I thought I just had to have a Majesty but I needed just one super nice hot rod of a guitar now and I chose this instead if I had the money for both I would own both.
Question for you…..I am thinking I would be mostly happy with a Fractal FM3 or Kemper and this axe for anything but I am not absolutely certain nobody has a Kemper or Axe FX I can play on but as much as love the sound of the different tube heads I’ve had over the years I want effects too and more variety and I can’t afford both a tube head and cab and a pedal board too I just can’t and I am looking for the best I can. Do you really notice a big difference betweeen your Fractal and your Axe FX???

That was supposed to say your tube amp and your Fractal :/

 

[ReleasedtoReign]

I shared several pictures so far in the thread for this guitar I will share more in this one later but for now here is the link to the thread where I uploaded some other photos and one for now….

Schecter KM-7 (Keith Merrow) Signature Thread

Not even a Schecter fan, but I'm overwhelmed with copious amounts of GAS...

www.sevenstring.org

 

[ReleasedtoReign]

I shared several pictures so far in the thread for this guitar I will share more in this one later but for now here is the link to the thread where I uploaded some other photos and one for now….

Schecter KM-7 (Keith Merrow) Signature Thread

Not even a Schecter fan, but I'm overwhelmed with copious amounts of GAS...

www.sevenstring.org

On that link to that thread that I shared go to the very last page of it to find my photos I shared.