Music Man Majesty Arctic Aurora | Assessment

MSRP: (UK) £6299 / (US) $6399

Nick Jennison opinions the Music Man Majesty Arctic Aurora — a guitar designed in collaboration with the legendary John Petrucci. This gorgeous instrument includes a modern, contoured physique with an eye catching Arctic Aurora end that shifts from icy blue to deep purple. Its neck-through design combines mahogany and basswood for superior resonance and maintain. Geared up with DiMarzio Dreamcatcher and Rainmaker pickups, it delivers a flexible vary of tones, from heat cleans to searing leads. The customized floating tremolo bridge and locking tuners guarantee exact tuning and stability, making it the final word software for severe musicians.

I’ve lengthy considered guitars as being like automobiles, to the purpose of creating comparisons which can be in all probability a bit too particular. LPs, for instance, are like American muscle automobiles: they’re heavy, loud, look wonderful, and break on a regular basis. They are not a lot use within the corners, however they make a completely righteous noise. Japanese superstrats are like modded Subarus: well-built, just a little gauche, however they will roast nearly something over 1 / 4 mile. Then there’s the Music Man Majesty, which is a Formulation 1 automobile.

It isn’t simply me who thinks this, by the way in which: based on the Excessive King of Shred himself, John Petrucci, the Majesty was designed with this sort of ultra-high-performance observe monster in thoughts. It is viciously elegant, faultlessly ergonomic, and you may by no means discover a guitar that is sooner. In case you have the chops to deal with this a lot guitar, you may be rewarded with an instrument that may go wherever your creativeness can take you.

The BFR model of the Majesty takes this extremely refined method and provides a degree of luxurious and craftsmanship that is on one other degree completely. Obtainable in three new finishes for 2024 – Pink Nebula, Blue Ink, and Arctic Aurora (the mannequin we’re on this assessment) – every is strictly restricted to 100 six-string and 50 seven-string fashions worldwide. Every end comes with its personal mixture of premium woods, with Arctic Aurora sporting Black Limba physique wings, a Honduran Mahogany and Flame Maple neck-through, all capped with a thick and intensely figured Burl Maple prime. I am fortunate sufficient to put my palms on a variety of very premium guitars in my line of labor, however even I could not assist however let loose just a little “ooof” after I laid eyes on this guitar. Visually, it is one thing else.

When it comes to efficiency, it is “enterprise as normal” – and by that, I imply it is flawless. The match, end, and setup are so excellent, it looks like an iPhone in a world of payphones. The ebony fretboard and 24 chrome steel frets really feel like enjoying on glass, and the controls are completely laid out in an effort to entry any of the plethora of sounds this guitar has to supply with out lacking a word. The trem flutters, dives, and gargles with excellent return to pitch, and the texture below the palm is easy and tactile with no sharp edges or protruding screws in sight. The extent of refinement right here is past even Music Man’s normal unbelievable requirements.

Other than his revolving door of overdrive pedals, Petrucci appears to have modified his pickups extra over time than every other a part of his rig. The truth that the Dreamcatcher/Rainmaker combo has been commonplace in his Majesty guitars for so long as they’ve probably implies that John has lastly settled on one thing he is utterly pleased with, and it is simple to see why. The three “cardinal Petrucci tones” of “tight bridge pickup crunch,” “liquid neck pickup lead,” and “piano-like cut up center place clear” are completely encapsulated on this set, with the addition of an “un-split” center place voice that is nice for fatter cleans and character fusion leads.

That is not all although – there’s additionally the piezo and the switchable enhance. Fairly other than delivering a fairly convincing acoustic sound, the piezo provides an unreal sparkle to 80s-style cleans. The piezo tone could be tweaked with the mini pots on the rear management cowl, however I did not really feel the necessity to – it sounds “proper” straight from the manufacturing unit. There’s additionally the onboard enhance, which on the faucet of a push-push swap provides as much as 20 dB of fresh output to the guitar’s sign. It is simply sufficient to take an articulate crunch sound right into a hyper-saturated lead tone, or to explode an edge-of-breakup amp into roaring distortion.

The Music Man Majesty is already on the bleeding fringe of guitar development, and it is exhausting to think about the way it may very well be potential to raise this guitar past the unbelievable heights of the manufacturing mannequin… however Music Man has completed it. If you happen to want the final word in high-performance guitars, get a Majesty, but when solely the perfect of the perfect will do – and you may afford it – you want a BFR.

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