Music Man Majesty 8 Review & Prices

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Music Man Majesty 8 Review
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  • From Music Man's 2021 John Petrucci series
  • John Petrucci Signature
  • Made in United States
  • 8 strings
  • 27" to 25.5"'' scale
  • 17" Fretboard Radius
  • Basswood Wings, Mahogany through neck body
  • Mahogany neck
  • Ebony fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: DiMarzio Dreamcatcher (Humbucker/Passive)
  • Neck pickup: DiMarzio Rainmaker (Humbucker/Passive)
  • 2 volume and 1 tone Dome knobs
  • 3-way Switch
  • Music Man Custom piezo hardtail bridge
  • John Petrucci Neck-Through neck
  • 24 Medium Jumbo Stainless Steel frets
  • Schaller M6-IND locking (Chrome) tuners
  • Compare Specs >
  • From Music Man's 2021 John Petrucci series
  • John Petrucci Signature
  • Made in United States
  • 8 strings
  • 27" to 25.5"'' scale
  • 17" Fretboard Radius
  • Basswood Wings, Mahogany through neck body
  • Mahogany neck
  • Ebony fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: DiMarzio Dreamcatcher (Humbucker/Passive)
  • Neck pickup: DiMarzio Rainmaker (Humbucker/Passive)
  • 2 volume and 1 tone Dome knobs
  • 3-way Switch
  • Music Man Custom piezo hardtail bridge
  • John Petrucci Neck-Through neck
  • 24 Medium Jumbo Stainless Steel frets
  • Schaller M6-IND locking (Chrome) tuners
  • Compare Specs >

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 78
Sound 77
Build quality 85
Value for money 65
Overall Score 80
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Music Man Majesty 8
  • Stainless Steel Frets
  • Locking Tuners
  • Made in United States
  • Expensive Wood
  • Compensated Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Neck-Through Build
  • Coil Split, Multi-Voicing Pickups
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Tremolo
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Videos

Ernie Ball Music Man: John Petrucci Majesty 8-String Guitar
Metal Guitarist Tries John Petrucci Majesty 8 String
Ernie Ball Music Man: John Petrucci "Awaken The Master" 8-String Majesty Demo
MUSIC-MAN MAJESTY 8 STRING DEMO!!! ????????
Ernie Ball Musicman 8-String Majesty Unboxing!!!
More Videos

Price: is the Music Man Majesty 8 a Good Deal?

Its average competitor's price is $4200, which means that the Music Man Majesty 8 costs around 2% more than the competition. It might be due to it having additional features, but know that you can find cheaper similar alternatives. This takes into account all guitars of the same category in our database with 8 strings and Fixed bridge that are made in United States.

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Your feedback

Not all guitars are created equal, and there are many important things they won't tell you about the guitar you're buying. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our visitors who have played this guitar say. If you've played it before, help others by voting for your experience below.

Weight

Vote
Heavy
0
Slightly heavy
0
Lightweight
0
Very lightweight
0

Tuning stability

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Won't stay in tune
0
Sightly unstable
0
Not bad
0
Holds tune well
0
Won't get out of tune
0

Neck speed (thickness)

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Chunky
0
Slightly chunky
0
Balanced
0
Fast
0
Herman Li fast
1

Neck access to high frets

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Very Hard
0
Hard
0
Normal
0
Easy
0
Very Easy
0

Neck profile shape

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Baseball / U
0
V
0
Asymmetrical
0
C
1
D
0

Fret edges

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Very sharp
0
Slightly sharp
0
Smooth
0

Pickups noise

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Noiseless
2
Slightly Noisy
0
Noisy
0

Pickups power

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Clean
0
Slightly Hot
0
Hot
2

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Is The Music Man Majesty 8 Easy to Play?

The Music Man Majesty 8 meets 5 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's a good guitar to start with as a complete beginner. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players to get used to.

Music Man Majesty 8
New Player Friendliness
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Locking tuners
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Wide nut
  • Short scale

Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Music Man Majesty 8's construction favors people with relatively big hands.

Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.

Big Hands
Small Hands

Scale Length

Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.

Here's the Music Man Majesty 8's 27" to 25.5" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Music Man Majesty 8 Scale Length Comparison
Music Man Majesty 8's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

The Music Man Majesty 8 features a multi-scale fingerboard, which means that it incorporates two scale lengths at the same time. This is present in some 7+ strings guitars to give a different tension to the lower strings than the higher strings. The thickest strings need more tension to avoid fret buzz (especially when tuned low), so the scale is longer for these strings, while the thinnest strings will need less tension (because they have a lower gauge), so they have a shorter scale to reduce stiffness for bends.

It can feel awkward if you've never played a multi-scale because the frets will have more separation for the higher strings, but a lot of people love their versatility.

More guitars with the same scale length:

Neck Profile

Music Man Majesty 8 Neck Profile
Music Man Majesty 8's neck profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.

It has a D type neck. It's similar to a C shape, and it's one of the most common shapes right now. It's a bit flatter and thinner, even though sometimes it has a bit more shoulders. It's a fast type of neck that is comfortable, and shredders love it.

More guitars for different hand sizes

Fretboard Radius

When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.

The Music Man Majesty 8 has a 17" fingerboard radius. Here's an image comparing this guitar's fretboard radius to other popular choices:

Music Man Majesty 8 Fretboard Radius Comparison with Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul
Music Man Majesty 8's fretboard radius compared to other guitars

Even compared to Les Paul guitars, this is a fretboard with a very flat curve. This means that this neck was made for playing single notes. This doesn't mean you can't use it for playing chords, but it will be more comfortable to play chords without muting strings in a more curved fretboard. Bending and sliding without losing sustain will also be more likely in a flat fretboard like this one.

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Music Man Majesty 8 has the same radius across the board.

More guitars with the same fretboard radius:

Nut Width

Music Man Majesty 8 Nut Width
Music Man Majesty 8 Nut Width

The Music Man Majesty 8 has a nut width of 57.2mm (2.252''). This size is often used for 8-string and 9-string guitars. The extra space is needed for the additional strings, so there's no other way than having a really wide neck. This makes 8-string guitars heavier than their fewer-strings counterparts.

Frets

The Music Man Majesty 8 has 24 frets. A lot of people mistakenly believe that having more frets will always be better because it gives you a higher octave. This is certainly an advantage, but there's also a disadvantage to this.

Since the fretboard will be longer, the neck pickup will need to be placed closer to the bridge. And as you may know, the further away the neck pickup is from the bridge, the warmer it sounds. This means you'll have a brighter-sounding neck pickup when using a 24-fret guitar, even if you use the same pickup on a 22-fret guitar.

Finally, these are stainless steel frets. They're the best fretwire available. This means you won't need to change your frets since they should last as long as your guitar. Some people also feel easier bendings after swapping to stainless steel.

More guitars with stainless steel frets:

Fret Size

Music Man Majesty 8 Fret Size Comparison
Music Man Majesty 8's fret size (in orange) compared to other popular sizes

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.

The Music Man Majesty 8's frets are Medium Jumbo size. These sit somewhere between a Jumbo and a Medium fret. They're not quite as tall as a full Jumbo, so you'll still feel the fretboard, but you won't feel it as much as with medium frets. This is a good size if you want to make it easy to press the strings but would also like a little bit of ''feedback'' to know when to stop pressing so the notes don't go out of pitch.

More guitars with the same type of frets:

Playability Score

Bending & Vibrato Ease 80
Chord Playability 65
Solo Playability 90
Playability 78

Does the Music Man Majesty 8 Sound Good? Tone Analysis

Wood will have little influence in the final tone of an electric guitar. Instead, the hardware, especially the pickups, will be the most important thing to look at. Bur first, let's see the quality of the wood.

Wood Used in the Music Man Majesty 8

Mahogany wood pattern used for guitar building
Mahogany Body, Neck
Ebony wood pattern used for guitar building
Ebony Fretboard

Mahogany Body and Neck: This is the type of wood found in many top-of-the-line guitars, so that's a positive point for the build quality. This red-looking wood Mahogany is found in Africa and Central America and has great sustain and a warm tone due to its high density. The downside about this type of wood is that it's relatively heavy.

Ebony Fretboard: This is one of the most expensive woods there is, which is why it's mostly used for fretboards. It is dense, heavy, highly resistant and comes in a really dark color that gives any guitar a classy touch. Tone wise, it helps the high side of the spectrum and provides good sustain.

Pickups

This guitar comes with pickups from one of the top brands: DiMarzio. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.

These are passive pickups, so you can expect a moderade level of hot output instead of the overwhelming output that distinguises active pickups in metal.

The Music Man Majesty 8's configuration is HH. With this pickup combination, you'll get warmer tones and more output than using single coils. Humbucker pickups cancel the noise that single-coil suffer from, which also results in a warmer tone. This pickup combination isn't only for high-gain music like Hard Rock or Heavy Metal. Their warmness is also popular for Jazz, Indie, R&B, Blues and more.

More guitars with the same pickups

24 Frets
Fixed Bridge
DiMarzio Dreamcatcher Bridge Pickup
DiMarzio Rainmaker Neck Pickup
24 Frets
Tremolo Bridge
DiMarzio Dreamcatcher Bridge Pickup
DiMarzio Rainmaker Neck Pickup
24 Frets
Tremolo Bridge
DiMarzio Dreamcatcher Bridge Pickup
DiMarzio Rainmaker Neck Pickup
24 Frets
Tremolo Bridge
DiMarzio Dreamcatcher Bridge Pickup
DiMarzio Rainmaker Neck Pickup
24 Frets
Tremolo Bridge
DiMarzio Dreamcatcher Bridge Pickup
DiMarzio Rainmaker Neck Pickup
More guitars with the same pickups:

Versatility

It comes with the popular 3-way switch that is present in most guitars. For more versatility, guitarists tend to prefer a 5-way switch, although it all depends on what you want to use your guitar for.

It has Multiple switch option. The first one is Coil Split. It allows you to 'split' or turn off pickup coils to get even more tones in combination with the pickup selector. When used with humbucker pickups, it'll reduce the output and increase their clarity, turning them essentially into single-coil pickups.

It also has a Multi-Voicing option. This means the pickups can change their output, tone, or sound.

More guitars with the same mods:

Diagram

Music Man Majesty 8 pickups switch and push knobs diagram
Music Man Majesty 8's switch options

What music genre is the Music Man Majesty 8 good for?

As a 8 strings, Solid Body guitar with HH configuration and Passive pickups, we'd recommend it for genres like Heavy Metal or similar. However, you can use almost any guitar for any genre. This is just the typical type of music for this kind of guitar.

Sound Score

Pickups 85
Sustain 70
Versatility 72
Tuning Stability 80
Sound 77

How well is the Music Man Majesty 8 Built?

Where is the Music Man Majesty 8 Made?

Knowing where the guitar is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive guitars are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.

The Music Man Majesty 8 is made in United States. Guitars made in the USA have the reputation of being the best instruments you can get. This statement isn't as accurate as a few years ago, but you should still expect top-quality from a guitar made in this country.

More guitars made in United States

Bridge

Music Man Custom piezo hardtail: The advantage of fixed bridges is that they don't require any kind of set-up. This makes it extremely easy when changing strings because you don't need to adjust anything besides tuning the guitar. Also, the fact that the bridge is directly attached to the body will help to increase sustain. The disadvantage is the lack of versatility since you can't create the same vibrato effects as with tremolo bridges.

More guitars with the same type of bridge:

Tuners

The Music Man Majesty 8 comes with locking tuners, which helps with tuning stability and makes changing strings a lot faster and easier. As long as they're high quality, these are the best tuning machines you can have. The only disadvantage is that they are a bit heavier than normal tuners.

More guitars with locking tuners:

Nut Material

Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure the guitar stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.

In this case, the Music Man Majesty 8 has a Compensated nut. It's cut in a way that makes each string have the correct length for perfect intonation across the fretboard. It provides excellent tuning stability.

More guitars with the same nut material:

Neck Joint

The neck joint is the part where the neck of the guitar meets the body. There are three main techniques to attach both parts together: Set-In, Bolt-On and Neck-Through. The latter two provide different advantages, although neck-throughs are the most expensive.

This guitar has a Neck-Through neck joint. Many people believe a neck-through build delivers the best sustain because some of the vibrations from the neck aren't lost like with other neck joints. However, no one has been able to prove this. What we know is that a neck-through build is usually the most comfortable when playing the upper frets because there's nothing on your way at the neck-body joint.

More guitars with the same build:

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 76
Features 80
Quality Control 100
Build Quality 85

Most Popular Comparisons With The Music Man Majesty 8

Music Man Majesty 8 Specs

General
Brand: Music Man
Year: 2021
Configuration: HH
Strings: 8
Made in: United States
Series: John Petrucci
Colors: Green
Left-Handed Version: No
Body
Type: Solid Body
Body Material: Basswood Wings, Mahogany through neck
Bridge: Music Man Custom piezo hardtail
Neck
Neck Joint: Neck-Through
Tuners: Schaller M6-IND locking (Chrome)
Fretboard: Ebony
Neck Material: Mahogany
Decoration: Atlante Majesty Inlays
Scale Size: 27" to 25.5"
Shape: John Petrucci
Frets: 24 Medium Jumbo Yes
Fretboard Radius: 17"
Nut: Compensated
Nut Width: 57.2mm (2.252'')
Electronics
Switch: 3 Way
Knobs: Dome
Pickup Mods: Coil Split, Multi-Voicing
Volume Controls: 2
Tone Controls: 1
Bridge Pickup: DiMarzio Dreamcatcher (Humbucker / Passive)
Neck Pickup: DiMarzio Rainmaker (Humbucker / Passive)

User Reviews of the Music Man Majesty 8

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