If you’ve heard the new Dream Theater album, Distance Over Time, you’ll know that John Petrucci’s virtuoso fretwork is in a constant state of evolution. And if you caught the world debut of John’s brand-new Majesty range at NAMM 2019, you’ll realize that his Ernie Ball Music Man signature model is keeping pace with that musical vision.
The sounds on this new record,” John explains, “are the result of that pursuit of trying to make the perfect instrument even better. The new Majesty is the perfect guitar. It’s been crafted and created to push the boundaries even further.
Design Reborn.
Almost two decades into our longstanding partnership, John Petrucci still has the same blue-sky curiosity as when he first pitched the Majesty concept to us in 2001. Back then, the guitarist recalls the brief was all about “strength, beauty and speed” — and those founding concepts still remain today. But take any of the seven new Majesty models off the shelf in 2019 and you’ll realize these guitars go beyond, with eye-popping finishes, fresh wood combinations and bespoke pickups that help this prog-metal legend — and players at every level — break new ground.
The idea,” John says, “that somebody is going to pick this instrument up and enjoy all of the work that we did — and get as much out of it as I do — that is something I really value and cherish.
Colors Refreshed.
There’s no mistaking the Majesty. As if that ergonomic double-cut wasn’t unique enough, the new 2019 range offers seven bold finishes that defy players to leave them in the rack. Choose between bewitching Enchanted Forest, refreshing Blue Honu, burnished Red Sunrise or the Dark Roast finish. Move fast to secure the alluring limited-edition Tiger Eye, or shine a spotlight on the opaque finishes of the moody Stealth Black and color-flipping Kinetic Blue.
The Dark Roast Finish – inspired by John’s favorite coffee.
The Kinetic Blue Finish – color shift technology
That finish goes back to the whole color change thing we did on the original JP guitar when I first started playing Ernie Ball Music Man,” John says. “Depending on how the light hits it, it’s either blue, or purple, or somewhere in-between.
Tonewoods Revised.
Each Majesty model has a neck-through for unbeatable resonance, but your chosen finish is far more than skin-deep. The Enchanted Forest, Blue Honu, Red Sunrise and Dark Roast models all feature a fusion of lightweight mahogany body and neck with a maple top section. The Stealth Black and Kinetic Blue finishes feature a basswood body with mahogany neck, while the Tiger Eye breaks the Majesty mold with an alder body, full maple top and mahogany/maple three-piece neck.
That combination of mahogany, alder and maple,” says John, “makes this guitar sound exceptional.
Pickups Rebooted.
The quantum leap for the Majesty’s tonewoods and finishes is matched by the new models’ revolutionary pickups. John was insistent on keeping his long-standing loyalty to DiMarzio, making the tones of the 2019 Majesty’s even more personal to him. The custom-designed DiMarzio Rainmaker and Dreamcatcher pickups at the neck and bridge positions complete his signature model to his exact specifications.
We realized we’d never designed a DiMarzio specifically for these guitars,” he recalls. “That’s where the Dreamcatcher and Rainmaker came from. I had all my guitars at my disposal when we were writing the new album, and to have a guitar come out of the case and jump out at me like that – you wouldn’t have thought it’d be able to happen, because the Majesty already sounds so amazing…
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