➤ Massive thanks to Ridge Wallet for sponsoring this video: www.ridge.com/agufish. Use code "AGUFISH" for 10% off your order! ➤ Also thanks to Sterling for being brave enough to send me a guitar I might not have liked. What's a guitar you've overhyped for yourself?
The price isn’t bad, it’s insulting. They are really riding Johns name hard. Do yourselves a favor, look into any company other than Ernie Ball. When people stop dropping the money they want they will lower the prices to something that’s reasonable for the quality.
@@richsackett3423 no he is right with gig bag. Schecter tends to not have a gig bag for expensive guitars could be why they are alil cheaper but had to skimp out somewhere. And if you ever see a Sterling gig bag they are actually super nice. Super confident and super durable I use mine over my hard shell all the time because that bitch is huge and annoying.
I had a lot of interest in this one, but the price point is definitely way too high. As far as high end imports go, it's still Schecter, LTD, and Solar for me. All of them are exceptional.
Buy the $750 majesty, and change pickups... Less money than this, same feel... Or you can buy the $900 one and but the dimarzios yourself and still have some cash... It's stupid the extra amount they are charging for this guitar
Fatt Philosopher that isn’t correct. Schecter and ESP are Separate companies who are owned by the same person. ESP and Schecter operate entirely separate of each other beyond that.
@@the1trueporkchop Yeah, that is what they would like you to believe. I live in Japan, and I know the company policies of the two companies are identical. Sure they give them creative freedom, but are limited in marketing. ESP bought Schecter in 1988, you have to expect that after 32 years the corporate policies would blend together.
@@the1trueporkchop It benefits the American customer to think Schecter is all "USA! USA!", but there is no need to keep up that facade in Japan, so they don't.
$1399 for a Sterling... it wasn't too terribly long ago I was looking at a new Majesty EBMM hanging in Guitar Center and it was $1600. Actually looked a lot like that one too.
yes, sterling is supposed to be the "affordable" version, and they have really affordable stuff, but I don't know why this guitar costs almost as much as some American fenders
Times have changed, prices for all guitars have gone up. American Deluxes where about $1500 in 2010. Now their American Professional (which replaces the American Standard ) is $1500 and the American Elite is over $2000.
madmat2001 the first generation majesty are different from the current. Wood and even tops are different.. there are still those lower price models floating around but this price for the sbmm version is a reflection of how much the EBMM version has gone up in price and better materials. Different pickups as well in the new EBMM’s. Sterling in this version has ebony fretboard, stainless steel frets, dimarzio pups and that flamed Maple top..that’s probably over the $500-600 upgrade.. it’s a different animal from the MAJ100 put out in 2019.. to each his own,, get and play what you like, :)
@@RJKANEAO I was looking at the EBMM version for $1699, it just amazes me that the Sterling is now $300 less than the USA version was at that time. Of course back in 1980 I bought a Guild Skyhawk for $579 with HSC. Ebony fretboard, USA built, DiMarzio sourced pickups (if what I've read is correct) and a nice nitro finish. Can't touch a good used one now for under $1500.
madmat2001 we also gotta think about everything costing more nowadays. Inflation.. but being a Official Artist of EBMM and SBMM I pay attention a lot to what’s going on. And I can tell you this is the best majesty sbmm has made from pickups, hardware to finish.. what you were looking at was the older stripped down EBMM majesty guitars not the newer deluxe looking models which this sterling majesty follows suit with. yes the older EBMM majesty guitars are almost the same price but the ingredients are much more high end than the first versions put on the market and so is the same with the SBMM ones.. There still are the cheaper ones for like $750 - 850 to 1k those haven’t gone away this is just a deluxe version.. PRS SE just put out a fully hollowbody II that’s also a great guitar but minus the locking tuners, knobs and frets etc that the American models have and that’s about $1600-1700 and no ones complaining about that huh? At least with this majesty you get real dimarzio petrucci signature pickups, locking tuners an amazing flames maple top and a great trem system, not the same trem and the American version but just as sturdy. All your missing a the piezo system..
@@ptakleo Yeah just given what else is out there for under 1k and the obvious build issues with the one Hunter has there, then no way I'd shell out that amount
Even a used EBMM Majesty should be around $2500 man... there ARE some that are below that mark but they are super rare and in bad condition, so $1400 sounds about right. I agree that I will never buy a Sterling at that price though.
For this price point I’d actually probably get a Gibson Explorer then maybe down the line upgrade the pick ups to something hotter, I know it’s a different animal but that’s just me.
Man, so much respect for your review style. Completely objective, acknowledge bias etc. Got to say I value your opinion a hell of a lot more than most review/demo channels
I own this guitar and it’s amazing. To each their own, but when you look at the weight, DiMarzio Crunch Lab pickups and stainless steal frets, you’re getting a lot the money. For me, it’s not about about the money, it’s about getting what I want and this guitar delivers. I’ve purchased cheaper guitars and had to mod them, only to get to a similar price point.
timothy nemecek I own this same model and a a EBMM majesty.. and they’re different but both very usable in the studio and live.. as a a matter of fact I just tracked a couple songs for my newest project with the sterling model. There’s a lot of guitars out there that don’t cut through mixes without any help and so far my majesty guitars has worked for that.. especially busy/thick mixes no matter what genre..
I don't see how the country of origin can have that much of an impact on the product's quality. I think it all comes down to the factory they're going for. The most comfortable stock guitar I've ever played was a Korean Guild Polara, but I'm not that surprised by that since World Music is known for being among the best guitar builders.
@@ScottGreenMusic you don't necessarily know that. Even a Harley Benton with stainless steel frets and locking tuners will cost you 500 add aftermarket pickups to that,that's 750, slap the name of an artist that gets a little money everytime one of these bad boys is sold, and add the fact that they,way more than Thomann,NEED to make money off of it.
@@TMmodify Music Man is not paying $250 for aftermarket pickups, and even if they were, you're implying that MM needs to make an extra $650 to pay Petrucci and still turn a profit. I'm not against imports in the least, but for that cash, Korean made is what I'd expect at the very least.
@@TMmodify Country of Origin, in theory, shouldn't have an impact on the product's quality. But it can definitely give you peace of mind, knowing which country it came from. It's been a long known thing that, American manufacturers outsource, primarily to Asian countries, due to a lot of Asian countries less-than-savory production practices. Some countries have better than others. This cuts production costs, but also makes reliability of the product slightly less than preferred, and of course, the moral weight of it. Obviously, it cuts both ways, we take part in it too, and the fact that that makes "American Made" a premium is kinda shitty... But I don't think it's wrong for the customer to have a preference for a Country of Origin, because of all of that. But then again, there are some manufacturers that have "American Made" guitars that end up being just as shitty as imports... So I guess that kind of throws everything for a loop.
Yeah it is a different color (more reddish, as you pointed out, but that's also on the website so I thought it was an active design choice made by Sterling/Petrucci.
Had a EBMM JP6 a few years back. Probably the best tremolo I've every played, the piezo was amazing, and the middle position sounded phenomenal on clean.
I got say. Of all the high end Guitars I’ve noodled on, the Music Man Majesty (the expensive one of this) is arguably the best feeling/playing guitar I’ve come across. Which means a lot coming form somebody who absolutely lives Gibson’s and fenders.
Bothers me too. Put it this way: If you pay 1400 bucks for a Strat it's a relatively high end Fender, not a Squier. But then again, the price of this Sterling kind of makes sense when you compare it to the ridiculously expensive Music Man Majesty's.
$500 more or so you could get a used Majesty in mint condition, I know people that just always talk about just wanting new but never end up with what they want.
I definitely agree with your point here, however, I will add....Sterling is licensed by EBMM to make these guitars so other than the usual things, any company would do to save money on a budget model, they’re the same. The specs are the same, they just use cheaper hardware and such. Still though, $1,400 is a price you could pay for a much higher end guitar from other companies.
You have to be as objective as possible, and you absolutely need to be honest. Anyone knocks you for your opinion, fuck 'em. They're free to have their opinion, and you're free to have yours. 🤘🏼😎
I've heard good things about it. In general most high end guitars stay in tune when using the trem modestly. Also I think the trem only goes down so no not like a floyd.
I can't speak on the sterling bridge so this might not be relevant but I had an EBMM JP6 and the tuning stability was perfect, could do full dive bombs and everything.
That 4+2 headstock and the truss rod adjustment wheel are perfection. Basically they are indestructible, really comfortable to use and offer great tuning stability. The specs of this guitar are definitely not for me but I hope that all of my guitars would have that perfect EBMM headstock and truss rod adjustment wheel.
Thanks for the honesty man. It doesn't get said in the comments often enough, but some of us realize that it is difficult to give an honest, thoughtful review of something that we just don't jive with. I really appreciate your thoughts.
I'm with you. I've seen and heard all the hype of the Majesty. When I tried one out, it was just "meh" for me. Always best to try before you buy if you can.
What so special in MM JP series is the tremolo configuration actually. It's just a regular strat tremolo, but it can go up and down a lot like Floyd Rose-ish tremolo bridge
I stumbled on your vid of the Michael Kelly Patriot Bold. Watched a few others. You seem to make even the guitars you end up not liking still sound killer. And as a bass player that dabbles in guitar I appreciate the no nonsense riffing you demo these guitars with as well
@@bohdankhmelnytsky9369 im not white, im middle class, race has nothing to due with our conversation. I tried to have a respectful conversation with you but you just blew it off. So I stay with what I said. You can believe whatever, just don't bring race into something that doesn't involve it.
Caerwyn he deleted his comments so now I'm looking at this trying to figure out what he possibly could have said about your comment which involves being white haha
You continually make me regret selling my dual rec. I'll get another one soon! Cool sounding guitar! I have an EBMM JP15 that I absolutely adore. I think that kind of thing would be more up your alley.
Your production quality and video quality is so high that I was a little shocked seeing you only having 87k subs, not that 87k is a small number I was just expecting to see like 750k to 1M with how great the overall quality is. I've always read that the Music Man series really shines with the 7 string versions like the Jason Richardson Signature. Also nice sponsor Segway Linus haha
I work in a music store and every time I pick up one of those it feels and sounds completely different than the others. There have been a couple of that I enjoyed. It's really light which is cool but it would be cool if they made a baritone scale.
@@Michael-fl9ge I think the build quality is different between the Mexican, American and Japanese. They all have different neck sizes and finishes. Sometimes the quality of the new Mexican fenders quality control isn't there.
@@gregstimple261 Sometimes the quality of the new American fenders isn't there either. I bought a 2019 pro series strat new and it had numerous quality control issues. On a $1400 american fender. Glue in the truss rod made it unusable, fretwork was leveled at some point but not crowned and still there were several high frets, Pick guard didn't sit flush on the body, and I'm sure other issues would have presented if I kept it for more than a week. The pickups did sound AMAZING and to the untrained eye of someone not into the repair and maintenance side of guitar, they'd have fallen in love with the tone and dealt with what I found unforgivable.
The light weight on these makes it a pleasure to play. The 16" fingerboard radius is the same as my PRS Navarro SE but it's a deeper C shape neck, which seems less radical than the very thin PRS profile.
Actually when Sterling changed it's name from OLP that was kind of the deal with these first signatures. They always had one in the line with the signature pickups in them. They even had the USA trem on some of their models for a minute. It was a pretty brief period though when they were still figuring out what they wanted to do as a company.
I played a Sterling Majesty at GC, I had the same problem I had with another guitar I had. I bought a new Peavey Wolfgang Amber Flametop brand new in 1996. Being a huge EVH fan I wanted so bad to love that guitar. It had an amazing neck and a thicker body than the Majesty. For 20 years I tried to love that guitar, used it all the time, played it live all the time, the D-Tuna was so awesome for drop D while playing live. But, both it and the Majesty had the same problem for me.... the body is way too far forward on the neck. The distance from the end of the strings to the ass end is like 4 inches or less. When I use a Les Paul or even a Strat there is so much room between the bridge and the end of the guitar. The thing is, when I would try to palm mute, my picking hand was too far back. It’s like I had to have the guitar planted in my crotch and look like Spinal Tap poses to play it in a comfortable spot. The sounds were great and the Majesty sounded cool but there is just something about where the bridge is on newer guitars that drives me bat shit..... okay... roll the boomer comments. Thanks for the video, you made the best you could considering you just couldn’t bond with it. Keep up the great work, your demo songs get better every video. Much love from Tulsa.
The comment about the DiMarzio pickups in Sterlings is untrue. The JP100d also featured the Crunch Lab and Liquifire. These aren't even his current signature set, Rainmaker and Dreamcatcher. For $1,400 for a MII guitar, I would at least expect his latest pickup set.
@@primeDecomposition It's not necessarily a point of tone, but a point of principal. However, they are supposed to be high-gain pickups, and so I absolutely believe that 5 or 6 years worth of development time between the two sets would make a difference.
primeDecomposition if you’ve played these pickups and know what you’re looking for you’ll tell the difference.. but that’s wasn’t the point was it? Acting like “there’s no difference between any random humbucker!” Really? Se Ufa
The crunch lab was selected for the wood, which is different than the ebmm and they sound amazing. I own this guitar and it’s by far my favorite guitar. Honestly, I put the Rainemaker and Dreamcather in a used Majesty 7 string and I think the crunch lab set sounds better.
I’ve always wanted to get a majesty. I thought they looked awesome and I love JP. But I picked one up about a year ago to try and it just wasn’t the guitar for me. Body was too small for my licking and fingerboard too flat, although it sounded killer. I totally get this review.
I totally agree with your perspective. I thought at first glance here that I definitely going to check one of these out. Besides I need more than 16 guitars, right? 😄 I especially agree about choosing a PRS instead for the obvious reasons. Actually it’s next on the list. 🤝🤝🤝 Thanks again for all you do and I still appreciate being a patreon of yours. 🙏🙏🙏👍
This video is totally biased because he doesn't like it. He totally dismissed the fact that the body has a maple veneer top over mahogany. The Music Man version has that exact same thing. It has stainless steel frets, DiMarzios, decibel boost, Schaller tuners, which he said were unbranded. A buddy has a cheaper version. Has nothing that I mentioned this version has. And it played good. I want one but I never liked the colors or the hardware and wood. Then I saw this one and was sold on it. Trust me........you'll love it. The only thing is, if you haven't played on one, the feel is different. It feels smaller because everything is ergonomic to your body. It's like playing a Wolfgang. Don't let this dude's bias, change your mind. Better get one before Sterling make them without the goods but keep the same tag.
It's not the first time Dimarzio pickups have been in Sterlings. I have a JP-100D and a 170-D that have the same pickups. Also a Luke and two Axis models. What bothers me is that those pickups are not what is in the USA model.
agree with everything you said........a very blunt honest review........i was also crazy about this guitar before playing it in person you are very right about the colour especially this purple it looks cheap.....the red looks way better but still you are paying a bit too much for the thing perhaps a high end schecter would be way way better for the same price ....great review bro
Definitely agree on needing more purple guitars! I got my first Solar guitar (the AB1.6HTPB) back in June when they first announced. The purple satin finish with the backed maple fretboard/neck had me immediately preorder it. Found out after it was a prototype and the actual production was more pink/reddish, but I didn’t cancel my preorder. I absolutely love it and it’s become my main guitar, but that model has since been changed to the original purple finish and I’m just like fuuuuuu.
$1400 seems like a lot but it's right on par with the other higher end guitars from other brands that get made in Indonesia as well. Most of Premium range Ibanez guitars made in Indonesia are priced about $1200-1600.
totally feel you. i owned a EBMM majesty myself. initially i really liked it and all. its not a bad guitar but it wasnt for me in the end. so i sold it to someone who would have better use for it
I had to send my 7 strings back to thomman. The nut was glued incorrectly and it was protruding in the high e section by 1 mm from the neck slot, and to compensate (i guess, im not a guitar builder) they had to file the nut differently and as a result the g strings was further by 2 mm from the b strings leaving a huge noticeable gap (not so much by playing but visual wise). Also the pickups don't really fit the guitar, they're way too dark and mushy, especially for a seven strings model (fyi petrucci on his 7 strings uses the illuminator pickups, which are brighter and especially designed for his 7 strings guitars). I could overlook all of this if this was a 800 euro guitar. But i payed 1999 eu (roughly 2.2k dollars) and there's no way i was gonna keep it. Sent it back, exchaged some emails with sterling (not the greatest customer support in my experience) and there's that. Cheers and nice vid.
Some say the birds hang out in his neighborhood to catch the copious numbers of insects fleeing the Djent. And hanging bats will sway to the music at a quarter mile of his speaker cones. All we know is, he's called Der Fish!
I hear what you are saying on the color. I went with the Royal Red and it's pretty dark, but I bought the Blue Honu on the high-end JP Majesty and it IS a lot lighter than the website shows. The lighter shield area is almost a turquoise, NOT a color I like. But I think it just has to do with how videos and cameras work, they seem to darken them a lot. Even Cooper Carter's video of the Blue Honu looks a lot darker than in real life and that video is part of what made me want that color. What's funny is I went to a Guitar center in Las Vegas to check one out and I couldn't find it. Turns out it WAS there, but the color in the store was SOOO different from what the web page showed, I didn't even recognize it. Almost didn't get it. I did end up ordering it, and it's possible the lights in the store made it look lighter than normal, because the one I got at home was kind of in the middle between what I saw in the store and the website. Overall happy with it, but wish it looked as dark as it does in the pictures and videos I've seen.
I wish they still made the AX4 and AX40D. I think you would've liked the necks on those. I have the cheaper AX4, which is my cheapest guitar, and it RIPS. I've tried the JPs and the necks are way too thin for me.
I have had the Actric Dream version more than 1 year and I haven't had any issues with it. When I first got it, I had this feeling that my skills as guitar player went immediately 2 years forward, because it is so easy and light to play. All the contours in the guitar have a meaning which makes it very ergonomical to play and all the controls are easy to reach. But of course if you are you are playing it on your lap like Agufish here then all of this contouring is all in vain. Locking tuners are keeping it well in tune if you are doing some basic vibrato for chords or some flutters. What it cannot take is some heavy beating and strong dive bombs. For that you need double locking Floyd Rose guitar. I have the "Arctic Dream" verison without DiMarzios and I can say the Sterlings own pickups are as good as the DiMarzios. I have the Air Norton (neck) - Steve's Special (bridge) and Liquid Fire (neck) - Crunch Lab (bridge) both installed to my 2 Ibanez RG -series guitars. When Liquid-Crunch are more metal and high output and Air-Steve's are more 80s rock and lower output, I could say that the Sterlings gain is something in between those two pickup pairs. If you want more gain there is the +12db boost what you can enable which can be good for soloing. Only difference between the real Music Man and this Sterling versions is the lack of piezo which on the other hand is very controversial flaw since the Music Man is another +3000€ more just for the piezo. You can fill this "need" by putting the pick up sellector to the middle potision and adding for example BOSS AC3 acoustic simulator pedal to the chain (or some other acoustic simulator). It will do the trick even though its not analog signal anymore. Also because I have the Arctic Dream paint I didnt see any painting mistakes since the color is not transparent. The color is very beatiful pearlescent which changes the colour based the angle of light from springgreen to darkblue. Needless to say that it is always good idea to by fresh package of strings at the same time and change those factory strings when you receive the guitar. All I can say that it is bloody good guitar for 1200€.
I bought a JP60 just a few days ago. A newer Mystic Dream that has black hardware instead of chrome and I was a bit worried about the in house Sterling pickups, but these guitars are also very hard to come by in my country so I took my chances and ordered this from a local store. I ended up absolutely loving this guitar and I love the sound of the pickups. I feel very inspired to record new stuff with this. I've played good quality ESPs, Jacksons, Ibanez, Fender Strats and this beats all of them. Speaks volumes on Ernie Ball/Sterling's production quality. I have plans of buying myself a high end 7 string sometime soon, and for that I'm gonna need to travel abroad for it cause I don't wanna take any risks ordering online and somehow damaging a 3000 plus dollar guitar during shipping. And yes, I'm the type of guy to travel halfway across the world to buy a guitar, but the JP60 has inspired me to get an EBMM JP15 or a Majesty 7 string. Maybe something in teal green or blue like the enchanted forest finish for the Majesty or the Cerulean Paradise flame for the JP15-7. Can't wait. Before that I might also buy a Solar 7 string just so I have a decent enough 7 string guitar I can comfortably take to gigs and on the road, but the big goal is a high end 7 string for recordings and to finally treat myself to a pricy guitar, and atm I can't think of anything better than a JP15-7 or a Majesty 7.
➤ Massive thanks to Ridge Wallet for sponsoring this video: www.ridge.com/agufish. Use code "AGUFISH" for 10% off your order!
➤ Also thanks to Sterling for being brave enough to send me a guitar I might not have liked. What's a guitar you've overhyped for yourself?
i really like when guitar-tubers get sponsored by non-music-related companies. you stay credible and authentic but still get paid.
yo what guitar is that @ 0:09 the Ltd?
@@neel_mass3y i believe it's mastodon's guitarist signature
The price isn’t bad, it’s insulting. They are really riding Johns name hard. Do yourselves a favor, look into any company other than Ernie Ball. When people stop dropping the money they want they will lower the prices to something that’s reasonable for the quality.
Since you mentioned the Axion Lable in this review, which of these two did you think was the better guitar between these two?
"if a 14 hundreds guitar doesn't come with a gigbag it would be an issue ..." * laughs in Schecter *
@@richsackett3423 no he is right with gig bag. Schecter tends to not have a gig bag for expensive guitars could be why they are alil cheaper but had to skimp out somewhere. And if you ever see a Sterling gig bag they are actually super nice. Super confident and super durable I use mine over my hard shell all the time because that bitch is huge and annoying.
Charvel sweating rn
I had a lot of interest in this one, but the price point is definitely way too high. As far as high end imports go, it's still Schecter, LTD, and Solar for me. All of them are exceptional.
Dave LTD basically owns Schecter so we can expect the same level of quality and customer service.
Buy the $750 majesty, and change pickups... Less money than this, same feel...
Or you can buy the $900 one and but the dimarzios yourself and still have some cash...
It's stupid the extra amount they are charging for this guitar
Fatt Philosopher that isn’t correct. Schecter and ESP are Separate companies who are owned by the same person. ESP and Schecter operate entirely separate of each other beyond that.
@@the1trueporkchop Yeah, that is what they would like you to believe. I live in Japan, and I know the company policies of the two companies are identical. Sure they give them creative freedom, but are limited in marketing. ESP bought Schecter in 1988, you have to expect that after 32 years the corporate policies would blend together.
@@the1trueporkchop It benefits the American customer to think Schecter is all "USA! USA!", but there is no need to keep up that facade in Japan, so they don't.
$1399 for a Sterling... it wasn't too terribly long ago I was looking at a new Majesty EBMM hanging in Guitar Center and it was $1600. Actually looked a lot like that one too.
yes, sterling is supposed to be the "affordable" version, and they have really affordable stuff, but I don't know why this guitar costs almost as much as some American fenders
Times have changed, prices for all guitars have gone up.
American Deluxes where about $1500 in 2010. Now their American Professional (which replaces the American Standard ) is $1500 and the American Elite is over $2000.
madmat2001 the first generation majesty are different from the current. Wood and even tops are different.. there are still those lower price models floating around but this price for the sbmm version is a reflection of how much the EBMM version has gone up in price and better materials. Different pickups as well in the new EBMM’s. Sterling in this version has ebony fretboard, stainless steel frets, dimarzio pups and that flamed
Maple top..that’s probably over the $500-600 upgrade.. it’s a different animal from the MAJ100 put out in 2019.. to each his own,, get and play what you like, :)
@@RJKANEAO I was looking at the EBMM version for $1699, it just amazes me that the Sterling is now $300 less than the USA version was at that time. Of course back in 1980 I bought a Guild Skyhawk for $579 with HSC. Ebony fretboard, USA built, DiMarzio sourced pickups (if what I've read is correct) and a nice nitro finish. Can't touch a good used one now for under $1500.
madmat2001 we also gotta think about everything costing more nowadays. Inflation.. but being a Official Artist of EBMM and SBMM I pay attention a lot to what’s going on. And I can tell you this is the best majesty sbmm has made from pickups, hardware to finish.. what you were looking at was the older stripped down EBMM majesty guitars not the newer deluxe looking models which this sterling majesty follows suit with. yes the older EBMM majesty guitars are almost the same price but the ingredients are much more high end than the first versions put on the market and so is the same with the SBMM ones.. There still are the cheaper ones for like $750 - 850 to 1k those haven’t gone away this is just a deluxe version.. PRS SE just put out a fully hollowbody II that’s also a great guitar but minus the locking tuners, knobs and frets etc that the American models have and that’s about $1600-1700 and no ones complaining about that huh? At least with this majesty you get real dimarzio petrucci signature pickups, locking tuners an amazing flames maple top and a great trem system, not the same trem and the American version but just as sturdy. All your missing a the piezo system..
Despite your feelings towards the guitar, this has to be one of my favourite demo songs yet
Have to agree that is a sub 1k guitar all day
I thought 700 or something
@@ptakleo Yeah just given what else is out there for under 1k and the obvious build issues with the one Hunter has there, then no way I'd shell out that amount
The Jared's Sterling looks amazing and costs 699$. Is black Finish but the price difference it's too much
But holy crap, a Sterling for 1400???
At that point start shopping around for a used Music Man dude.
Even a used EBMM Majesty should be around $2500 man... there ARE some that are below that mark but they are super rare and in bad condition, so $1400 sounds about right. I agree that I will never buy a Sterling at that price though.
What would you buy ? This guitar is a beast for 1399
I’d buy a LP Studio that’s what I’d do?!?!? Yup...
For this price point I’d actually probably get a Gibson Explorer then maybe down the line upgrade the pick ups to something hotter, I know it’s a different animal but that’s just me.
Yeah, double that and you are getting close to a good used EBMM Majesty...
I love the big single horn look. It reminds me of one of those giant bad ass rhinoceros beetles. Totally metal. 🔨
Yo when you put it that way...
Its copying the original BC Rich from back in the day
Uli Jon Roth guitar perhaps? 🤔
10s spring bh is your solution
@@markbaum9615 nah it might be simiar but JP drew the design himself.
I can’t believe you blamed Pringle. You monster.
that was obvious xD
Man, so much respect for your review style. Completely objective, acknowledge bias etc. Got to say I value your opinion a hell of a lot more than most review/demo channels
I like how John went from young man to teddy bear to evil Santa over the years.
Dark mode santa for me 😂
That demo track was INSANE! Hope to see it on streaming services at some point!
I own this guitar and it’s amazing. To each their own, but when you look at the weight, DiMarzio Crunch Lab pickups and stainless steal frets, you’re getting a lot the money. For me, it’s not about about the money, it’s about getting what I want and this guitar delivers. I’ve purchased cheaper guitars and had to mod them, only to get to a similar price point.
timothy nemecek I own this same model and a a EBMM majesty.. and they’re different but both very usable in the studio and live.. as a a matter of fact I just tracked a couple songs for my newest project with the sterling model. There’s a lot of guitars out there that don’t cut through mixes without any help and so far my majesty guitars has worked for that.. especially busy/thick mixes no matter what genre..
How's the color? I'm thinking of getting one but the purple seems different in every video.
$1400 for an Indonesian-made guitar is crazy. You can get a Kiesel DC or neck-thru Aries for the same cash.
I don't see how the country of origin can have that much of an impact on the product's quality.
I think it all comes down to the factory they're going for. The most comfortable stock guitar I've ever played was a Korean Guild Polara, but I'm not that surprised by that since World Music is known for being among the best guitar builders.
@@TMmodify it costs less to make them there. They're not pricing them accordingly.
@@ScottGreenMusic you don't necessarily know that. Even a Harley Benton with stainless steel frets and locking tuners will cost you 500 add aftermarket pickups to that,that's 750, slap the name of an artist that gets a little money everytime one of these bad boys is sold, and add the fact that they,way more than Thomann,NEED to make money off of it.
@@TMmodify Music Man is not paying $250 for aftermarket pickups, and even if they were, you're implying that MM needs to make an extra $650 to pay Petrucci and still turn a profit. I'm not against imports in the least, but for that cash, Korean made is what I'd expect at the very least.
@@TMmodify Country of Origin, in theory, shouldn't have an impact on the product's quality. But it can definitely give you peace of mind, knowing which country it came from.
It's been a long known thing that, American manufacturers outsource, primarily to Asian countries, due to a lot of Asian countries less-than-savory production practices. Some countries have better than others. This cuts production costs, but also makes reliability of the product slightly less than preferred, and of course, the moral weight of it.
Obviously, it cuts both ways, we take part in it too, and the fact that that makes "American Made" a premium is kinda shitty... But I don't think it's wrong for the customer to have a preference for a Country of Origin, because of all of that.
But then again, there are some manufacturers that have "American Made" guitars that end up being just as shitty as imports... So I guess that kind of throws everything for a loop.
Is it just me or is the Headstock a bit miscolored? It seems a bit reddish compared to the purple body.
Can't unsee that now
A bit, yes. Could be intentional, or just painting the body vs the headstock changing the color.
Should've just painted the headstock black to match the ebony fingerboard or at least put a flame maple veneer on the headstock too
Yeah it is a different color (more reddish, as you pointed out, but that's also on the website so I thought it was an active design choice made by Sterling/Petrucci.
The new "no-matching headstock" 😂
The music gave me bad migraines but I’m still a big fan of you, hunter. Keep it up!
This track is only second to Bound for the Hang.
Had a EBMM JP6 a few years back. Probably the best tremolo I've every played, the piezo was amazing, and the middle position sounded phenomenal on clean.
I got say. Of all the high end Guitars I’ve noodled on, the Music Man Majesty (the expensive one of this) is arguably the best feeling/playing guitar I’ve come across.
Which means a lot coming form somebody who absolutely lives Gibson’s and fenders.
Except those scrawny necks feel like ass, not for those of us with man sized hands.
@@primeDecomposition Yeah, EBMM necks are so narrow
that intro song was sick as hell. good job bro
Dude, the track you wrote for this demo is badass!! One of my favorites that you've done so far! Keep up the great work.
I hate guitars like this where you spend 1400 to get a imitation of the real thing, i know it's just a psychological thing but that bothers me.
Bothers me too. Put it this way: If you pay 1400 bucks for a Strat it's a relatively high end Fender, not a Squier. But then again, the price of this Sterling kind of makes sense when you compare it to the ridiculously expensive Music Man Majesty's.
$500 more or so you could get a used Majesty in mint condition, I know people that just always talk about just wanting new but never end up with what they want.
@@MaestroJericho I don't agree with you, i bought a brand new guitar with specs that i'm not used to and i fell in love with it.
I definitely agree with your point here, however, I will add....Sterling is licensed by EBMM to make these guitars so other than the usual things, any company would do to save money on a budget model, they’re the same. The specs are the same, they just use cheaper hardware and such. Still though, $1,400 is a price you could pay for a much higher end guitar from other companies.
@@magnuslikestanks6044 The piezo, the elecronic package and the build quality of the Music Man Majesty makes it worth it.
The Majesty is not for me either. I used to own a Sterling JP60 and that guitar was just incredible.
Yeah dame I have a jp6 and that's just amazing
I ordered a jp157 and a jp60 came I was pretty annoyed haha
@@joetalento7122 well that's not exactly what you want to see yeah haha
yeah i have a jp150dfm and I love that so much
You have to be as objective as possible, and you absolutely need to be honest. Anyone knocks you for your opinion, fuck 'em. They're free to have their opinion, and you're free to have yours.
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hunter's playing has been getting a lot better lately!!!! awesome
How is the tuning stability when you use the whammybar. And is it flexible like a floyd?
I've heard good things about it. In general most high end guitars stay in tune when using the trem modestly. Also I think the trem only goes down so no not like a floyd.
I can't speak on the sterling bridge so this might not be relevant but I had an EBMM JP6 and the tuning stability was perfect, could do full dive bombs and everything.
Yep, goes up and down. Tuning stability is very good as well, considering no locking nut or anything :)
wow it's great to see the review just after the unboxing
That demo song was so haunting, love it.
That 4+2 headstock and the truss rod adjustment wheel are perfection. Basically they are indestructible, really comfortable to use and offer great tuning stability. The specs of this guitar are definitely not for me but I hope that all of my guitars would have that perfect EBMM headstock and truss rod adjustment wheel.
Looks like TH-cam notifications came through today. Always amped up for another video of yours.
Thanks for the honesty man. It doesn't get said in the comments often enough, but some of us realize that it is difficult to give an honest, thoughtful review of something that we just don't jive with. I really appreciate your thoughts.
This is probably the best demo you've made hunter
as soon as u said u didnt like the shreddy feel i knew u wouldnt mention how much more playable the neck through design is.
Great show, thanks! First demo riff had back. Like.
I'm with you. I've seen and heard all the hype of the Majesty. When I tried one out, it was just "meh" for me. Always best to try before you buy if you can.
What so special in MM JP series is the tremolo configuration actually. It's just a regular strat tremolo, but it can go up and down a lot like Floyd Rose-ish tremolo bridge
Yes it can
Hunter you prefer the jp line. Like a jp16 or jp15. They have a very different feel than the majestys
Finally a good neck profile review. thx for the vid!
Oh my god it’s finally here
I stumbled on your vid of the Michael Kelly Patriot Bold. Watched a few others. You seem to make even the guitars you end up not liking still sound killer. And as a bass player that dabbles in guitar I appreciate the no nonsense riffing you demo these guitars with as well
Man did he get more special effects budget?
that atmospheric intro was tops
For a guitar you weren’t keen you did an inspired instrumental. Good episode 👍🏼👍🏼
How the hell do you come up with all of these demo songs and havent had an album yet??
@@bohdankhmelnytsky9369 im not white, im middle class, race has nothing to due with our conversation. I tried to have a respectful conversation with you but you just blew it off. So I stay with what I said. You can believe whatever, just don't bring race into something that doesn't involve it.
Jesus, what the hell happened here
@@rehenes3844 some bullshit man. Some bullshit.
@@birdsaresinners3373 gotta love youtube... all i did was complement his music and it went south real quick 🤣
Caerwyn he deleted his comments so now I'm looking at this trying to figure out what he possibly could have said about your comment which involves being white haha
nice craig wallpaper he has there in the back during his isolated guitar tones
Beeg sad if he doesn't make it into the final game
Yet again a banger demo!
You continually make me regret selling my dual rec. I'll get another one soon! Cool sounding guitar! I have an EBMM JP15 that I absolutely adore. I think that kind of thing would be more up your alley.
Is it me or do the pickups only sound good with the boost on?
Your production quality and video quality is so high that I was a little shocked seeing you only having 87k subs, not that 87k is a small number I was just expecting to see like 750k to 1M with how great the overall quality is. I've always read that the Music Man series really shines with the 7 string versions like the Jason Richardson Signature. Also nice sponsor Segway Linus haha
I work in a music store and every time I pick up one of those it feels and sounds completely different than the others. There have been a couple of that I enjoyed. It's really light which is cool but it would be cool if they made a baritone scale.
what have u done to the guitar????!!
I wish you would review more new fender guitars!
Like that new Squier baritone?
@@Michael-fl9ge I think the build quality is different between the Mexican, American and Japanese. They all have different neck sizes and finishes. Sometimes the quality of the new Mexican fenders quality control isn't there.
@@gregstimple261 Sometimes the quality of the new American fenders isn't there either. I bought a 2019 pro series strat new and it had numerous quality control issues. On a $1400 american fender. Glue in the truss rod made it unusable, fretwork was leveled at some point but not crowned and still there were several high frets, Pick guard didn't sit flush on the body, and I'm sure other issues would have presented if I kept it for more than a week.
The pickups did sound AMAZING and to the untrained eye of someone not into the repair and maintenance side of guitar, they'd have fallen in love with the tone and dealt with what I found unforgivable.
@@gregstimple261 i have an 80's mij strat and its probably one of the best strats ive played but qc is a problem with fender it seems
yea hard pass.fender is jus boring. but I'd be down if more ppl really wanted to see it..I like t hbk e baritone teles.thats kinda it
That intro gave me Misery Signals vibes, loved it!
The light weight on these makes it a pleasure to play. The 16" fingerboard radius is the same as my PRS Navarro SE but it's a deeper C shape neck, which seems less radical than the very thin PRS profile.
Looks like we finally got the vid 😝
When will you do review of the new jared dines guitar?
LOved the comparison in quality between the PRS S2.
Actually when Sterling changed it's name from OLP that was kind of the deal with these first signatures. They always had one in the line with the signature pickups in them. They even had the USA trem on some of their models for a minute. It was a pretty brief period though when they were still figuring out what they wanted to do as a company.
I played a Sterling Majesty at GC, I had the same problem I had with another guitar I had. I bought a new Peavey Wolfgang Amber Flametop brand new in 1996. Being a huge EVH fan I wanted so bad to love that guitar. It had an amazing neck and a thicker body than the Majesty. For 20 years I tried to love that guitar, used it all the time, played it live all the time, the D-Tuna was so awesome for drop D while playing live. But, both it and the Majesty had the same problem for me.... the body is way too far forward on the neck. The distance from the end of the strings to the ass end is like 4 inches or less. When I use a Les Paul or even a Strat there is so much room between the bridge and the end of the guitar. The thing is, when I would try to palm mute, my picking hand was too far back. It’s like I had to have the guitar planted in my crotch and look like Spinal Tap poses to play it in a comfortable spot. The sounds were great and the Majesty sounded cool but there is just something about where the bridge is on newer guitars that drives me bat shit..... okay... roll the boomer comments.
Thanks for the video, you made the best you could considering you just couldn’t bond with it. Keep up the great work, your demo songs get better every video. Much love from Tulsa.
Dude, the intro song was sooo sick.
This is definitely the most "evil" sounding demo you've done so far lmao
I totally agree about the color, thanks for being so honest
Glad they put real Dimarzios. I have a 2018 sterling and everything is great, except the p-ups.
I think it'd be a better value to get the version below it and swap the correct Dimarzios in it
The comment about the DiMarzio pickups in Sterlings is untrue. The JP100d also featured the Crunch Lab and Liquifire. These aren't even his current signature set, Rainmaker and Dreamcatcher. For $1,400 for a MII guitar, I would at least expect his latest pickup set.
Callum Hayes they also has axis (ax40d) and luke (LK100D) models with the dimarzio pickups.. the LK100D is an amazing guitar..
Yeah ‘cause I’m sure there’s just a huge difference between the two pickup sets, especially when playing with that much gain...
@@primeDecomposition It's not necessarily a point of tone, but a point of principal. However, they are supposed to be high-gain pickups, and so I absolutely believe that 5 or 6 years worth of development time between the two sets would make a difference.
primeDecomposition if you’ve played these pickups and know what you’re looking for you’ll tell the difference.. but that’s wasn’t the point was it? Acting like “there’s no difference between any random humbucker!” Really? Se Ufa
The crunch lab was selected for the wood, which is different than the ebmm and they sound amazing. I own this guitar and it’s by far my favorite guitar. Honestly, I put the Rainemaker and Dreamcather in a used Majesty 7 string and I think the crunch lab set sounds better.
The Sterling JP100D had that pickup set and was somewhere between $700-800 new. That was a great guitar in my opinion.
7:44 the funny thing is,most of the modern shredders are into jazz fusion stuff and kinda like thicker necks with rounder radiuses
Clearly Pringle shares your opinion on this instrument, I concur!
I’ve always wanted to get a majesty. I thought they looked awesome and I love JP. But I picked one up about a year ago to try and it just wasn’t the guitar for me. Body was too small for my licking and fingerboard too flat, although it sounded killer. I totally get this review.
I was actualy eyeballing this guitar for a few days now. but i needed a review. Thank you!!
Go watch Fluffs review of it. This is obviously a forced review.
juanca3 got a link?
Well boys he finally did it.
your work is impressive !!!! thank you very much my friend !!!
Well done, love the honesty.
Agufish when will the HB v's get a remake? We need them on the same level as the Explorers!
So you smashed it up, and your going to just send it back?
hi can you review a danelectro?, i would like to see how do they do in metal
I really wanted to like the JPM's and the Majestys.
I've tried a bunch and they kinda fell flat. I think the JEMs do the same thing better.
This isn't the first Sterling to have the JP Crunchlab/Liquifire pups, I have a JP150D Koa top that was a limited edition that came with those pups
I totally agree with your perspective. I thought at first glance here that I definitely going to check one of these out. Besides I need more than 16 guitars, right? 😄 I especially agree about choosing a PRS instead for the obvious reasons. Actually it’s next on the list.
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Thanks again for all you do and I still appreciate being a patreon of yours. 🙏🙏🙏👍
I love this shape, and was about to start to save for it... this actually changed my mind, felt like you are almost pushed to go $5k+ version
This video is totally biased because he doesn't like it.
He totally dismissed the fact that the body has a maple veneer top over mahogany. The Music Man version has that exact same thing.
It has stainless steel frets, DiMarzios, decibel boost, Schaller tuners, which he said were unbranded.
A buddy has a cheaper version. Has nothing that I mentioned this version has. And it played good. I want one but I never liked the colors or the hardware and wood.
Then I saw this one and was sold on it.
Trust me........you'll love it.
The only thing is, if you haven't played on one, the feel is different. It feels smaller because everything is ergonomic to your body. It's like playing a Wolfgang.
Don't let this dude's bias, change your mind. Better get one before Sterling make them without the goods but keep the same tag.
Could you check out the Schecter C-7 MS Silver Mountain - Toxic Venom?
The Sterling JP100d had the crunch lab/liquifire pickups as well. This is the first Sterling Majesty to come with dimarzios.
It's not the first time Dimarzio pickups have been in Sterlings. I have a JP-100D and a 170-D that have the same pickups. Also a Luke and two Axis models.
What bothers me is that those pickups are not what is in the USA model.
agree with everything you said........a very blunt honest review........i was also crazy about this guitar before playing it in person you are very right about the colour especially this purple it looks cheap.....the red looks way better but still you are paying a bit too much for the thing perhaps a high end schecter would be way way better for the same price ....great review bro
Definitely agree on needing more purple guitars! I got my first Solar guitar (the AB1.6HTPB) back in June when they first announced. The purple satin finish with the backed maple fretboard/neck had me immediately preorder it. Found out after it was a prototype and the actual production was more pink/reddish, but I didn’t cancel my preorder. I absolutely love it and it’s become my main guitar, but that model has since been changed to the original purple finish and I’m just like fuuuuuu.
My music man BFR majesty came today. It’s phenomenal
SICK riffage Hunter!!!
$1400 seems like a lot but it's right on par with the other higher end guitars from other brands that get made in Indonesia as well. Most of Premium range Ibanez guitars made in Indonesia are priced about $1200-1600.
I'd expect recessed access panels in the back for that money. Reinforcing my love of Schecter at this price point.
You gotta respect the fact that he said "it's not for me, but that doesn't mean that it's bad"
totally feel you. i owned a EBMM majesty myself. initially i really liked it and all. its not a bad guitar but it wasnt for me in the end. so i sold it to someone who would have better use for it
I had to send my 7 strings back to thomman. The nut was glued incorrectly and it was protruding in the high e section by 1 mm from the neck slot, and to compensate (i guess, im not a guitar builder) they had to file the nut differently and as a result the g strings was further by 2 mm from the b strings leaving a huge noticeable gap (not so much by playing but visual wise). Also the pickups don't really fit the guitar, they're way too dark and mushy, especially for a seven strings model (fyi petrucci on his 7 strings uses the illuminator pickups, which are brighter and especially designed for his 7 strings guitars).
I could overlook all of this if this was a 800 euro guitar. But i payed 1999 eu (roughly 2.2k dollars) and there's no way i was gonna keep it. Sent it back, exchaged some emails with sterling (not the greatest customer support in my experience) and there's that.
Cheers and nice vid.
Some say the birds hang out in his neighborhood to catch the copious numbers of insects fleeing the Djent. And hanging bats will sway to the music at a quarter mile of his speaker cones. All we know is, he's called Der Fish!
I hear what you are saying on the color. I went with the Royal Red and it's pretty dark, but I bought the Blue Honu on the high-end JP Majesty and it IS a lot lighter than the website shows. The lighter shield area is almost a turquoise, NOT a color I like. But I think it just has to do with how videos and cameras work, they seem to darken them a lot. Even Cooper Carter's video of the Blue Honu looks a lot darker than in real life and that video is part of what made me want that color.
What's funny is I went to a Guitar center in Las Vegas to check one out and I couldn't find it. Turns out it WAS there, but the color in the store was SOOO different from what the web page showed, I didn't even recognize it. Almost didn't get it.
I did end up ordering it, and it's possible the lights in the store made it look lighter than normal, because the one I got at home was kind of in the middle between what I saw in the store and the website. Overall happy with it, but wish it looked as dark as it does in the pictures and videos I've seen.
I wish they still made the AX4 and AX40D. I think you would've liked the necks on those. I have the cheaper AX4, which is my cheapest guitar, and it RIPS. I've tried the JPs and the necks are way too thin for me.
I'm not too thrilled by the pricing of this, or the pickup routing.
would still prefer a epi prophecy for maybe almost half the price? can't wait for those to come out im thinking a LP or a V
I have had the Actric Dream version more than 1 year and I haven't had any issues with it. When I first got it, I had this feeling that my skills as guitar player went immediately 2 years forward, because it is so easy and light to play.
All the contours in the guitar have a meaning which makes it very ergonomical to play and all the controls are easy to reach. But of course if you are you are playing it on your lap like Agufish here then all of this contouring is all in vain.
Locking tuners are keeping it well in tune if you are doing some basic vibrato for chords or some flutters. What it cannot take is some heavy beating and strong dive bombs. For that you need double locking Floyd Rose guitar.
I have the "Arctic Dream" verison without DiMarzios and I can say the Sterlings own pickups are as good as the DiMarzios. I have the Air Norton (neck) - Steve's Special (bridge) and Liquid Fire (neck) - Crunch Lab (bridge) both installed to my 2 Ibanez RG -series guitars. When Liquid-Crunch are more metal and high output and Air-Steve's are more 80s rock and lower output, I could say that the Sterlings gain is something in between those two pickup pairs. If you want more gain there is the +12db boost what you can enable which can be good for soloing.
Only difference between the real Music Man and this Sterling versions is the lack of piezo which on the other hand is very controversial flaw since the Music Man is another +3000€ more just for the piezo. You can fill this "need" by putting the pick up sellector to the middle potision and adding for example BOSS AC3 acoustic simulator pedal to the chain (or some other acoustic simulator). It will do the trick even though its not analog signal anymore.
Also because I have the Arctic Dream paint I didnt see any painting mistakes since the color is not transparent. The color is very beatiful pearlescent which changes the colour based the angle of light from springgreen to darkblue.
Needless to say that it is always good idea to by fresh package of strings at the same time and change those factory strings when you receive the guitar.
All I can say that it is bloody good guitar for 1200€.
I bought a JP60 just a few days ago. A newer Mystic Dream that has black hardware instead of chrome and I was a bit worried about the in house Sterling pickups, but these guitars are also very hard to come by in my country so I took my chances and ordered this from a local store. I ended up absolutely loving this guitar and I love the sound of the pickups. I feel very inspired to record new stuff with this. I've played good quality ESPs, Jacksons, Ibanez, Fender Strats and this beats all of them. Speaks volumes on Ernie Ball/Sterling's production quality.
I have plans of buying myself a high end 7 string sometime soon, and for that I'm gonna need to travel abroad for it cause I don't wanna take any risks ordering online and somehow damaging a 3000 plus dollar guitar during shipping. And yes, I'm the type of guy to travel halfway across the world to buy a guitar, but the JP60 has inspired me to get an EBMM JP15 or a Majesty 7 string. Maybe something in teal green or blue like the enchanted forest finish for the Majesty or the Cerulean Paradise flame for the JP15-7. Can't wait. Before that I might also buy a Solar 7 string just so I have a decent enough 7 string guitar I can comfortably take to gigs and on the road, but the big goal is a high end 7 string for recordings and to finally treat myself to a pricy guitar, and atm I can't think of anything better than a JP15-7 or a Majesty 7.
Fantastic video as always. Could you lower the intro & demo volume a little in the future? They're way louder than you talking
Proudly made in Indonesia 😙🇮🇩❤️