John Petrucci and Ernie Ball Music Man have released a 10th Anniversary edition of the Dream Theater icon’s Majesty signature guitar as “a tribute to the enduring partnership” they share.
Trooch has developed a raft of Majesty iterations over the past decade, from sleek six-strings to grunting eight-strings. As such, Ernie Ball Music Man Vice President Scott Ball wanted to chase “something special” to mark the instrument’s latest milestone.
“We were trying to think about ways that we could present the guitar differently,” adds Petrucci.
They eventually settled on a Silver Chalice finish, which is joined by all-new custom-covered DiMarzio Rainmaker and Dream Catcher humbuckers that have been unveiled as part of the celebratory release.
The guitar also flaunts several other additional aesthetic appointments. Those include a custom JP inlay on the first fret (a signature touch on all Majesty guitars) and a “bold three-fret logo inlay” located on the 12th fret.
DiMarzio has called its humbucking duo “mind-blowing quintessential tone monsters”. They feature nickel pole pieces and find the Dream Theater logo etched dramatically onto its chrome covering. The concept was inspired by DiMarzio’s work on the Nomac Majesty, built to celebrate the releases of Dream Theater’s 2016 album, The Astonishing.
“From the moment I plugged in the guitar and played the first note, I knew that we achieved Holy Grail-level results,” Petrucci proudly says of the pickups. “It literally feels like the guitar is alive and ready to jump out of my hands!”
The versatile pickups are integrated with a Custom Music Man active preamp, boasting a push/push Volume for gain boost. There's also a push/push mono/stereo button in the back cavity.
The guitar's expansive electronic configuration continues via Fishman Powerbridge piezo electronics on its chrome-plated floating tremolo to ensure crystalline cleans alongside brutal high-gain.
Beneath its luxurious new colorway, the guitar’s “exceptional tone and sustain” comes, in part, via its high-end tonewood combination. Alder wings and a maple top are united by a neck-through Honduras mahogany design, and capped with an ebony fingerboard and 24 medium jumbo frets.
“That combination of tonewoods makes for such a rich, three-dimensional guitar sound,” says Petrucci. “That was the immediate go-to. There was nothing I wanted to change about the sound of this guitar.”
“This guitar is both visually striking and sonically powerful,” says Ernie Ball. “It is the perfect tribute to ten years of collaboration and American craftsmanship.”
The 10th Anniversary Ernie Ball Music Man Majesty is a limited-edition release. Each guitar is hand-numbered on the back of the headstock, with Petrucci's signature on its backplate. They cost $3,999 apiece and come with a certificate of authenticity.
Head to Ernie Ball to learn more.
The new-look DiMarzio Rainmaker and Dreamcatcher pickup set is also available to buy separately and costs $358.
Discussing the Majesty with Guitar World earlier this year, John Petrucci said: “Some people were like, ‘That's the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen!’ It turns out it was the most successful instrument we ever could have imagined.”
