From adding shimmers to chordal work all the way to flat-out dive-bomb abuse, tuning will not be compromised. But Music Man designed its own seven-string vibrato many years ago and it remains one of the most functional, expressive and reliable units on the market. Vigier has designed its own and Hipshot is one of the very few companies that offers an after-market seven-string non-locking vibrato. Sourcing a seven-string guitar that doesn’t have either a fixed bridge or double-locking vibrato is a very difficult task. It’s quite something to notice an immediate improvement to this technique without actually putting in any further practice – if only it was always this way! The forearm contour has been angled perfectly to deliver optimum support, thus providing freedom for the wrist to pendulate at speeds that your practice routine permits. Only when speed-picking away effortlessly (although not to Petrucci’s standard, of course) did we realise that there was a reason for our newfound agility. With a simple flick of the wrist, an active preamp with 20dB boost can be activated via the push-push volume control, providing a perfect volume hike for solos, and a coil-split facility is activated by pushing the tone control when the pickup selector is in the middle position. The myriad switches are easily accessible and don’t distract from actual playing.
The Tiger Eye has plenty of tonal options, including a coil split, an active 20dB boost and a piezo The neck heel delivers on its promise, and although only when sitting or wearing the guitar up high are you able to shred away comfortably around the 21st to 24th fret area of the seventh and sixth (low B and E) string, this is hardly the business end of any guitar! While the concept of ergonomics can mean different things to different guitarists – and traditionalists would argue there are few guitars physically comfortable that a Strat – a great deal of thought has been given both to the contouring of the body and the layout of the controls. The neck is not as wide as you might fear if you’re approaching this from a six-string-only background and wrapping your thumb around the neck for bends, or even chord shapes that utilise the thumb, is a cinch. The ebony ’board is perfectly smooth and naturally finished and while a 17-inch fretboard radius implies a flatter-than-average surface, there’s a noticeable curvature – which takes very little getting used to, even if you’re more accustomed to a rounder radius. The three-piece neck has mahogany sides and beautifully flamed maple in the middle Once again, we’ve yet to play a Music Man that doesn’t have a fabulous neck.
Regardless of depth measurements, the wonderfully rolled fretboard and supporting shoulders of the neck ensure that the underside of your first finger and thumb are guaranteed a comfortable surface. Music Man’s traditional 4+2 machinehead configuration is a 5+2 here, but the Tiger Eye is available as a six-stringĪfter spending some time putting it through its paces, the flat radius and slim neck prove to be very supportive of all hand positions, not just the thumb-behind-the-neck that technical players are so often associated with. The 2019 models have dropped the two-tone colours and introduced some new finishes which, although striking, are more conventional. However, with its stark ergonomics, extended and protruding upper horn, the finishes accentuated unusual aspects of the design and perhaps diminished its potential to appeal to a more conservative audience. When first introduced, its finish was designed to exude a race-car vibe – appropriate for the high-octane speed-picking pioneer it was designed for – with two-tone colouring and a maple ‘shield’ intended to mimic a sheet of carbon fibre. Over the years, the Majesty’s ongoing development has yielded much improvement to its appearance. The other Majestys have either a mahogany or basswood body and are priced at around two thirds of the cost of the review model. Limited to a run of just 300 and available in both six- and seven-string versions, it is the only Majesty in the range to feature a maple top, flamed maple neck and an alder body. The Tiger Eye is the flagship of the 2019 Majesty range.
0 kommentar(er)
