My Brent Mason arrived!!

[DHaych]

Ok, I got my Brent Mason last week from Thomann in Germany!!

1st reaction when opening the case was how stunning it looked with the maple neck and whitewash/black scratchplate body.

Picked it up straight away after drooling for a few minutes...and found that the action was ridiculously high, so I fixed that.

Then I plugged it in.....clean channel first, on the bridge pup which is alot brighter than I'm used to with my Les Paul but cuts through nicely. Still on the bridge I switched to single coil....no volume loss, just a slight tonal change to that familiar strat-like sound....very cool. Flipped to the neck pup in humbuck mode, nice and beefy very much like my Les Paul, then when switched to single coil no volume loss again, just that warm strat classic neck pup sound. When combined with the 305 the sounds/variations from then on were endless. Happy so far. Now for the cons.....which are few;

1. The high E string is alot quieter than the rest, I tried raising that side of the pup but didn't make much difference...any suggestions??
2. It'll take some time getting used to my pick hitting off the 305 during solos (can't lower it)....so used to nothing being there with the Les Paul. :redface:

When I was playing it (through an old Laney amp with 2 channels....all my gear in the band van) I went from blues, funk, rock, right through to metal, and this guitar holds up to my Les Paul any day....AND MORE!!

I gigged with it for the first time last Saturday and everyone was commenting on how good it sounded particularly at solo time. But our sound guy Chris spotted the weak high E-string so I have to get that sorted. I'll post pics/vids soon when I get a chance!

 

[Shawn@PRS]

Hi Dave,

The guitar is well traveled so if you haven't yet, put a fresh set of strings on. If the problem still exists, try de-buring the saddle with a small piece of emery cloth. And then try the same thing in the nut slot just to be safe, but I think the problem is either in the string or the saddle.

 

[DHaych]

Excellent, thanks Shawn, I put a fresh set of strings on when I received it, I'll try the de-buring. Would another option be to raise the screw pole piece for the E string on the pup? Or is that a no go?

 

[Shawn@PRS]

You can certainly try that, but I think it will have limited affect. You can try raising or lowering the saddle slightly, that might help a bit.

 

[guitarsong]

Congratulations. Now where are those pics

 

[Egads]

Congrats. Is the volume issue with the high E on any particular pickup, or all three?

 

[DHaych]

All 3....

 

[jfine]

Congratulations on the Brent Mason! I sure like mine!
The problem you describe with your E string certainly isn't characteristic of that guitar--I don't have that issue with mine at all. If I were you, I'd try a new set of strings first, before you go messing with the bridge or the nut--since it's on all three pickups, it shouldn't be the pickup adjustment.

 

[DHaych]

I did put a fresh set on, I'm playing twice a week and I put a new set on after every 2 gigs. So I am hoping it's either the saddle or the nut....microscopic burr?

 

[Egads]

Hope you get it worked out. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Bill SAS 513]

It sounds like you've already changed strings a couple times, but I can tell you that I got a bunch of sets a few years back and the A string was dead in 3-4 straight packs...bad batch I guess...I did deal with a small burr a while back...one of Raymond's kids...(sorry)