I am not very good with the major pentatonic so when would be a time i would need to use the major instead of just moving the minor 3 frets down

Hi Jimi VP: well, when playing Blue Sky by the Allman Brothers, for starters.

As you say, the major makes the same shapes on the fretboard as the minor, just with the root in a different place.

If you can do the minor then you can do the major - and you need both in order to be able to toggle between them, like BB King... And nearly everyone else too.

Cheers - C

Here's a tip that helped me work out Major Pentatonic usage. When the chord progression switches to the IV, solo using the Minor Pentatonic.

Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" is another song that uses the Major P.

I think Hendrix' "Red House" makes use of it too.

But you can't stick to the major the whole time ...

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My other guitar is a Strat.

Often the major pentatonic scale works good for country/blue grass music in major keys. That being said I would agree that you could toggle between the two to variate between a major sound and a bluesy sound with the minor. For instance if the jam is in A with mostly major triads (A, D, E instead of A7, D7, E7) the major pentatonic sound is your best bet. Once the 7 chords are in the mix the minor pentatonic or blues scale fits the bill as well.
Also, I have been workin on southern fried rock tunes, and have to say that animal is hard to tame, even for a jazzer like myself. I have found that you need a ton of licks, as well as both major and minor pentatonic and blues scales, and simply arpeggio/outline the chords.

Practice toggling between the two of simple three chord jams...
RmeGtrst

Ah - and if a Forum user calling himself "Jimi" wants other Hendrix numbers in the major key then Wind Cries Mary is in that form throughout - except when he momentarily toggles into the C# minor pentatonic three quarters of the way through the solo.

A neat example of switching between major and minor "moods".

"How strange the change from major to minor..."

Cheers - C

Hendrix mixes both scales on a regular basis. Mockingbird is a great one to listen to to get the full sound so is Bold as love and especially Red House that one is a clinic and why someone can play the blues and make it sound so interesting and exciting and some guys blah. Your Boy Page is another master of mixing the two scales. Listen this is a long and serious study and will take at least a year of your life to fully get it down to the point you are on auto pilot doing it but it is a must if you want to be a seriously good lead player. If you take a regular 12 bar blues and start on the one chord A using the minor pentatonic when you switch to the second chord D use the Major pentatonic then you will hear how it sounds so good and works even if you just use the B and E string in 5th posistion but you just bend the E string on the 7th fret a half step and not a whole on the two chord or go as if your playing in F# but use the D and G string but when you bend the G make sure you end your lick on the second fret A that is the major sound. You have to learn how to mix it up like Orville said you can start on the one chord A I only said use the four so you can hear going from minor to major. I hope I am not confusing you and you grasp what I am saying. Since ive been loving you is a clinic in mixing the two scales and the reason you dig it so much.lol got it I have an old VHS tape that shows and explains all of this that I had given my son that would make this easy for you to understand. I will try to find it if you are that interested let me know and I will make a copy for you.

But why would you play minor pentatonic on the I major but major penta on the IV major.