MANSON META MBM-2

SEPTEMBER 2022 TOTAL GUITAR
THE TG TEST
91
MANSON
META MBM-2
We take a look at two new Matt
Bellamy guitars built on an
identical platform, but with
very different offerings
“T
he Meta series don’t always have
all the electronics built-in,
but I’m hoping that if our
collaboration with Cort goes
deeper, we might be able to get
some guitars with some of the
more special eects stu
built-in.” That’s what Matt
Bellamy told us when we spoke to him back in 2020.
Two years on, and the Muse frontman-turned-
guitar-brand-director has clearly settled
into his role o-stage.
Manson Guitar Works enlisted the help of
Cort guitars to carry out the build of its rst
aordable design, the MBC-1 in 2015.
Next came the Meta MBM-1, and now
we arrive at the latest updates in the
Matt Bellamy signature model range,
the Meta MBM-2. There are four
models on oer: the neck P-90
loaded MBM-2, humbucker/
Sustainiac-equipped MBM-2S,
the Z.Vex Fuzz Factory-loaded
MBM-2F, and the top-level
MBM-2SF with a Sustainiac and
a Fuzz Factory built in! Lefties
are catered for too, with the
MBM-2LH taking on the
MBM-2 revisions, but with
the same dual-humbucker
conguration as the MBC-1, and
at no additional cost to the
‘standard’, MBM-2. It’s a range of
options that we haven’t seen at this
price, in an easily accessible format
from Manson Guitar Works before.
Our review models are the P90-equipped
MBM-2, plus the fully loaded MBM-2SF with
a Sustainiac and Z.Vex Fuzz Factory circuit built in. Now,
the design is pretty much common to both models. It starts with
that unique MB body shape, which has undergone some subtle body
contouring changes in order to bring it closer to Bellamy’s stage guitars,
Words Stuart Williams Photography Phil Barker
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