There are two iterations of the Muse Maestro's new-look signature guitar, which arrives in an uber-glittery Blanta finish
(Image credit: Manson)
Manson has revisited Matt Bellamy’s flagship MB-1 signature guitar, giving the wildly equipped space age six-string a fresh lick of paint.
Dubbed “Blanta”, the none-more-glittery colorway harks back to the flagship MB-1 from 2007, which boasted a Red Glitter finish – a finish that was later affectionately christened “Red Santa”.
As such, we can only speculate that “Blanta” is a portmanteau of Black Santa – unfortunately “Ranta” doesn’t quite roll off the tongue in the original’s case – with the new-look model opting for a somewhat stealthy, yet suitably stylish, glitterball vibe.
Extravagant cosmetics aside, the MB-1 Blanta – which arrives in two versions – faithfully follows the precedent set by the Muse frontman’s feature-packed Red Santa guitar, meaning it comes with all the fancy bells and whistles you’d expect.
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(Image credit: Manson)
(Image credit: Manson)
Starting with the basics, the MB-1 Blanta boasts a two-piece alder body, which is joined by either a 5A roasted flame maple (Version 1) or 3A birdseye maple (Version 2) neck and a 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard.
Other functional features include a MB Soft V neck profile, Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut, Gotoh GTC-102 bridge and Gotoh tuners.
All of the above is responsible for accommodating the array of cutting edge electronics that the MB-1 offers. Pickups-wise, the guitar comes equipped with a PF-1 bridge and a Sustainiac Stealth PRO neck humbucker.
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(Image credit: Manson)
(Image credit: Manson)
Once again, there’s a generous suite of spread-out controls to tango with. Three toggle switches are tasked with navigating pickups, triggering the Sustainiac and selecting the Sustainiac mode (Harmonic, Mix or Fundamental), while two control knobs take cover of Volume and Tone.
The Tone knobs also doubles as a push/pull control for coil-tapping, with a Kill Switch button also making the cut.
Of course, Manson’s custom X/Y MIDI controller screen – now in a sleek black surround – takes pride of place just underneath the six-saddle bridge, and can be used to trigger MIDI control changes via touchpad. Anyone who has seen Bellamy play knows exactly what this thing is capable of.
(Image credit: Manson)
The MB-1 Blanta V1 and V2 are available now for £4,650 and £4,999, respectively.
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
