Manson V Set including V Rail Bridge Pick Ups

The all new V Set pickups are the engine driving the latest addition to the Manson range - The Verona. Built to the detailed specification used in Matthew Bellamy’s stage guitar during the Will Of The People Tour and now a firm part of the Muse frontman’s touring rig.

Having built pickups in house at Manson Guitar Works for over a decade, the team was able to design and test dozens of possible pickup specifications to deliver the sound Matt was looking for. Standard and aftermarket equipped vintage guitars were on hand during the entire time to make sure the exact amount of clarity, warmth and vintage tone could be dialled in. 

At the other end - literally - using experience with building multi-rail pickups, the bridge position sported a dual rail design wired in parallel to produce a hum-cancelling effect but with an output and tone to match up with the neck and middle pickups. The result? A combination with a spookily accurate 60s vibe neck pickup with an added extra splash of hot Texas sauce when the bridge pickup joins the action. 

“Tonally, the neck pickup was everything,” says Matt Bellamy. "It had to capture that vintage clarity—the clean, expressive tone that lives in Ry Cooder’s slide work. I was chasing the emotional voice you hear in the road movies ‘Paris, Texas’ and ‘Crossroads’, that haunting, human sound that feels like it’s echoing across an empty desert highway.”

“The neck pickup on the Verona model is the soul of the guitar. It needed to deliver purity and presence, without ever feeling overdriven or artificial. It had to feel honest and epic, like one of my favourite films of all time ‘Thelma and Louise’ when the horizon opens up and the sky just swallows the road. But also a tone that can live alongside my other more modern sounding guitars”

Features -

•  Neck - Alnico 5 with 42 AWG PE Wire 5.7K
• Middle - Alnico 5 with 42 AWG PE Wire 6K
• Bridge - Ceramic Magnet 43 AWG PE Wire 11K {in series}