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matthijs

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so i think i've settled on a lot of the specifics for what i'd want in a custom guitar (just gotta save for a while now), but I can't quite decide on which finish I prefer, red carbon or this, http://www.mansonguitarworks.com/index.cfm/product/manson-works-002-29 , cracked mirror with the black headstock, for those of you who have seen them, which look better up close, carbon/red carbon or mirror?

mirror comes with the curse of being heavier, forearm contour only possible if the cracks bend on the contour and the back and sides never quite matching a full mirror body (which is nicer, but heavier and slab). I rocked silver and glitter whilst James and Olly went for the cement paint, I personally prefer full mirror but knew it would add the weight even further

 

carbon is slab only via Mansons.

 

I have mirror and carbon, I'd pick carbon, though I think black carbon looks nicer than red. If you do go red, do anodised black ali hardware (and black machine heads).

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t31.0-8/1498802_197142800493418_1342142044_o.jpg like that but with ali hardware!

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Full mirror is seriously heavy.

I imagine Matt's new one is riddled with holes and basically hollow, like honeycomb.

 

Could do that but what's the point in paying a fortune for a custom instrument from a master luthier and not getting a proper tone machine.

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Full mirror is seriously heavy.

I imagine Matt's new one is riddled with holes and basically hollow, like honeycomb.

 

Could do that but what's the point in paying a fortune for a custom instrument from a master luthier and not getting a proper tone machine.

 

I do wonder if there's a negative effect with all the weight relief that MB's newer guitars (the 2.5kg ones) have. I'm not sure how much mine will end up weighing...it's weight relieved, but probably not in the same way as Matt's. I'm not sure if any of his were mahogany like this one either. (I recall the weight relieved mahogany/carbon is a first though)

 

mirror comes with the curse of being heavier, forearm contour only possible if the cracks bend on the contour and the back and sides never quite matching a full mirror body (which is nicer, but heavier and slab). I rocked silver and glitter whilst James and Olly went for the cement paint, I personally prefer full mirror but knew it would add the weight even further

 

carbon is slab only via Mansons.

 

I have mirror and carbon, I'd pick carbon, though I think black carbon looks nicer than red. If you do go red, do anodised black ali hardware (and black machine heads).

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t31.0-8/1498802_197142800493418_1342142044_o.jpg like that but with ali hardware!

 

If I'm honest though, I would've gone full mirror for that guitar if I had the choice. The weight with the painted back isn't too bad, but it's certainly not light.

 

And yeah, I was a bit disappointed to find that out. I thought Matt's black carbon had a forearm contour, but maybe it's just the pictures.

 

New & Old bodies for Mirror Manson

 

http://www.musewiki.org/images/New_Manson_Mirror.jpeg

 

:)

 

Apparently the mirror is a bit thinner than before as well

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mirror comes with the curse of being heavier, forearm contour only possible if the cracks bend on the contour and the back and sides never quite matching a full mirror body (which is nicer, but heavier and slab). I rocked silver and glitter whilst James and Olly went for the cement paint, I personally prefer full mirror but knew it would add the weight even further

 

carbon is slab only via Mansons.

 

I have mirror and carbon, I'd pick carbon, though I think black carbon looks nicer than red. If you do go red, do anodised black ali hardware (and black machine heads).

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t31.0-8/1498802_197142800493418_1342142044_o.jpg like that but with ali hardware!

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking if I go carbon! Funnily enough it was your red carbon custom that made me really enjoy the finish a lot more! I'm just not 100% sure yet on what I want, still in the planning stage!

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And yeah, I was a bit disappointed to find that out. I thought Matt's black carbon had a forearm contour, but maybe it's just the pictures.

 

Red Carbon is definitely slab - http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YxI8LLu6gBc/UJU_W0TZcEI/AAAAAAAAQ7c/0U5A0nTThXU/s640/manson.red.carbon.matt.bellamy.2012.3.jpg

 

Black Carbon... Can't tell if it's a smudge on the guitar or if there's one there... looks more like a smudge i think?? http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p6u14-Tk84E/UDQDVqIrVxI/AAAAAAAALAQ/WtNzXLkwwvA/s1600/manson.carbon.2.jpg

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Red Carbon is definitely slab - http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YxI8LLu6gBc/UJU_W0TZcEI/AAAAAAAAQ7c/0U5A0nTThXU/s640/manson.red.carbon.matt.bellamy.2012.3.jpg

 

Black Carbon... Can't tell if it's a smudge on the guitar or if there's one there... looks more like a smudge i think?? http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p6u14-Tk84E/UDQDVqIrVxI/AAAAAAAALAQ/WtNzXLkwwvA/s1600/manson.carbon.2.jpg

 

Lighting I'm guessing. I can't remember if a forearm contour was possible when I ordered mine or not... it was always meant to have a carbon top, but it went through the following spec changes :facepalm:

 

1. weight relieved mahogany with carbon top, full matt black finish (and forearm contour??? I can't remember if this was possible or not)

2. same as above but with carbon back added, now full slab body

3. FULL carbon wrap with matt black finish

4. basically the same finish as works 010 (full black carbon wrap, as it would've been a waste to cover the thing in marx black)

 

I don't think the forearm contour is possible if you get a black/red/green/blue/etc carbon finish though, but maybe with a solid finish over it? I can't remember what they said exactly.

 

Fwiw, I believe the mirror used is 2mm on the new one, which represents a significant weight saving.

 

Weren't the sides even thinner? Or am I thinking of the delorean?

 

I found this interesting though:

 

The new body had to match the new weight targets that Matt specified for his Manson guitars built in 2012 and 2013.

 

a full mirror wrap weighing 2.5kg? I always thought it ended up being noticeably lighter than before, but not as light as the new ones. Could that be done if they got a super lightweight piece of ash and thinner perspex?

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Weren't the sides even thinner? Or am I thinking of the delorean?

 

Delorean is 1mm on the sides if I remember right.

 

About the weight relieving; where are the holes drilled in T2L era guitars? I think in Live at Rome the back of Matt Black is shown for a second and it doesn't look as if there are any holes in it (I think its a 1 piece body judging by this smasocaster's http://www.musewiki.org/File:Starkaster.jpg) Pretty sure musewiki said it had holes drilled in the neck too but that seems like it'd weaken the neck a lot.

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Delorean is 1mm on the sides if I remember right.

 

About the weight relieving; where are the holes drilled in T2L era guitars? I think in Live at Rome the back of Matt Black is shown for a second and it doesn't look as if there are any holes in it (I think its a 1 piece body judging by this smasocaster's http://www.musewiki.org/File:Starkaster.jpg) Pretty sure musewiki said it had holes drilled in the neck too but that seems like it'd weaken the neck a lot.

 

I guess the core of the body is weight relieved, and there is a laminate on the front/back of the body. But I'm not sure really - the matt black is definitely one of the lightweight ones anyway.

 

And that's because the original neck was damaged. It did have some wood removed from the back of the headstock, but the current neck is a standard one from what I can tell.

 

Same with the gloss MIDI's original neck, although it's routed in a slightly different way

 

Screenshot2012-10-01at70741PM.png

 

Pretty sure the smashocasters aren't weight relieved at all though, as there wouldn't really be any point

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I guess the core of the body is weight relieved, and there is a laminate on the front/back of the body. But I'm not sure really - the matt black is definitely one of the lightweight ones anyway.

Seems most likely.

 

Pretty sure the smashocasters aren't weight relieved at all though, as there wouldn't really be any point

I thought the holes might be what made them smash easily.

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Seems most likely.

 

 

I thought the holes might be what made them smash easily.

 

I wouldn't say they broke easily. The one that broke in NY already had part of the body cracked from a previous gig if I remember correctly, so it just took one throw to break it into three pieces.

 

This one though...I'm pretty sure it was used for SS on the following night, despite all the throwing and ending up down the stairs in back of the piano.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBGVCndKqgk

 

Not 100% sure though.

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I wouldn't say they broke easily. The one that broke in NY already had part of the body cracked from a previous gig if I remember correctly, so it just took one throw to break it into three pieces.

 

Yeah, I should have said more easily than some of his other guitars, mainly gloss black MIDI and glitterati (before it fell off the tower).

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I wouldn't say they broke easily. The one that broke in NY already had part of the body cracked from a previous gig if I remember correctly, so it just took one throw to break it into three pieces.

 

This one though...I'm pretty sure it was used for SS on the following night, despite all the throwing and ending up down the stairs in back of the piano.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBGVCndKqgk

 

Not 100% sure though.

 

I don't think they broke overly "easily" but they were definitely easier to smash up than his others, most likely because they were probably a lot lighter

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Yeah, I should have said more easily than some of his other guitars, mainly gloss black MIDI and glitterati (before it fell off the tower).

 

They're made of different woods too, so maybe that would affect the strength. We need someone like Jaicen to comment on this.

 

swamp ash vs. others?

 

I don't think they broke overly "easily" but they were definitely easier to smash up than his others, most likely because they were probably a lot lighter

 

Compared to what? If they're not weight relieved, they're probably a fairly average weight.

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They're made of different woods too, so maybe that would affect the strength. We need someone like Jaicen to comment on this.

 

swamp ash vs. others?

 

 

 

Compared to what? If they're not weight relieved, they're probably a fairly average weight.

 

Well his Carbon guitars would be much heavier due to the carbon slab body, if we're assuming the Matt blacks were still weight relieved they only have sustainers built in as an extra and my MA-2 EVO is really light even without a weight relieved body and i can imagine with a bolt on neck as well that would've aided in their smashability

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Well his Carbon guitars would be much heavier due to the carbon slab body, if we're assuming the Matt blacks were still weight relieved they only have sustainers built in as an extra and my MA-2 EVO is really light even without a weight relieved body and i can imagine with a bolt on neck as well that would've aided in their smashability

 

Well they still have a wood core - it's just a carbon wrap. The carbon I have isn't really that heavy to be honest. Maybe a little heavier than the EVO I guess. It's not weight relieved though, but the other one I mentioned will be (though that's also made of a different wood).

 

But Matt's carbon guitars (and all the other T2L guitars besides the batch of matt blacks) supposedly weigh around 2.5kg.

 

Pretty sure the batch of matt blacks is just solid slab body guitars. After all, they were able to turn a plank of wood to this in four hours, so weight relieving would take a fair bit longer I think

 

http://www.musewiki.org/File:Starkaster.jpg

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Well they still have a wood core - it's just a carbon wrap. The carbon I have isn't really that heavy to be honest. Maybe a little heavier than the EVO I guess. It's not weight relieved though, but the other one I mentioned will be (though that's also made of a different wood).

 

But Matt's carbon guitars (and all the other T2L guitars besides the batch of matt blacks) supposedly weigh around 2.5kg.

 

Pretty sure the batch of matt blacks is just solid slab body guitars. After all, they were able to turn a plank of wood to this in four hours, so weight relieving would take a fair bit longer I think

 

http://www.musewiki.org/File:Starkaster.jpg

 

True, I didn't think about the Carbons being weight relieved. Maybe like you said before it's just the wood quality? Or perhaps its just down to the fact he smashes them on a more regular basis than the Gloss Black or the Red Carbon so they didn't suffer as bad of a fate after being thrown around a bit as the Matt Blacks did. Although i seem to remember the Red Carbon was out of action for a little bit?

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I was suggesting the type of wood rather than the quality. I always thought swamp ash (like the red glitter) was pretty robust, but I'll wait for Jaicen to confirm/deny.

 

The red carbon was out of use for close to a month, but I don't think it was ever seriously damaged. You can see it's on his rack on the live in rome DVD, but he still didn't use it until the zepp gig from what I remember. Guessing it's more of a backup for the gloss black M1D1 now

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I was suggesting the type of wood rather than the quality. I always thought swamp ash (like the red glitter) was pretty robust, but I'll wait for Jaicen to confirm/deny.

 

The red carbon was out of use for close to a month, but I don't think it was ever seriously damaged. You can see it's on his rack on the live in rome DVD, but he still didn't use it until the zepp gig from what I remember. Guessing it's more of a backup for the gloss black M1D1 now

 

I don't know enough about the kinds of woods tbh :LOL:

 

Yeah I do recall it was damaged enough to need a few little repairs but didn't seem like anything major. Strange that he doesn't use it more often, it's a beautiful guitar imo

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