Manson Black Midi

Black Midi at Seattle KeyArena 2007

Manson MB-1 Standard Guitar

Black Midi
Manufacturer	Manson Guitars
Used	2007-09-09—2011-05-24
Body type	Solid
Neck joint	Bolt-on
Body covering	Satin black finish
Wood	Body: Alder Neck: Bird's Eye Maple Fingerboard: Rosewood
Bridge	Fixed
Electronics	Three-way toggle pickup selector
Pickup(s)	Neck: Fernandes Sustainer FSK-401 Bridge: Manson MBK 2
Special circuits	X-Y Midi Screen Controller used for a Kaoss Pad Tronical PowerTune Automatic Guitar Tuning System

Background

The "Black Midi" made its debut two months after the demise of the M1D1 Mirror, and was presumably its replacement (as both have Bare Knuckle Nailbomb Humbuckers at the bridge and Fernandes Sustainers at the neck). It was the first of Matt's Mansons to be fitted with a Tronical PowerTune Automatic Guitar Tuning System.

Additional Information

This guitar was usually used for songs that aren't played on a standard tuning. It was most often tuned to Standard-C tuning (CADGBE) for Map Of The Problematique. Other tunings were Drop-D tuning (DADGBE) for Dead Star, New Born and Stockholm Syndrome, E-flat tuning (EbAbDbGbBbEb) for Fury and Starlight and Drop-D-flat tuning (DbAbDbGbBbEb) for MK Ultra. A few times it was used also in standard tuning for songs like Supermassive Black Hole and Time Is Running Out. Before it's retirement it was mostly used for Map of the Problematique only.

Although it is officially named as 'Black Midi', it is more known to fans as 'Seattle Manson'. It is also known that Matt calls it 'Auto'.

Replica

Official replicas of the Black Midi, Manson_Delorean, Manson M1D1 Black and Manson_Red_Glitter can be bought from the Manson online store. The MB-1 range (Matt Bellamy series 1) has a starting price of £3199 for a Black basic version, Midi screen is an additional £300 and custom machine heads an additional £250.

Touring

It was first used during the Seattle gig on 9th September 2007, the first night of the final US leg of the Black Holes and Revelations tour and got it's last performance in 2011.

Songs used for

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