Cort MBC-1 Matthew Bellamy Signature

Matt Black guitar with real Bellamy's signature
Manufacturer	Cort Guitars
Period	2015-present
Construction
Body type	Solid
Neck joint	Bolt-on
Scale	25.5 in (648 mm)
Woods
Body	Basswood
Neck	Maple
Fretboard	Rosewood
Hardware
Bridge	Tune-O-Matic with stopbar
Pickup(s)	1 Single-coil Manson at the neck and 1 Humbucker Manson at the bridge
Colors available
Matt Black Red Sparkle Matt White Show

External videos
Presentation from Hugh Manson on NAMM 2015
Demonstration Cort MBC-1 from Manson Guitar Works на YouTube
Demo from Premier Guitar на YouTube
Guitar review from Guitarist magazine on YouTube

Cort MBC-1 is the signature guitar of Matthew Bellamy, lead singer and guitarist of the English rock band Muse, launched in 2015 in Indonesia. It was designed by Bellamy and Hugh Manson in collaboration with Cort Guitars, and based on Manson MB Series.

History

Bellamy was actively involved in the creation of the guitar, testing each prototype and giving instructions on what needed to be changed. What took the most time was creating the truss rod, neck, and pickups, which were difficult to recreate in the factory.

I went to the factory and was completely blown away by the attention to detail. At every single production stage there’s unbelievable checking processes. The pickup manufacturing is state-of-the-art, and they were really keen to listen to my outlook on making guitars. So it was win-win all around.

— Hugh Manson

The release of this guitar was announced in early December 2014 and premiered at the NAAM exhibition in January 2015 with a price of £500.

Design and varieties

• 
• 
  Headstock in front with signature
• 
  Headstock from behind with serial number
• 
  Killswitch and single coil
• 
  Tune-o-matic and humbucker
• 
  Body from behind

Guitar has solid Telecaster-form body made from tilia, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard with compound radius.

Modifications of Cort MBC-1:

• MBC-1 MBLK — Matt Black colour.
• MBC-1 RS — Red Sparkle colour.
• MBC-1 LH — Matt black version for left-handed people.
• MBC-1 Matt White Show Special Stormtrooper Edition.

Manson Guitar Works are proposing modernization of guitar

• upgrade with Sustaiac Pro sustainer;
• installing Z.Vex Fuzz Factory;
• replacement of hardware;
• replacement of machineheads and control knobs.

Awards and nominations

This guitar was nominated on Music and Sound Awards and MIA Awards, as «Best electric guitar» and «Electric guitar of the year», and won the last one. Besides, it was marked as "Premier Gear" by Premier Guitar, magazine Total Guitar called it «Best buy» (5/5).

Year	Nominated work	Category	Award	Result	Notes	Ref.
2015	Cort MBC-1	Best Electric Guitar	Music and Sound Awards	Nominated
2015	Cort MBC-1	Electric Guitar of the Year	Music Industries Association Award	Won

Sources

• "Cort Manson MBC-1 Matthew Bellamy Signature". Gear. Total Guitar. No. 263. United Kingdom. 82. EAN: 9-771355-504062.

External links

• About guitar on official Cort website
• About guitar on official Manson Guitar Works website
• "Original specification" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
• Review Cort MBC-1 from Total Guitar
• Review Cort MBC-1 from Guitar World
• Review "Cort MBC-1 Matt Bellamy". Premier Guitar. Archived from the original on 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2017-10-12.
• Article on MuseWiki "Cort MBC-1 Matthew Bellamy Signature Guitar". musewiki.org. MuseWiki: Supermassive wiki for the band Muse. Archived from the original on 2017-10-10. Retrieved 2017-10-11.