COST CONTROL
Just how did Manson achieve the price point here? Let’s find out
The last time we got our hands on a new Manson design was the ORYX, co-designed with Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood, back in issue 488. It was the first unlimited Manson model to be made entirely in the UK and currently costs from £2,899. And while the new Juniors continue that all-UK concept, they retail at around half of that price. We talk to Manson’s CEO, Adrian Ashton, to find out more.
What made you produce a guitar at this price? “The last two years have been the most challenging I’ve known for some time: a combination of economics, pandemics, inflation, rising costs. Some of those things are always around, but they all met in a perfect storm. We decided to bring more in-house and get into more affordable stuff from here in Ashburton.
“It was almost a test for us. We already had the outline shapes so it was an exercise in seeing what price we could make them here in the UK. Because we’re a company with such a backstory, things tend to evolve and you don’t always do the really strict analysis of every aspect of the manufacturing. But for this we did. So we precisely looked at everything. How long does it take to glue the woods together? How long does it take to cut the body? What’s the best wood to use… and so on, that will bring this to a certain price point? Could we still use our in-house pickups? We wanted to, and Simon Thorn came up with a new pickup design, the Dirty Rascal. We really carefully managed and analysed all these different aspects as a team. We looked at everything, like the output jack position [on the scratchplate], which we thought was pretty cool and it saves a manufacturing operation. We knew we had to look at all these processes – because we also knew we wanted quality top-spec hardware – to get it to the sort of price point we wanted it to be.”
You say you already had both body shapes, but the Verona is new, isn’t it?
“Well, that came from Matt [Bellamy]. For years he was always saying he wanted this style of guitar with three single coils, possibly a vibrato: ‘It’s the guitar I don’t have in my collection, but it needs to be a Manson!’We tried a few variations on our existing shapes, trying different pickups and hardware, but in the end we decided to go with a total clean sheet and start from scratch. We did do a guitar for an artist – who I can’t name – that was actually the first, and then we thought,‘Let’s take it to version two.’
“I think the most difficult thing was deciding on the contours and the final look. Some makers will actually just take a third-party Strat-style body and put their own neck and hardware on it, but that’s not really something we’re about. We’re trying to be a little more unique, different. But, then again, if you move too far from the tradition you start making something that’s different from what you intended to make in the first place. We wanted to create a Manson version of a classic instrument.
“The Verona guitar came out with a gloss sunburst finish for Matt, he named it and used it on the WillOfThePeople tour in 2023. It was a great success and he came back and said,‘You guys have cracked it,’ so quickly we had to make him another couple. So, hopefully, the Verona in that format will be coming out this year. But in the meantime, we thought,‘Let’s do the Junior version and get it out as soon as possible.’”
Along with that new humbucking pickup, there’s the rarely used series/parallel switch that seems like a throwback to the golden age of guitar tinkering in the 70s and 80s. Why does Manson use that over the more commonly used coil-split? “We love it! We call it the Mojo switch. It’s been on our guitars for well over a decade, but we gave it that name because, you’re right, it felt a bit 80s, yesterday’s news. It does its job well and is a really usable tool. Obviously, we’ve had a lot of people asking for a coil-split, but in every test we’d do in the sound room with a new pickup, we’d use the series/parallel switch and conclude that it’s so much more usable: you get that lighter, airier but still humbucking parallel sound that’s great for clean and mild break-up. Then you have the series wiring for some extra edge or just leave it there for some harder riffing.
“The more we did it, and turned people onto the idea, the more they came back to us saying,‘You’re right – it’s much more usable than a coil-split,’ which just seems to thin out the sound so much but never really sounds like a proper single coil.
“The Junior appears to be a super-simple guitar, but when you add in the kill-button and the series/ parallel switching, there’s quite a bit of fun stuff there. It’s not just a one-trick pony in terms of its sounds.” [DB]
“The most difficult thing was deciding on the contours and the final look” Adrian Ashton
like, and with the volume full up, there’s plenty of presence and yet pulling it back just rounds the high-end subtly. Kick in some reverb and a bit of slapback and we’re in rockabilly street: it’s turned into a Gretsch-y Esquire! The kill-button does all the stuttering you want and, to be honest, it’s a surprisingly versatile single-pickup guitar with the quality of the frankly quite diverse sounds we’re hearing. Bundle in the light weight, the raw resonance and the superb playability and this more than ticks the working guitar box. Enough words: there’s playing to do!
Verdict
When a guitar plays and sounds as good as this one, it’s a little hard to be objective. As always, Manson’s craft is superb, but even though this Junior is the most cost-effective guitar the brand builds here in the UK by quite a margin, there’s nothing remotely cut-price about it. From the good weight and superb neck craft, to the very well-voiced single humbucker with some expansive options, not to mention the included Mono Sleeve gigbag, here’s a working guitar that’s superbly fit for purpose. That kill-button might suggest a more modernist aim, but the voicing of the Dirty Rascal humbucker is just as at home with your classic rock duties as it is with more progressive and heavily gained styles. Meanwhile, the cleaner parallel voice offers a very valid (and still hum-cancelling) single-coil-like flavour that gives the Junior a viable and usable duality.
Our only dilemma would be which body style to go for. But having played both, we wouldn’t let that worry you too much. Either style sounds superb.
The Verona Junior’s light weight, raw resonance and superb playability more than tick the working guitar box
9 PROS Excellent craft: good weight, great neck and playability matched by the dual sounds of the humbucker; comes with a Mono Sleeve gigbag… Where’s the stage?
CONS Some players might prefer a tone control instead of the kill-button